Fires and mountains and wine, oh my

My lovely sister Victoria spent her April break with me in Ireland. I wanted her to see more than Dublin so we took off to Killarney on Thursday right after my last class of the week. The class happened to take place in the Davy Byrne's pub off Grafton street. I'm really going to miss having class in pubs... Anyways, we caught the 6 hour bus ride right after class and made it to Neptune's Hostel in Killarney around 10:30. Neptune's was a legit place for her first hosteling adventure and it was bustling for the Easter holiday. We had some very interesting chats with some folks at a local pub over some trad music and then called it an early night.

Killarney at night

The next day was Good Friday, which in Ireland means everything is closed unless it relates to the tourism industry. Thankfully, we're tourists so we were only effected by the closed pubs, which is fine since Vikki isn't really of legal drinking age in Ireland (not that it would matter in Co. Kerry). We explored the Dingle peninsula via bus with a very entertaining tour guide. I've never taken a day tour before and although I did expect to be able to spend more time at the stops, it was an efficient way to experience the peninsula in one day. We had about six fifteen minute 'photo-op stops' along the coastline.

Cause why open your eyes?

Vikki and I tried to take a decent picture together at each stop to send to all our loving family members, but naturally with the wind and the squinting sunlight, it was a struggle. In this particular picture, I was apparently distracted by my charming surroundings and the blinding sunlight. The experience was complete with a cover of "Thousands are sailing" by The Pogues performed by our talented bus driver. Hopefully my sister sends me the video we took of him actually singing it so I can share his glory with the blogging world. Besides the live entertainment, my favorite part of the tour was our short stop in Dingle. It wasn't nearly long enough, but we managed to speed shop our way through the town, finding the perfect gifts in the most adorable shops.

Vikki at the Craic House, Dingle

After pretty much emptying both of our bank accounts on gifts, we returned to our hostel for a deliciously cheap frozen pizza dinner. Then we adventured into the Killarney National Park to find a good climbing tree. It was getting dark pretty quickly so after a quick hoop sesh in the woods we went back to Neptune's to attempt to pack all of our newly acquired belongings into our backpacks. This involved wearing all of the clothes we brought for the weekend and stuffing our bags full of random trinkets. We bussed it back to Dublin on Saturday morning, took an extended nap upon returning and indulged in some homemade lasagna :)

 Sunday was my friend Ciara's birthday so we headed to the Wicklow mountains for a short, celebratory camping excursion. Every time I get outside of Dublin I'm reminded of how much I love Ireland. It's not necessarily that I don't love Dublin, but there's something about the countryside that gets me. Concrete's not really my thing. Since my friend's are scout leaders one of the sites was complete with a mini ropes course and dozens of children running around... It was a way more legit set-up than any of the boy scout camping trips I went on when I was younger (I wasn't really into the whole girl scout scene). They really do 'Play Harder' as their motto suggested. Anyways, I shimmied across the monkey bridge, flew down the zip line and escaped the scouts by retreating back to Ciara's camp site. That's where things started to get a little dodgy.

It's not a proper camping trip without a fire, and it's not a proper fire without me burning myself. The pyro in me can never stop messing around with the sticks and the flames, even (especially) after a few drinks. But wait, it get's even better. After scorching my finger on a flaming log it was suggested I treat it with some burn-ease from the first aid kit.

I forgot to mention that our little fire happened to be located about 4 feet from a very steep drop off and silly me overlooked this minor detail. Down the mountain I went, how far exactly I'm not sure. The only proof I have that this happened is a nasty burn on my finger and a giant bruise on my leg...oh yeah and this picture taken by my caring sister as Ciara was climbing down to rescue me. We won't mentioned what happened after this, but let's just say I was conquered by fire, mountains and of course, we can't forget the wine.

Wicklow: 1, Swan: 0.

No worries, Wicklow. I forgive you. The wine on the other hand... Hopefully it was entertaining to everyone there. I know I had a good laugh the next day.

All in all, I had an amazing time visiting with my sister. I was able to show her Dublin, Co. Kerry, and even her first camping trip. The semester's almost coming to an end and I leave in ten days. I'm not sure how I feel about it, one part wants to start over and the other is ready to get back to my pup. As Natalie Imbruglia would say, I'm torn.

Her life was saved by rock & roll

If you've ever been to Ireland, or more specifically an American in Ireland, then you are very familiar with the song 'Galway Girl'. In case you've been living under a rock in western Ireland (there's plenty to choose from) it's a catchy little ditty that is sang by Gerard Butler in the movie P.S. I Love You. Well, we went to western Ireland last weekend and stayed one night in Doolin and one night in Galway. I didn't hear Galway Girl in any legitimate pubs, however we sang the chorus every time anyone within earshot said Galway 'aye yay aye yay ayee!' - which amounted to be approximately once every 6 minutes.

The Cliffs of Mohor

Once again, the weather was on our side, which if you know anything about the climate in Ireland - damp is an understatement. Thankfully it's been a very sunny March and April is working out to be just as bright :)

Anyways, it was sunny and a tooch windy at The Burren National Park and The Cliffs of Mohor. We were lucky enough to not only get to see it from this perspective, but we also took a ferry cruise on our way home from the Aran Islands and was able to look up at the massive formations. Both views were excellent and we got to see some pretty epic cliffs. Backtracking, we stayed in a little town called Doolin on Friday night. Caught some spectacular landscape, ate some tasty pub food, watched some Champlainers jam out with some trad musicians (and eventually take over the scene) and  had a model United Nations meeting late night on the beach...

Tomb at The Burren

Naturally, I brought my hula hoop and rocked it all over the west. I've taught some of the guys in the program how to hoop and some of em are getting pretty good. At The Burren, while hooping on the Karst (really old crazy looking limestone!) I met some little boys who ran up to me and asked to try out my hoop. Look at me making friends with the local children. I didn't even need to bribe them with candy, the hula hoop was all it took....

Mad rocks. Mad skills.

The trips that Champlain organizes for us are pretty sweet and exploring the west of Ireland wasn't an exception. I loved the pub in Doolin. It was hilarious to see Champlain kids littered all over this small town pub and was even more epic when the entire pub was croonin' to "Wagon Wheel" (recurring theme of this study abroad experience?) along with Andy on the guitar, Kyle on the harmonica and Hannah singing along. I thought I was getting an overdose of "Wagon Wheel" in Burlington but it seems to have followed me here too.  Good times to say the very least. Lots of fond memories in Doolin, even on Friday post-pub when a bunch of us decided to adventure to the beach for a UN meeting. The beach by the way was completely covered in uneven tricky and trippy rocks that made it extremely difficult to navigate after a few pints and a couple Baby Guinness' (Shots of Kahlua and Baileys).

rock me mama like a [west] bound train :)

Saturday we took a ferry to the Aran islands and spent to day biking around the maze of stone walls. There was mad rocks. 

I'm researching Karst and The Burren for my term project in Enviro-earth science, so I happen to know that the Aran islands used to be connected to the mainland thousands of years ago by even more loads of Karst. The people who live on the island had to dig up the limestone in order to free up some land for farming and grazing so they had no choice but to compile the rocks into 
hundreds of intricate stone walls that parade all over the tiny island. Since we were incredibly mobile on these rented bikes we were able to see sights all over like the shipwreck, a burial ground from the 10th century, a burial ground from the 6th century, climb on some castle ruins, some church ruins, get spun and swung on a sick playground, and frolic in some grassy knolls. 

Sean enjoying the green scene

We left the Aran islands via ferry that brought us under the Cliffs of Mohor so we could gaze up at these massive rocks. We may have been exhausted and it may have been a tad windy on the open sea, but seeing these cliffs from the bottom up was a once in a lifetime kinda thing so I didn't waste anytime inside the cabin of the boat. The bus ride to Galway was sleepy. I woke up well rested and ready to rage in Galway (aye yay aye yay aye!) I ate an indulgent dinner of seafood chowder and mussels drowned in a white wine butter sauce...nom nom nom. After dinner we hit some lame pubs. Seriously questionable locations with even more questionable music taste, but the cocktails were cheap and the craic was mighty. I ended my night in Galway at The Kings Head to a cover band rocking out to some Kings of Leon and Radiohead which was vastly superior to the other venues I was unfortunate enough to spend my euros at.

We woke up in Galway and had a few hours to explore before heading back to Dublin. Of course I took this opportunity to pop off some champagne and toast to hula hoops, seafood, breathtaking landscapes and the luck of the Irish. 


I spent the rest of my morning walking around Galway with some of the guys, hula hooping in exchange for strange and awkward looks from the locals. We boarded the bus back to Dublin and said goodbye to the picturesque Ireland I dreamed about when I was back in the states. 




 It was some good craic, and best of all it was all approved by Jesus.

Stay up late, shoot the moon

Es el combinacion perfecto.

What a birthday. I didn't think it was possible to top last years birthday debauchery, but somehow the mischief was managed. Special thanks for the birthday gift funding that made it all possible ;) and of course everyone in Barcelona and Dublin who helped me celebrate my 21st.  

Basically I'm obsessed with Barcelona. It was an incredible place; astounding architecture, fun people, good food... quite stimulating on so many levels. I couldn't help but imagine myself living there on some kind of perpetual vacation. We beached it everyday, including a Sunday morning sunrise session with my trusty hula hoop.

The weather was on our side too and it was sunny and warm all weekend. I also managed to jump into the ocean for a hot minute...even though it may have been at 8am and freezing. We ate some tasty tapas and some scrumptious paella too, but mostly we drank lots of champagne. Mas cava con mis amigos. 

Buenos dias Barcelona

What else could a birthday girl ask for? Barcelona was the perfect place to celebrate a 21st birthday. We hiked up to Park Guel and caught an amazing view of the city and then went back to the beach to sip some sangria. The epitome of relaxation. Barcelona was incredibly good to us and the Sunday afternoon flight back to Dublin came too soon. But as always, I was delighted to get home and crawl into my bed. Plus, I had to get at least a little rest in before celebrating my actual birthday on Monday. 


I woke up a little late for school on Monday but there was no way I was rushing anywhere. Eventually I made my way to campus and sat through 2/3 of my Monday classes. That's pretty good compared to previous birthdays when I usually make my only obligation to enjoy and celebrate my life. Anyways, I counted down the minutes until I could grab margaritas and nachos with my roommate and purchased a bottle of Maker's Mark on my way home from school.

Margs at From Mexico to Rome in Temple Bar.

So we celebrated. Hard. Somehow I got a hold of a microphone (uh oh) and butchered a drunken version of 'Wagon Wheel' at Shebeen Chic (aka The Irish counterpart of the Radiobean in Burlington) with Vaughan & St. Bridget, a sweet folk band. Good times, good people, good music.  After that, we headed to the Temple Bar area for some late night tequila shots and some more sloppy renditions of classic songs by The Band.  That's all I got so far. Definitely had a fabulous and [partially] memorable 21st birthday.

Oh and I almost forgot about my birthday cake! Lora found an AMAZING birthday cake shaped like a champagne bottle :) Epic, delicious and remarkably appropriate. I'll leave ya to imagine the almondy ice-creamy goodness while enjoying this Ryan Montbleau song - Only 50 days til Strangecreek!