Update!

            The amazing thing about this trip is that everyday is just as busy and amazing as the last!  I haven’t been able to update in a couple days because we leave so early every morning and get back in so late! But I finally found some time (since I can't sleep!) to give an update of what's been going on over here! I apologize in advance for how long this entry is going to be!

            So let me back up a little bit…

            For our second day in Ireland, we took a trip to the Dingle Peninsula.  We (my roommate Theresa and I) woke up around 7:30 and went down to breakfast.  So delicious!  The continental breakfast was porridge (with sides of local honey and brown sugar), juices, cereal, breads, scones, croissants, and different kinds of “fruit cocktail”.  Then we discovered that the hot food from the menu (eggs, bacon, sausage, etc.) was all included as well! Pretty amazing breakfast, we are all in love with the porridge. Then we left for Dingle! It was about a two hour drive, but SO amazingly beautiful.  We stopped to look at the Atlantic Ocean for a while, it was so windy and cold, but the cliffs were amazing and the waves were huge!  The green hills are more gorgeous than I could have ever imagined… and there are sheep everywhere! On our bus drive our driver/tour guide Philip informed us of what they call “beep the sheep” which is when you honk at a bunch of sheep whenever you pass them and they’re close to the road.  It makes them all run away, and is pretty hilarious.  Speaking of Philip, he’s a pretty amazing driver!  It’s amazing how thrown off we all are over the cars being on opposite sides of the road (on the left instead of the right).  But Philip navigates cliffs and windy roads like a champ!  On our way to Dingle we hit a road that they were getting ready to close due to flooding, but Philip put the bus into a special mode and went right through.  Then we encountered what Philip says is called the “Devil’s Elbow” because it’s a road on a cliff and the turn looks just like a person’s folded elbow!  It was pretty scary, but again not a problem for Philip!

            This drive was when we first were able to see the ancient history of Ireland.  We passed many beehive forts, which were built around 1500-1000 BC, and also saw ring forts which were set up to protect livestock back in ancient times.  We stopped again to admire the ocean leading into the peninsula.  We got to see (through some heavy mist) the Blasket Islands, the skelligs, and the “sleeping bishop”.  The landscape here is so different and dramatic in comparison to the U.S.  All of these intense formations were formed by glaciers thousands and thousands of years ago.  But everything we have seen is so beautiful, and it’s something so ordinary here.  We see old, broken castles everywhere in the distance as we are driving, some of which are poking up out of different waterways or ponds or lakes. 

            We stopped to visit the Gallarus Oratory, an early Christian church, estimated to be built between the 6th and 9th century.  VERY cool.    We then went into the town of Dingle.  It is EXTREMELY cute and small.  Before we had left I had heard of this town and how it supposedly had a dolphin (just one!) that lived in the peninsula.  His name is Fungie, and he has been there since around 1985!  So I was on the lookout for him all day, but had no luck.  We did go to this little music shop where a few locals (including one extremely attractive fiddle player) played music and sang just for us.  Afterwards they offered everyone Irish coffees (and regular coffee), and we eventually went on our way.

            When we got back into town, we all went out for a group dinner to a pub called The Laurells.  Since it was prearranged with the restaurant, we had four options to choose from for dinner: Fish & chips, a vegetable gateau, a hamburger, or potato cakes.  Everyone at my table ordered the potato cakes! Best things ever.  Sort of like a potato pancake, but it has bits of chicken and ham (or bacon to them… but more like ham) and a few veggies.  After dinner we met Father Pat, whose mass we will be attending this Sunday, and a “radio guy”.  We listened to them talk for about an hour in the hotel, discussing why they think Ireland is the way it is today.  We’ve been discussing a lot about the history of Ireland and the religious and political divide throughout the whole island and how it turned into a place of peaceful religion (like during the time of the Gallarus Oratory) to violence and unrest. 

            On our third day (Wednesday 1/8), we woke up early, ate breakfast, and headed out to the Beara Peninsula.  We had another breath-taking drive and eventually ended up at a writer and artist’s retreat.  A woman from the states bought this home in the most beautiful location I have ever seen solely for the purpose of having writers and artists come to get inspiration.  We listened to a writer, Paddy (Patty?) O’Connor read Irish poetry and discuss the main themes and ideas behind Irish poetry throughout history to feel the emotions of the people from each time period.  We also got to explore the giant property there and even got a delicious homemade lunch of tomato soup and “toasties” (grilled cheese) and salad and “crisps”, then an apple cake for dessert.  After we got back, some of us went back to the Laurells for dinner and had pizza!  The bartender (purposely) was really awkward and made us feel stupid.  Pretty entertaining.

            For day four, we went to County Cork and learned all about Michael Collins.  After watching the movie about his life (starring Liam Neeson), we had a fairly good understanding of who he was and how important he was to the history of Ireland, but after going to the Michael Collins center and meeting a man who has dedicated his entire life to researching and studying Michael Collins, we gained an even greater understanding.  This man got on our bus with us and guided us all around the county, showing us every important landmark regarding Michael Collins—his childhood home, the last pub he was seen at, and where he was shot and killed (we learned it is controversial whether or not he was actually “assassinated”).  It was very interesting and led to a better understanding of Irish history overall.  We arrived to our hotel in Cork City last night.  We were all amazed driving into town when we were on what resembled a freeway!  We were beginning to think those didn’t exist here.  But Cork is the second largest city in Ireland (after Dublin), so it has been nice to see what city life is like after being in smaller, more rural towns.  Some of us went out and walked around the city a bit, and had dinner at a recommended (by a local) restaurant called Scoozi.  It seemed pretty Americanized, but it was good!  I had goujons of fish (fish and chips), then we went out to a couple different pubs.  This hotel though is nice and is right on the river (Lee, I believe) so we have an amazing view.

            This morning we got to sleep in a little bit, then had breakfast at the hotel (it’s usually our only free meal of the day, so we take full advantage of it!).  It was the usual buffet with cereals and breads and thick bacon and eggs and whatnot.  Yumtastic. Oh! And TEA J  Today was really great.  We started off by having a guided walking tour around the city (by John Borgonovo, from San Francisco actually).  It rained on us quite a bit but it was nice to do something that did not involve a long bus ride.  We learned a lot about the city, like the fact that it has about 200,000 residents and has been around since about 700-800 AD.  Cork was also built right over water, so we were shown some old buildings that still had staircases that now lead up to homes but were originally used to get on to the land after docking your boat.  We then went to UCC, University College Cork, where our tour guide is a professor of Irish history.  He gave us a quick tour of the campus and talked to us a little about the history, and then we were all on our own for the rest of the day (at like 3:30, the earliest yet!).  We all went off to lunch with most of us going to the college’s cafeteria (yay for cheap food and people our age!).  I got roasted chicken and mashed potatoes.  Better than our cafeteria food!  The students in the cafeteria looked at us funny, and then at some point we started talking with a student sitting near me.  Her name is JJ (Jennifer!) and she turned out to be so amazingly awesome!  She ended up hanging out with Blake, Hazel, Araceli, Alex and myself for the rest of the day.  She showed us around the town and took us to an AMAZING hot chocolate place (YES A HOT CHOCOLATE PLACE!!!) and to a couple cool shops and pubs.  We talked for a long time and learned so much from her about Ireland and its current state and history.  It was amazing to hear these things from a younger generation’s perspective.  I feel like in those few hours we gained such a better understanding of Ireland than we have from reading our books and embarking on our tourist-like adventures.  Such a great experience!  I’m Facebook messaging with her right now as I write this!

            After coming back to the hotel for a while, some of us went to dinner right next door at a small pub.  I had quiche and chips. Yum!  Now I’m getting ready for bed, but am NO WAY near sleep as my sister-in-law, Mikaela, is 9 cm dilated and about to give birth to my new niece or nephew!!!!!! Can not wait!!!!

Tomorrow we are off to Templeglantine (an apparently very tiny town).  More soon!