A typical week living in a mansion...BUSY!

Living at our house thus far has been magical. Who gets to say that they live in a house on a street in Monopoly Ireland?! It's been super low key, the housemaid has been keeping everything in line, and the visitors haven't been overbearing, that is until this past week. We had three huge house events, the last week of classes, two presentations, and one final. HOLY MOLEY... literally!

Monday night everyone living in the house got together for Christmas decorating. Even though this is always such a fun event for everyone, it was at the worst possible time EVER! Doesn't matter, it was phenomenal craic (Irish word for fun) and we had a grand ole time. We all put up the Christmas Tree and got our own ornaments- yup we are def starting that tradition! There was hot cocoa, plenty of cookies, music, smiles, and lots of laughter. The house was looking lovely & was ready for our first house welcoming party on Tuesday night.

Mine & Allese's ornaments :-)

looks like we are all done! Cheers!

Tuesday night was our house blessing/ welcoming to the administration of St. Michael's College and the Spiritans who used to live in the house. Even though it was informal,  we were told to put on our best behavior (and of course we did). The night started with the house blessing; we went from room to room saying a little blessing. It was beautiful, but of course I was ready for the wine and cheese part. We got to tour the house and meet and talk with the people who made it possible for us to live here. Everyone was so friendly and so interested in us students. It was a great first meet and greet; leaving all of the guests excited to come and spend Thanksgiving with us.

 

Ok so everything went well, and Wednesday I had two back to back presentations. It was a huge relief to get them done and all I wanted to do was sleep...but it was the biggest party night out in America so of course we all had to go out. It was a fun night out, but the sleep later was even better. It was not a typical Thanksgiving morning, but everyone was chipper and ready to seize the day-- so evidently I was, too.

Thanksgiving mass and dinner were slowly approaching & I had so many responsibilities! I was a greeter for everyone coming-- nearly 50 people-- reading the prayers of the faithful, taking up the gifts, and giving a speech during dinner about the program (Whew!). I had alot going on but there were no worries. Mass was excellent and the homily was phenomenal; Father's main message was to never give up. It was incredibly touching and just comforting to hear while being away from home.
Next we went down to eat- YUM! We had a typical dinner: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, wine, pumpkin pie, coffee,... And everyone was eating with no shame. The whole Thanksgiving experience was new to a lot of the guests, but all seemed to enjoy every moment.

It was refreshing to see familiar faces from earlier in the week as well as new ones. Some of them it was my second Thanksgiving with, and I couldn't ask for better friends to be abroad with. After the night, it was straight to bed (no shocker!) but I had a final the next morning! Busy week!!!!

Now it's over and time for studying... yikes!

Cheers,

Ky xx

Ring Around Kerry

Here we go again!

It's so great that Ireland is small enough to take all of these day trips, but it's rough not being able to have our own car (ideally it's probably better for everyone else though). Wanting to see as much as possible in our homeland, Allese and I decided to take a tour to the famous Ring of Kerry. Once again I had no idea what to expect... especially because our bus left at 6:30AM!

We were cruising (and sleeping) until we hit our first pit stop for breakfast around 8. After grabbing a mocha and hitting up the bathroom, we were ready for another couple hours until we ended up in Kilkenny. We got to walk around the city briefly before getting onto the bus for Kerry! I honestly don't know what I was thinking (not thinking at all, really) when we got on the ring. It's a huge circle around the city that hits absolutely amazing views and cool places, too. The bus was a rollin' and so was our tour guide.. he was phenomenal. Our guide talked the entire way, kept us entertained, threw some historical facts at us, and was just great company.

The Ring is 179 km long circle with some of the most breathtaking sites including beaches, golf courses, pubs, movie locations, and much more.

Our whip for the day

Just cruising along the ring

This was where the first boat to leave Europe heading for America left from

Dingle Bay!

Being a tourist by the Atlantic

  

Out of around 14,000 pubs in Ireland, there is only one beach pub-- located on the Ring (unfortunately it was closed)

 

The movie Braveheart was filmed here (& not Scotland for one main reason). Ireland offered free extras, and the movie needed so many extras for the soldiers so they accepted. Ireland used it's army and during the movie there are 23 visible mistakes of the soldiers. Some of them include a Rolex watch on one, a couple soldiers smoking in the background, and then others driving away in a car during a battle scene (WHOOPS!) The sights are amazing, though.

Killarney National Park

Torc Waterfall

Allese and I had a lovely day touring the Ring of Kerry. Definitely a must, but we were wiped by the end of the day. Returning home around 9 and then getting home was a struggle, but we managed.

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks

Ky xx

Galway Gal

"And I ask you friends, what's a fella to do?
Because her hair was black and her eyes were blue
And I knew right then, I'd be takin a whirl
Down the Salthill Prom with a Galway Girl"

There ya have it... that song is played at every pub every night, but especially in Galway. So many people told me that Galway was their absolute favorite place to go visit. Of course I was excited and ready to go. We left on a Saturday morning and stayed through the bank holiday- it was definitely a busier and more crowded weekend but that never slowed us down.

Upon our arrival, it was absolutely pouring down rain... even though we live in Dublin, our weather here has been phenomenal and we were not ready to seize the day. Our hotel rooms weren't even ready yet, so we had no choice but to wander the streets. Allese, my other half and roommate here, decided to do our own thing and ventured the shops, pubs, and some sites. We grabbed a hot chocolate to keep us warm and kept cruising. It was still absolutely pouring out, and a cab ran over a puddle getting Allese absolutely soaking wet (HAHAHA). As helpless as I am, I knew it was about to happen so I went undercover, but poor Allese had her jacket unzipped with a white tee shirt underneath (Whoops!) That was it.. we had to go back to the hotel for a quick fix and nap. Apart from that little incident, everything was so lovely in Galway.

Sunday and Monday were more site seeing days. Sunday we went to Connemara and Dan O'Hara's house...it is an Irish heritage center. It basically gave us a feel for what it was like to live in old Ireland, little hand build cottages, making all of the food yourself, and just creating your own lifestyle. Dan was said to be a legend in story and song, which makes him famous. He eventually left Ireland for New York, but died in America of poverty. It's a neat site to visit, but primarily just to get a feel for the old Irish living.

Dan's House

Inside: I enjoy the Irish American president poster!

 
Our next stop was Kylemore Abbey Garden and Castle. The estate was built in 1867; it was 13,000 acres of land that cost about £18,000. The property was sold to The Duke and Duchess of Manchester in 1903. They lived there for a good few years until they were forced to sell due to debt. In 1920, the Irish Benedictine Nuns purchase the castle and lands. They turned it into a Catholic girls school, but was closed in 2010. Now the brilliant castle and lands are a tourist attraction. It was absolutely beautiful to see... I felt like I was in a Harry Potter movie! Check out some pics...

It was a great pit stop, but we were now onto the most famous part of Galway, THE CLIFFS OF MOHER! The cliffs are more than 2,000 years old, the highest point is 214 meters high, and they expand 8 miles along the Atlantic Ocean. So, that has been the closest I've been to home in months! There are also Irish seabirds that live by the cliffs... don't worry even on crazy windy days you could hear them. One thing about the cliffs though is that there aren't rails blocking all areas... you literally could fall right off (WHAAAAT!). It was so incredibly windy the day we were there that I wouldn't even dare go near the edge. In fact I was struggling to walk and some points- oh and don't forget the water is spraying at ya! It was truly amazing to see- definitely should be on everyone's bucket list! And plenty of rainbows were there... but I didn't find the pot of gold...

SO WINDY!

 

 

 

There's the rainbow :-)

It was a great weekend for Galway, but unfortunately I missed the Dublin Marathon. I was thinking about entering during the summer months with my buddy but thank goodness I didn't. I told him that while he was running, I would be in the drinking marathon! I heard it was an awesome time though.

The four things to a great weekend: Leprechauns, Castles, Good luck, and Laughter

Ky xx

Milkin it.

Cheers!

One of the best days here was a day trip with the school to the historical site of Newgrange and then a family owned farm called Causey Farms. I honestly had no idea what to expect, but it was a bonding experience that we all decided was a must. So we woke up pretty early to be on campus around 9 for departure.. that was rough. We made it though and started our journey to Newgrange.

Newgrange is one of the most prominent historical sites in Ireland. Many people know of it as a passage tomb, and once a year during the winter solstice people gather here to see the sun illuminate the tomb passage and chamber. What's even more fascinating is that it's a lottery to get picked to be one of nearly 20 (thousands of applicants all over the world apply), and the event only lasts 17 minutes...but wait for it... the illumination isn't always guaranteed. So basically one could get picked, travel to the tomb, wait in this cold, dark, secluded spot for 17 minutes and NOT SEE A SINGLE THING. I couldn't do that, so good thing I went when I did!

When we arrived, we had an awesome tour guide, and the passage is nothing like you would expect. Basically it's a one acre mound surrounded with giant rocks, and inside leads to the chamber. Once inside, there was a demonstration of what the light would be like during the winter solstice, which was also cool to see (but don't count on me being an applicant).

There is is.. Newgrange

 

 

 

Standing outside of the entrance...it's a windy one!

Next it was time to go to Causey Farms. On the itinerary it said we were going to bake some Irish soda bread, learn traditional Irish music, and just engage with the farm life. We all know how much of a city girl I am, so ideally I was definitely not prepared. As soon as I stepped off of the bus, I was gagging-- the smell was not helping me (at least I had a scarf).

Into the house we went; we grabbed an apron and headed to the kitchen to start cooking. Allese and I were bread partners, shocking I know, and went right to work. Surprisingly it was super easy to make Irish bread and ours turned out great (I mean it was edible...).

We were done with the kitchen and on to a barn house where we were taught some authentic Irish dancing. It was great craic, as the Irish would say, and engaged everyone there. The dance we learned was traditional at Irish weddings, and honestly you don't need to have any sort of rhythm to be good. We really danced, as in I was sweating by the end, but it was truly all laughs and smiles from the whole crew.

The last major thing at the farm was Bessy, their main cow. We walked into another barn and there she was, taking a nice, long, stinky poo-- hot too. Our guide was not hesitant to ask who wanted to milk her, but after that load I was not even thinking about it. He told us to not be afraid... you just walk up bend over (no crouching), squeeze the teat, and tada the milk will come out. He also drank the warm milk straight from his hand. Fun Fact: even though it's not pasteurized, the milk is so fresh that it doesn't have time accumulate germs and such so it is the freshest milk possible. One by one people went up for their chance (primarily use Duquesne kids). I decided I had to seize the moment and go... so I did. It was pretty cool-- now I can say I milked a cow.

CHEESIN'

There is is... best to embrace the moment

After I tasted the milk...LOLOL

All in all, we had a lovely day. The best days are unexpected and we all couldn't ask for a better time.

Cheers,

Ky xx