Hola!!!!!
Sorry I have not been posting much lately, I have been doing a lot of traveling :-). Right now I am on the Camino de santiago through spain. I walk 70 miles in five days through northern spain and end up in Santiago! Tomorrow is the big final day. My feet have many blisters but it has been worth every second. I have gotten to see all the landscapes of spain and walk through over fifty villages. After Spain I am off to Madrid for two days. On wednesday I will be going to Frankfurt Germany to see Maria's friend and explore germany. AND THEN off to ITALY where I am staying with my distant familly, Alessandro. I will be in Rome for a week and spend Easter with my relatives and then off to explore Cinque Terre and Florence before returning to Cork!!!!
Each days has been a blessing thus far and I am eager to see what is yet to come!
Miss you all :-) I am returning home on the 12th of may! Cannot wait to see all of you
Ali
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
My first Flash Mob!
Hey everyone,
Last week was RAG (Raise and Give) week at UCC (University College Cork) They had a lot of events happening and most of the pubs were open early and all the money raised went to a charity. Last year they made 25,000 euro!! Anyways, as an event the dance club put on a flash mob in the middle of campus and I participated! I have attached the link to watch...enjoy :-)UCC Flash mob
Last week was RAG (Raise and Give) week at UCC (University College Cork) They had a lot of events happening and most of the pubs were open early and all the money raised went to a charity. Last year they made 25,000 euro!! Anyways, as an event the dance club put on a flash mob in the middle of campus and I participated! I have attached the link to watch...enjoy :-)UCC Flash mob
Sunday, February 20, 2011
LONDON
London was an unbelieveable time!! We arrived on thursday afternoon and met up with Kaycee, Maggie, Charlie and Mary. We got to use some people's oyster passes so didn't have to pay for transportation. Each day was filled with seeing the sites. We got to see big ben, the london eye, westminister, St. Paul Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Harrods and much much more. At night we went to WICKED one night, Thriller live another night, and enjoyed some fabulous karoakee another night. For a valentine's date Charlie took me to The Spaghetti house for dinner (favorite food ever) and then we got to go to the chocolate bar at Harrod's where we had a delicious chocolate fondu. We got to stay in their flats and had a great time just bonding with the London group and talking with them. Overall, BEST WEEKEND ever....except for the mean easybus bus driver who wouldnt take our coins, everything else was great!!!!
Kerry :-)
Hey Everyone!
Sorry it has been so long, February has been a very busy month :-)
KERRY
The first weekend was organized by our Gaielic professor by the name of Marian. She took us to her hometown of Kerry where we got to see many fabulous scenes such as the skellig islands, killarney national park, slate cliffs, the forts and more. We got to stay in a very nice hotel with three course meals for breakfast lunch and dinner. Sadly, it rained all weekend...but to make up for the rain we got to meet a professional Gaielic football player (Morris Fitzgerald) and hear all about the popular sport, listen to a farmer speak about life in Ireland, learn some famous Irish songs and learn how to make a famous Britt cross which is very popular in Ireland, and lastly: learn some Ceili dancing. All the sites that we saw were beautiful, even with the rain. We also got to stop at a bog museum that was opened just for our group. It had scenes with real artifacts of what life was like during the famon in Ireland. On the last day we got to visit Danny O'Connell's holiday home. He was the leader of the catholic immancipation in Ireland. It was overall a fabulous trip. Our last stop was my favorite place yet, the Killarney national forrest, where we walked through a beautiful scene and stopped at a huge rainfall!
Sorry it has been so long, February has been a very busy month :-)
KERRY
The first weekend was organized by our Gaielic professor by the name of Marian. She took us to her hometown of Kerry where we got to see many fabulous scenes such as the skellig islands, killarney national park, slate cliffs, the forts and more. We got to stay in a very nice hotel with three course meals for breakfast lunch and dinner. Sadly, it rained all weekend...but to make up for the rain we got to meet a professional Gaielic football player (Morris Fitzgerald) and hear all about the popular sport, listen to a farmer speak about life in Ireland, learn some famous Irish songs and learn how to make a famous Britt cross which is very popular in Ireland, and lastly: learn some Ceili dancing. All the sites that we saw were beautiful, even with the rain. We also got to stop at a bog museum that was opened just for our group. It had scenes with real artifacts of what life was like during the famon in Ireland. On the last day we got to visit Danny O'Connell's holiday home. He was the leader of the catholic immancipation in Ireland. It was overall a fabulous trip. Our last stop was my favorite place yet, the Killarney national forrest, where we walked through a beautiful scene and stopped at a huge rainfall!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Blarney Castle and Kinsale
Hey Everyone!
Yesterday I made my way to Kinsale and the Blarney Castle for the day. Kinsale was a beautiful town for very rich people! There are many cute little shops that are very expensive. The port has many sailboats docked. Julia Roberts used to have a house in this town. I got the best carrot cake at a small bakery in town. We also got to see Fort Charles which was where the spanish Armada tried to come in to Ireland, but the British found out and attacked them when they arrived at this port.
Next we went to Blarney and saw the castle. It was a beautiful town. The castle is surrounded by a stream of water. At the top of the castle I kissed the rosetta stone. We aso went into the poisonous garden and walked around the castle grounds.
It was a successful day trip that was not too packed at all! Next weekend is the Ring of Kerry Trip! Cannot wait :-)
xox Ali
Yesterday I made my way to Kinsale and the Blarney Castle for the day. Kinsale was a beautiful town for very rich people! There are many cute little shops that are very expensive. The port has many sailboats docked. Julia Roberts used to have a house in this town. I got the best carrot cake at a small bakery in town. We also got to see Fort Charles which was where the spanish Armada tried to come in to Ireland, but the British found out and attacked them when they arrived at this port.
Next we went to Blarney and saw the castle. It was a beautiful town. The castle is surrounded by a stream of water. At the top of the castle I kissed the rosetta stone. We aso went into the poisonous garden and walked around the castle grounds.
It was a successful day trip that was not too packed at all! Next weekend is the Ring of Kerry Trip! Cannot wait :-)
xox Ali
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Galway
Hey everyone!
Last weekend I made my way to Galway with a group of students from Loyola, Maryland! It was a "crack time" as they would say in Ireland. My trip was thursday to Sunday. I got a free ride up there because the Loyola college ended up paying for the bus ride :-). I stayed in my first hostel called sleep zone. It was very clean and surprising nice for 12 euro a night. Thursday night we made our way out to the night life in Galway stopping at pubs like The Quay and Kingshead. I learned the Kingshead gots its name from a story:
Cromwell wanted to kill some British rulers but didn't want to do it himself so he hired some Irish people to do it. He asked the Irish people what they wanted in exchange for the rulers head being cut off. They said, they wanted him to buy them a pub. That pub is still in business and called "The Kingshead"
On Friday we took a ferry out to the Aran Islands. We got a bus tour up to some 300 foot cliffs. These were by the far the most beautiful cliffs I have seen yet! We could go sit on the edge of the cliff and hang our feet off the edge. It was amazing. After we stopped at a coffee shop where I ended up practicing my Gaelic with the owner (It didn't go that will but he was very excited to teach me more) That night we ate at a cute little Italian restaurant (I was in heaven) and then made our way to Coyote which was supposed to be the most American look a like bar in Galway.....It was horrible. You could ride a bull, there was pictures of the Coyote ugly girls on the wall, dancers on the bar table and a huge American flag on the ceiling.
On Saturday we took the longest bus tour ever to the Cliffs of Moher. It took all day to get there and though the view was still beautiful, I enjoyed the Aran Islands much more. We also stopped at the Burren. Everything was very touristy. That night my friend Katie Radford from home invited me over to her apartment for dinner. She is studying in galway for the semester. She made a great pasta meal.
On Sunday we went to a small cafe for breakfast and then attempted to go purchase some Claddagh rings (Galways is where the ring originated) but the shops were all closed.
It was a great weekend, but I never thought I would be so happy to return to my lee side cork apartment!
More posting soon, I am going to the Blarney stone castle and Kinsale this weekend!
Last weekend I made my way to Galway with a group of students from Loyola, Maryland! It was a "crack time" as they would say in Ireland. My trip was thursday to Sunday. I got a free ride up there because the Loyola college ended up paying for the bus ride :-). I stayed in my first hostel called sleep zone. It was very clean and surprising nice for 12 euro a night. Thursday night we made our way out to the night life in Galway stopping at pubs like The Quay and Kingshead. I learned the Kingshead gots its name from a story:
Cromwell wanted to kill some British rulers but didn't want to do it himself so he hired some Irish people to do it. He asked the Irish people what they wanted in exchange for the rulers head being cut off. They said, they wanted him to buy them a pub. That pub is still in business and called "The Kingshead"
On Friday we took a ferry out to the Aran Islands. We got a bus tour up to some 300 foot cliffs. These were by the far the most beautiful cliffs I have seen yet! We could go sit on the edge of the cliff and hang our feet off the edge. It was amazing. After we stopped at a coffee shop where I ended up practicing my Gaelic with the owner (It didn't go that will but he was very excited to teach me more) That night we ate at a cute little Italian restaurant (I was in heaven) and then made our way to Coyote which was supposed to be the most American look a like bar in Galway.....It was horrible. You could ride a bull, there was pictures of the Coyote ugly girls on the wall, dancers on the bar table and a huge American flag on the ceiling.
On Saturday we took the longest bus tour ever to the Cliffs of Moher. It took all day to get there and though the view was still beautiful, I enjoyed the Aran Islands much more. We also stopped at the Burren. Everything was very touristy. That night my friend Katie Radford from home invited me over to her apartment for dinner. She is studying in galway for the semester. She made a great pasta meal.
On Sunday we went to a small cafe for breakfast and then attempted to go purchase some Claddagh rings (Galways is where the ring originated) but the shops were all closed.
It was a great weekend, but I never thought I would be so happy to return to my lee side cork apartment!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Life in Cork!
Hey guys! Thought I would describe my life in Cork thus far :-)
My classes at UCC are really well. They are much easier then at home. I have irish step dancing with an old lady that looks like betty white. Gaelic intro to the irish language which is a little more challenging but interesting. Irish folklore which is basically a class about irish stories and the teacher is like the nanny from bednobs and broomsticks, Ireland and scottland which is like a history class about the two countries. And I have modern music of ireland and traditional music of ireland which we have to go to pubs and listen to sessions and write about them. I only have each class for 1 to 2 hours a week. And no class on wednesdays or fridays!! The campus is beautiful. The buildings are much different in the way they are constructed compared to home. There are much more students here but they are all very nice!
I feel like i spend all of my money on food. we dont have a meal plan so we have to go grocery shopping. we go there once or twice a week because we only have a small fridge and can only buy what we can carry home which is like a ten minute walk. So a lot of peanut butter sandwiches and chicken with some vegetable for lunch. There is a sweet english market where they have fresh meat and fresh fruit. Maria and I are doing dinners together and have made a lot of meals with chicken and pasta!
I have joined the dance club and take classes with them. Its one of the best things I have done here yet. The girls are SOOO nice and its all for fun. I get to compete in march with the team. I am meeting a lot of international students from iowa state, quinnipiac ( its in conneticut) and loyola maryland (our roomate lauren is from there).
The town of Cork is great, we are right by the city centre so its kind of like living downtown st paul. Every one walks everywhere. There are pubs on every block! We have tried many. One of the girls from my school plays the violin or fiddle and so she has gotten to play in some sessions which is when a bunch of people go to a pub and play traditional irish music. So we have gone and listened. We met an old man at one pub named tom barry who is a retired man that is at this one pub that I cant even pronounce every night. he has told us many good stories.
The weather has not gotten below 35 and not above 50. Its been in between there every day. ITS AWESOME. Today it is sunny, it rains a lot though but i guess January is the most rainiest month. The river lee is right outside my window which is connected to the ocean somewhere because when the tide comes in with the salt water there are seals in the river.
Speaking of water, I have gotten to see the atlantic ocean when I went on the day trips to cobh (which is the port of the last stop of the titanic before it sank) and when I went to armore and Youghal. Beautiful scenery, I am going to Galway this weekend and visiting the aran islands and the cliffs of mohr.
A lot of the people in my group from CSB/SJU along with myself have joined the chapliancy on campus which is very similar to Campus ministry at our school. They hold a lot of events for us to attend such as culture nights, movie nights and coffee mornings. They also plan a lot of cheap trips for us to go on! They are all really nice and love to share stories and facts about Ireland and ask us about America. We have also attended events with the Hot beverages society. This society holds get togethers for those who enjoy drinking coffee and tea. Its the biggest society on campus!
That's all for now!
My classes at UCC are really well. They are much easier then at home. I have irish step dancing with an old lady that looks like betty white. Gaelic intro to the irish language which is a little more challenging but interesting. Irish folklore which is basically a class about irish stories and the teacher is like the nanny from bednobs and broomsticks, Ireland and scottland which is like a history class about the two countries. And I have modern music of ireland and traditional music of ireland which we have to go to pubs and listen to sessions and write about them. I only have each class for 1 to 2 hours a week. And no class on wednesdays or fridays!! The campus is beautiful. The buildings are much different in the way they are constructed compared to home. There are much more students here but they are all very nice!
I feel like i spend all of my money on food. we dont have a meal plan so we have to go grocery shopping. we go there once or twice a week because we only have a small fridge and can only buy what we can carry home which is like a ten minute walk. So a lot of peanut butter sandwiches and chicken with some vegetable for lunch. There is a sweet english market where they have fresh meat and fresh fruit. Maria and I are doing dinners together and have made a lot of meals with chicken and pasta!
The town of Cork is great, we are right by the city centre so its kind of like living downtown st paul. Every one walks everywhere. There are pubs on every block! We have tried many. One of the girls from my school plays the violin or fiddle and so she has gotten to play in some sessions which is when a bunch of people go to a pub and play traditional irish music. So we have gone and listened. We met an old man at one pub named tom barry who is a retired man that is at this one pub that I cant even pronounce every night. he has told us many good stories.
The weather has not gotten below 35 and not above 50. Its been in between there every day. ITS AWESOME. Today it is sunny, it rains a lot though but i guess January is the most rainiest month. The river lee is right outside my window which is connected to the ocean somewhere because when the tide comes in with the salt water there are seals in the river.
Speaking of water, I have gotten to see the atlantic ocean when I went on the day trips to cobh (which is the port of the last stop of the titanic before it sank) and when I went to armore and Youghal. Beautiful scenery, I am going to Galway this weekend and visiting the aran islands and the cliffs of mohr.
A lot of the people in my group from CSB/SJU along with myself have joined the chapliancy on campus which is very similar to Campus ministry at our school. They hold a lot of events for us to attend such as culture nights, movie nights and coffee mornings. They also plan a lot of cheap trips for us to go on! They are all really nice and love to share stories and facts about Ireland and ask us about America. We have also attended events with the Hot beverages society. This society holds get togethers for those who enjoy drinking coffee and tea. Its the biggest society on campus!
That's all for now!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Cobh
My Second weekend in Ireland was filled with more hiking through the town of Cobh. This town is one of the main ports in Ireland. It was the Titanics last stop before it sank. It was only a twenty minute train
ride from Cork. Cobh has gorgeous views. There is a beautiful cathedral at the top of the hill by the name of St. Colman's cathedral. It took 47 years to build and costed 235,000 Euro to construct.
Besides this small trip, I have spent a lot of my time at Tesco (the cheap grocery store). You can only buy what you can carry, so we make many trips to the store for food! I start Irish step dancing tomorrow and Gailic class this week.
On thursday I am off to Galway with some people from Loyola Maryland to see the Aran Islands and the Burren!
Its been about 50 and sunny most days here with some rain. I guess I can say that I don't hate the weather!
Will be posting again soon!
XoX
ride from Cork. Cobh has gorgeous views. There is a beautiful cathedral at the top of the hill by the name of St. Colman's cathedral. It took 47 years to build and costed 235,000 Euro to construct.
Besides this small trip, I have spent a lot of my time at Tesco (the cheap grocery store). You can only buy what you can carry, so we make many trips to the store for food! I start Irish step dancing tomorrow and Gailic class this week.
On thursday I am off to Galway with some people from Loyola Maryland to see the Aran Islands and the Burren!
Its been about 50 and sunny most days here with some rain. I guess I can say that I don't hate the weather!
Will be posting again soon!
XoX
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Youghal and Ardmore
Hey everyone :-)
Last night was one full of many memories. We went to an old pub where we met an old Irish man by the name of Tom Barry. We talked to this man for about three hours about soooo many things. He had great stories to tell us! One story included his personal meeting of Bruce Springstein in a pub in Dublin. He ended up getting free tickets to his concert that night which was followed by a private concert at the pub that he was at. Tom was a civil engineer who is retired now and spends most of his time going to church, going to pubs and smoking. It was "a crack time!"
Today I went on a day trip to Eastern Ireland. We started in the city of Youghal which had many great sites in it. The town is home to 2000 people. It has one of the first ports in it which let in many famous people including Sir Walter Raleigh, who was a very big figure to Ireland. Sir Raleigh was famous for bringing tobacco and some Potatoes to the town of Youghal from America. He was great "friends" with Queen Elizabeth. He ended up illegally selling land that the Queen had given to him and was not liked by the Irish people.
Yougal was also the location of the famous Movie, Moby Dick. It holds the oldest church in the country of Ireland.
Next we went on a walk through the cliffs of Ardmore. The sites were amazing from the cliffs. We also visited a cemetary in which St. Declan was buried. He was believed to be the first person to bring Christianity to Ireland even before St. Patrick.
Monday starts the first full week of school (by that I mean school on tuesday wednesday thursday) wish me luck!
Last night was one full of many memories. We went to an old pub where we met an old Irish man by the name of Tom Barry. We talked to this man for about three hours about soooo many things. He had great stories to tell us! One story included his personal meeting of Bruce Springstein in a pub in Dublin. He ended up getting free tickets to his concert that night which was followed by a private concert at the pub that he was at. Tom was a civil engineer who is retired now and spends most of his time going to church, going to pubs and smoking. It was "a crack time!"
Today I went on a day trip to Eastern Ireland. We started in the city of Youghal which had many great sites in it. The town is home to 2000 people. It has one of the first ports in it which let in many famous people including Sir Walter Raleigh, who was a very big figure to Ireland. Sir Raleigh was famous for bringing tobacco and some Potatoes to the town of Youghal from America. He was great "friends" with Queen Elizabeth. He ended up illegally selling land that the Queen had given to him and was not liked by the Irish people.
Yougal was also the location of the famous Movie, Moby Dick. It holds the oldest church in the country of Ireland.
Next we went on a walk through the cliffs of Ardmore. The sites were amazing from the cliffs. We also visited a cemetary in which St. Declan was buried. He was believed to be the first person to bring Christianity to Ireland even before St. Patrick.
Monday starts the first full week of school (by that I mean school on tuesday wednesday thursday) wish me luck!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Orientation
I made it :-) after no sleep and walking through the entire town of rainy Cork with my 50 lb suit case, a back pack the size of me and another bag, I made it to my apartment!!!! Maria and I live on the third floor right below Andy with one other roomate. Her name is Lauren and she goes to Loyola, Maryland.
Our first stop in town was the phone store and next was the liquor store. A case of budweiser was close to 40 dollars!! We chose the cheap wine instead. We went to our first pub last night which was right across the river, near our apartment. There was a group of guys playing music. I have heard we will have many more encounters like this.
Today we had orientation where we got overwhelmed with the list of things to do. We are about to go on a tour of the campus. Tonight the student union is putting on events for us. We will start at the on campus bar and move our way to An Brog, another bar in town.
more posting later :-)
xoxo
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