(Dublin, as told by Julia and Sarah)
We're blogging now from Marlborough Hostel in Dublin. Since our last post we have traveled roughly 500 km, been to four cities, over a dozen pubs, and by last count we are all still friends.
After half a day in Galway the five of us packed ourselves back into our rental car, "Dooley," and trekked 198km to Cork via Limerick singing along to our Saw Doctors CD (a famous Irish band that I was introduced to four years ago) the entire time. We found that there was not a whooolllle lot to do in Cork although we all liked it for its entertaining night life, including a memorable bartender named Kane and its proximity to Blarney. Blarney is less than 15km from Cork and even after getting horribly lost and unintentionally touring the city and surrouding areas we were able to make it there in half an hour. In Blarney we met up with world-traveler extrodinaire Gill Morris and did the only thing to do in Blarney... kiss the Blarney stone!! Apparently it is suppose to give you the "gift of gab," but I'll let our readership be the judge of that!
After Blarney it was on to Dublin where we have been enjoying oursevles for two days now. Yesterday after an exhaustive day of touring, guided by Courtney-the-Ruthless, we all convened at the Pavillion, what we assume to be Trinity's equivalent of the Queen's Head Pub. At the "Pav" we met a pair of nice (re: attractive) and polite (re: entertaining) Irish soldiers, Angus and Liam, who we met up with again later last night.
This morning Kara, Courtney, Gill and Heidi departed for Amsterdam (expect posts from them shortly!) and Sarah and I have stayed behind awaiting our flight to Nice tomorrow!
AWARDS:
Best purchase: Saw Doctors CD, 10 euro. Sustained us for hours in Dooley when leg room and air was hard to come by (so I'm told -- there was actually plenty of space in the driver's seat) and stone walls and green grass stretched endlessly in front of us.
- Here's a link to our favorite tune, "N17": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlRhzRsAHQw
Favorite Pub: Howl at the Moon. Not really a pub, but a Dublin favorite nonetheless.
Thing we most need: An Alarm Clock. At first we were scared when the hostel workers banged angerily on our door to wake us up 30 minutes after we should have checked out, but that has become the norm by now, much to our hostels' shagrin.
Most heard from new Irish friends: "Why the fook would ye come to Ireland?"
That's all for now! Until next time...
Julia (edited/censored by Sarah)
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Day 1: Dooley McFiat
We are operating under the pressing constraints of interent cafe minutes so this will be relatively brief. A short timeline of events,
7:10 PM EST, we take off
7:11 PM EST, Sarah falls asleep, everyone else curses her, orders from the drink cart, and reads about Ireland.
5:55 AM Ireland Time Zone (ITZ): Get first view of Irish countryside, Kara thinks we are crash landing in a field, Sarah awakens in time to marvel that the landscape fails to conform to the egalitarian Jeffersonian grid, characteristic of the American midwest. ahhhhh Professor Krieger would be proud! (No else has slept more than 40 minutes.)
6:45 AM ITZ: After initial rejection from every respectable car rental company at Shannon International, we encounter Dan Dooley car rental who gives us the keys to our gorgeous chariot (since renamed Dooley McFiat). We stuff all of our luggage in (barely) and set out on the open, windy, narrow roads of the spectacular Irish countryside.
2:00 PM ITZ: After napping in McFiat for two hours we visit the Cliffs of Moher and then continue our cicuitous drive up the coast to Galway.
6:00 PM ITZ: Check into "Snoozle's'"hostle and get ready for our first night out on the town!
"Seriously?" Moment of the Day: Julia mistakes a tourgroup of senior citzens for an angry mob of striking workers and urgently screams for us to lock the doors -- of our moving vehicle...
Irish Mantras/ Wisdom of the Celts (thus far):
1. "Never admit liability!" -- rental woman at Dooley on the first rule in case of an accident.
2. "Look right, stay left."
3. "Be the tortise!!" -- backstreat drivers as Julia careens around hairpin turns in the first 10 mins of driving stickshift with the wrong hand, on the wrong side of the road. Slow and steady wins the race... or gets there in one piece.
Cheers!
Julia, Sarah, Kara, Heidi and Courtney (as told by Julia and Sarah)
7:10 PM EST, we take off
7:11 PM EST, Sarah falls asleep, everyone else curses her, orders from the drink cart, and reads about Ireland.
5:55 AM Ireland Time Zone (ITZ): Get first view of Irish countryside, Kara thinks we are crash landing in a field, Sarah awakens in time to marvel that the landscape fails to conform to the egalitarian Jeffersonian grid, characteristic of the American midwest. ahhhhh Professor Krieger would be proud! (No else has slept more than 40 minutes.)
6:45 AM ITZ: After initial rejection from every respectable car rental company at Shannon International, we encounter Dan Dooley car rental who gives us the keys to our gorgeous chariot (since renamed Dooley McFiat). We stuff all of our luggage in (barely) and set out on the open, windy, narrow roads of the spectacular Irish countryside.
2:00 PM ITZ: After napping in McFiat for two hours we visit the Cliffs of Moher and then continue our cicuitous drive up the coast to Galway.
6:00 PM ITZ: Check into "Snoozle's'"hostle and get ready for our first night out on the town!
"Seriously?" Moment of the Day: Julia mistakes a tourgroup of senior citzens for an angry mob of striking workers and urgently screams for us to lock the doors -- of our moving vehicle...
Irish Mantras/ Wisdom of the Celts (thus far):
1. "Never admit liability!" -- rental woman at Dooley on the first rule in case of an accident.
2. "Look right, stay left."
3. "Be the tortise!!" -- backstreat drivers as Julia careens around hairpin turns in the first 10 mins of driving stickshift with the wrong hand, on the wrong side of the road. Slow and steady wins the race... or gets there in one piece.
Cheers!
Julia, Sarah, Kara, Heidi and Courtney (as told by Julia and Sarah)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Bus to Ireland
Currently, I'm on a bus to Ireland. Well, sort of. Finally on my way to Boston, to meet up with my now-graduated friends, to get on a plane to Ireland. I've graduated too, or so I've been told. Only difference is, I didn't get my diploma. Thank you, Student Receivables Office (and thank you, library fines).
Though a Euro-trip post graduation may seem cliché and easy, such has not been the case. Here's a recap:
June 4: Graduation. Fun times, but too many cases of swine flu. Recipe for disaster? Get 1600 college seniors to drink more than ever before then not sleep, ruin their immune systems, then get in as close proximity of each other as possible every night to share many hugs, kisses, and viruses.
June 5: Move out. Harder than any final, hands down.
June 6: Therapy sessions to help get over the fact that we have been kicked out of fantasyland: land of ready-yet-uneaten hot breakfasts and parties where all sketchiness has at least passed the screen of the harvard admissions process.
June 8: Courtney "loses" her passport and fears she will have to miss out on Ireland.
June 9: Courtney finds her passport but Heidi misses her bus to Boston due to poor maneuvering by her cab driver, which leaves a 2 feet dent in on the side of the pretty yellow cab.
Having overcome all these obstacles (and we pray there are no more), we are off to our first post-grad adventure! Hope you all enjoy the blog, EuroClass09*.
*Classy, not Trashy... and Classy, but also in the Class of 09... get it? get it? Oh, we are so clever. There probably was no need for me to provide this explanation.
Though a Euro-trip post graduation may seem cliché and easy, such has not been the case. Here's a recap:
June 4: Graduation. Fun times, but too many cases of swine flu. Recipe for disaster? Get 1600 college seniors to drink more than ever before then not sleep, ruin their immune systems, then get in as close proximity of each other as possible every night to share many hugs, kisses, and viruses.
June 5: Move out. Harder than any final, hands down.
June 6: Therapy sessions to help get over the fact that we have been kicked out of fantasyland: land of ready-yet-uneaten hot breakfasts and parties where all sketchiness has at least passed the screen of the harvard admissions process.
June 8: Courtney "loses" her passport and fears she will have to miss out on Ireland.
June 9: Courtney finds her passport but Heidi misses her bus to Boston due to poor maneuvering by her cab driver, which leaves a 2 feet dent in on the side of the pretty yellow cab.
Having overcome all these obstacles (and we pray there are no more), we are off to our first post-grad adventure! Hope you all enjoy the blog, EuroClass09*.
*Classy, not Trashy... and Classy, but also in the Class of 09... get it? get it? Oh, we are so clever. There probably was no need for me to provide this explanation.
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