At any rate, I have done quite a bit over the past month ranging from visits to small Irish towns like Kinsale and Cashel to traveling on a bus in the early hours of the morning to go hiking to recent visits to cities like Dublin and as of this weekend; Edinburgh, and Glasgow. There have been many memorable moments, but nothing compares to my Saturday in Dublin. I had just finished an amazing (and lengthly) visit to the Book of Kells at Trinity College, and decided to split off from the group to watch the Ireland v. Italy Rugby match, the opening skirmish of the Six Nations Tournament for Ireland. I followed a sea of dark green Rugby jerseys to Croake Park, where I passed dozens of hot dog vendors, memorabilia stands, and eager fans seeking out a last second scalped ticket to the match. Of course I soon fell victim to a line of thinking sometimes dangerous while on vacation or studying abroad; 'Well I'm thousands of miles from home, I already have spent so much money...I might as well buy this'. You can probably guess where this is going, following some intense bargaining and negotiation with the fine young entrepreneurs of Ireland (Read: sketchy ticket scalper), I had secured a colorful and coveted ticket to the match. I cannot even described the following five minutes as my face beamed like a child as I passed through the gate and then in what can only be described as some sort of picturesque movie moment, I walked up through the tunnel to emerge into a panoramic view of 75,500 Irish rugby fans and two national teams lined up of the field under the glaring stadium lights of Croake Park as the Irish national anthem was sung. The game was amazing and Ireland emerged victorious by a slim margin of 16-10, but it was the experience of attending a international tournament event that just completely blew my mind. It also didn't hurt that the tickets were at midfield and only about 25 rows from the field :)
At anyrate that has been the defining moment of the trip, and I wont brutalize the English language with anymore rambling about events so seemingly insignificant but absolutely amazing to me. For the sake of my memory and a sense of time, I have included a short list of some of the more memorable moments of my trip thus far.
Jan 19 - Kinsale - Beautiful harbor town, walked around the city for a bit
Jan 20 - Killarney National Park - Decided to give mountain climbing a shot, 6 hours on a wet and soggy Irish mountain never seemed so fun. After the hike, Pint of Guinness and some food as we watched a soccer game in a pub in Killarney.
Jan 26 - Cashel - Amazing views. Rock of Cashel is a castle built for the King of Munster about 1600 years ago. The Hore Abbey provided for some great pictures and provided a great view of the castle on the horizon. After we got some great sandwiches and a pint of Guinness in a pub in the main town.
Jan 31 - Feb 3 - Dublin! Dropkick Murphys concert, Book of Kells, Ireland Rugby, Temple Bar, Guinness factory, drinking a freshly brewed Guinness at the top of the factory as well as the foreign extra stout (only available in Africa, Dublin, and parts of the carribiean), The best damn bed and breakfast in Europe, omelets in the morning, and a damn good time wandering the streets of Dublin.
Feb 10- Hungry Hill climb - oddly enough while climbing the mountain, myself and other people became quite hungry. It was cloudy but nice, untill we hit the top and it felt like walking past dubois library during a hurricane. Furthermore, the fog got pretty thick once we got up a little bit, I snapped a picture before it got really foggy.
Feb 13 - Played Inline hockey with the UCC inline hockey club...this was very embarassing and VERY fun.
Feb 16-19 - Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland! This was a great time....started off on saturday with a classic "We are American day" involving some pizza hut and movies. Cultured up a bit on Sunday with a visit to the AMAZING Kellingrove museum...saw some ridiculously amazing paintings (including the feeling of seeing a Van Gogh or Rembrandt in person) and cool exhibits. Monday was possibly the highlight of the trip as we took a train to Edinburgh...just a spectacular city which felt so European it gave me the chills to actually think about where I am. Grabbed some lunch in what looked like some kind of cathedral turned art center (?), got a sick sandwhich and a locally brewed IPA.Ah that feels good to Document.
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