A Bunch of Blarney

Hello! My life has been positively crazy for the last few days as I desperately fought to have the internet repaired in my house. It was finally finished today, nearly a week since I reported the problem. But I guess that is life. I should be glad that it was fixed that quickly, I guess.

Well, this weekend, I travelled about two hours to the illustrious land of Blarney Castle in County Cork, Ireland. Honestly, though the drive was long and the person next to me would not stop talking (even to let me contribute something), I had a great time exploring my second castle since I've been here. I met a couple of really cool people, and I reunited with a couple of people that I met while drunk in a dark bar. They were drunk, not me. I'm too classy. XD For 15 euro, we got the bus to and from the castle, entrance into the grounds, and a trip into Cork for a little shopping (which I really didn't get to do). Everything was worth it, however, when I walked into the grounds and caught my first glimpse of the castle. Absolutely gorgeous.

I wandered around the grounds for a while, until I found the dungeons. There really wasn't a whole lot to see if you weren't willing to crawl on your hands and knees into the actual cell, but it gave you the general idea of how miserable it would have been to be a prisoner. Not fun, and really damp. I ventured back out of the dungeons and finally found the entrance to the castle itself. Of course, once you are inside, the stairways up to the battlements are narrow and spiral, so its kinda scary when you are trying to go up when someone else is coming down. And steep as all get out. When I got to the battlements (where the Blarney Stone is located) by thighs were burning.

But along the way, there were various little nooks and crannies where you could pop in and explore the castle the way that the original inhabitants would walk through it. The rooms were veerrrryyyy small, with narrow hallways and shallow ceilings. They were obviously short and sylph-like in the 14th century (probably from walking up and down those stairs all the time). The decorations on the walls did not survive the centuries because of the open designs of the windows, but you can still almost imagine how the room would look when the lady of the house or a visiting noble would lay their heads at bedtimes.

At the top of the spiral staircase was an open and entirely beautiful view of the grounds of the castle. Luckily, it was a unusually warm and sunny day as there was no covering. You could either look out over the grounds or down into the great hall, which was where the family would go to eat and spend time together in what would be the warmest and most comfortable room in the castle. I did take a picture of the view into the great hall, but I'll put that up a little later. Here is the view out of the battlement on the grounds. I still can't get over how GREEN everything is here. In the middle of February, everything at home would be brown or white.

The Blarney Stone is the long rectangular stone at the bottom

Once I took my pictures of the grounds, I got in line to kiss the infamous Blarney Stone. In order to get access to the stone, you have to lay on your back (luckily on a plastic mat as the stones were still wet), grab two metal bars that were bolted into the wall, then slide your body backwards until you're relying entirely on your arm strength and the Irish guy who was spotting you to keep from breaking your neck. If you can get over your vertigo for a second, you can easily then kiss the stone and the guide will (hopefully) help you get back up. It's a vaguely terrifying experience, but it would have been ridiculous not to do it. It's something I can brag about for years to come. XD

Once I was done kissing the stone and the blood had rushed back from my head, I worked my way away from the opening in the floor and peeped down over a railing to the great hall. Here is the infamous picture I was telling you about. It's a long way down! All of the holes on the upper level were called murder holes. This was because cauldrons with boiling oil were placed in the holes. Should the castle be invaded, the occupants would tip these cauldrons onto the unsuspecting heads of the invaders for a likely rather uncomfortable bath. There were the remains of what would have been a really elaborate fresco on the wall under where I was standing.

Once I was done exploring the castle, I met up with some of the American international students that were staying in the same village as me and we explored the grounds. We wandered around a fern garden for a while, all of us talking about how beautiful and green everything is here. Matt, who is from Alabama, and Meg (Philly area) happened to find a really interesting nature loa in the garden, which was carved out of the trunk of the same species of tree that grew in the area. It was just one example of how the most unexpected things can appear when you aren't really looking for them. We didn't find any leprechauns, though!

After the gardens, we wandered around the grounds until we happened upon a cave located underneath the castle. It is said that this cave was where the owners of the castle fled under threat of an English siege, carrying with them a gold plate that the English lord thought to claim for himself as a prize. However, once the siege was declared useless (as the people were all gone), the lord left and the people came back. It is said that the golden plate, however, has still never been recovered. We didn't happen upon the plate, but we did get a few goose eggs from the low ceilings, and some mud on our jeans from exploring. Their roommate, Johlt, also found another pathway through the caves that Meg and I were too concerned with our clothing to explore.

After Blarney Castle, we headed into Cork for some shopping for a couple of hours, then took all of our thoroughly exhausted bodies back home, where we all crashed. Sunday, as it turned out, was a completely lazy day before my thoroughly exhausting Monday. As always, more pictures of my adventures both in Blarney and in the Cork City Centre are posted on Facebook. Any questions or comments can be added below.

Best,
Brooke

Exploring Edinburgh

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!. I'm just really happy because, as of today, I am no longer a teenager! That's right. Today is my 20th birthday! I hope that you all have a fantastic day. I have, and mine has barely even started! But more on that later

I arrived in Edinburgh on Sunday night after a day filled with the stress of finding yourself in a foreign country without any money and with your parents on another continent. On top of that, the bus that we finally managed to secure via telephone and the internet was an hour late, leaving me in the cold for that entire time. I was NOT happy when I first arrived here. However, within a few minutes of arriving, my bad mood disappeared. Edinburgh is the prettiest city that I have ever seen, especially at night. It literally took my breath away (though that may have to do with the fact that all the streets are built on impossibly steep slopes). Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

If you're going to Edinburgh anytime soon, stay at the Edinburgh Backpackers Hostel. It's near the top of one of those impossibly steep inclines I talked about earlier, but it is incredibly close to the Royal Mile, where a lot of the most visited tourist attractions are located, including Edinburgh Castle. Not only that, but the staff are some of the friendliest people I have ever met. When I arrived, the receptionist saw that I was flustered about my financial situation, and gave me a break my letting me stay for the night on just the money in my pocket. Then, when I woke up, the manager let me stay and keep my room until the emergency funds my mom sent me came through. I honestly don't know what I would have done without them, and I will be always grateful to them for cutting me a break when I needed one most. They restored my faith in humanity (for a while at least).

Gates of Edinburgh Castle

Of course, by the time that my money was in my account, it was just after 4:00. I headed up to Edinburgh Castle, which is only a few minutes away from the hostel, but I still made it there at like 4:20 because I stopped in a few souvenier shops along the way, thinking that the castle closed to tourists at 5. Of course, it closed the gates at 4:15. But the day was still young and I had the time to take some pictures before it got too dark. Here's the outside gate. There are more pictures of the inside on my Flickr and Facebook pages. I did get to go inside today, and will talk a little about that later. First, more about my supernatural experience.

First Floor of the Underground Vault

Last night, I took a tour of the haunted Edinburgh Underground Tunnels, which are typically closed to the public. It only lasted an hour and a half, but I will tell you that it was one of the most interesting nights of my life thus far. Before the tour, I believed that ghosts and the supernatural was possible, but now I am almost certainly a believer. I encourage any tourists heading to Edinburgh to take a tour, particularily if you're interested in the darker side of history. Who knows? It may make a believer out of you too. XD The tour guide turned out the lights, so the only thing we could see was her flashlight. Any light in the pictures I took was created by my flash.

Room Where My Pants Were Tugged

It was really cool, and the downstairs was interesting. Upstairs, however was a completely different atmosphere. I was shaking the whole time and my legs kept getting goosebumps. As we were leaving one vault, I felt a tug on my pants at the back of my knee, kinda like a little kid grabbing your leg to get your attention. I thought it was just someone behind me that stepped on my pants, but there was no one else around. Then, as we were standing in another vault, I felt a burning sensation of my leg. I wrote it off and didn't tell anyone about it because I thought I was overreacting. As we were walking out though, I mentioned the pants thing to the guide and she said that a medium told her the room that I was in is supposedly full of the spirits of children who were kidnapped by a pedophile, violated, then sold on the street. When I said something about the burning on my leg, she just brushed it off and said "Oh, more than likely one of the kids saw you as a mother figure and tried to grab ahold of you to get out of there because you were by yourself and not clinging to anyone." I just checked my leg, and it's bright red right in the area I felt burning. I'm really freaking out. So, I may be bringing a kid home with me, and I don't have to wait nine months and deal with labor to get it....but it may have been violated by a man with really long fingernails who prays on young kids. So....it goes without saying that I had a little trouble getting to sleep last night.

War Victim Memorial in the Citadel of Edinburgh Castle

Despite my trouble sleeping last night, I woke up bright and early this morning in order to get the chance to explore Edinburgh Castle. So I hiked my butt back up the Royal Mile (the city limits of Edinburgh) and headed to the castle, only stopping at one or two shops along the way. I got there at around 10:00 and was eagerly set free in the castle courtyards. I chose to forgo the guided tour in order to better experience the castle at my own pace. The highlight of the attraction was probably the opportunity to see the Scottish Crown Jewels, which were hidden underground for a few years to protect them from possible English invaders. I wasn't able to take any pictures, because it may damage them, but it was worth it just to see them. The Stone of Destiny, the stone on which all of the kings and queens of Scotland were crowned, was in the same case as the jewels and was really interesting to see.

Though I couldn't take any pictures of the Crown Jewels, I did take lots of other pictures of the inside of the Castle, all of which are either on my Facebook or my Flickr. Despite a rather lofty entrance fee (14 pounds, or about 22$), it was really worth it just to experience walking around a castle. It is so cool to stand inside a piece of history and imagine the original inhabitants walking its halls. It's not an experience we Americans can replicate very easily without extensive (and expensive) travelling. Plus, there were some truly beautiful views of the city of Edinburgh from the top of the parapet.

Tonight, I'll be headed back to Glasgow on the Megabus to get a flight back to Dublin in the morning. In the meantime, I have to sleep in the airport. You're not truly a hard core traveler until you sleep in the airport. Mostly, I'll be there because my flight leaves at 7 in the morning and buses don't start until like 6. So, I'll find me a nice comfortable corner and daze while I wait for the plane to arrive. I can sleep on the trip back to Dublin. Hopefully I don't die.

Much love and happiness for Valentine's Day!

Brooke <3

A Girl Alone in Glasgow

Well, I've been in Glasgow for about 36 hours now, and I'm really having a great time. The city is absolutely beautiful, and everything is so easy to walk to. I've put about four miles under my belt just today. And very little of that was because I got lost. XD I'm staying at the BlueSky Hostel, which is a cute little place with graffiti all over the walls (intentionally and good graffiti). There is also a house dog that stays during the day. His name is Sheffield and he's absolutely adorable. It makes me miss my Pig...but I'll get over it.

Yesterday, I pretty much just slept all day after waking up at 3 AM to get to my flight. I took a nap and woke up at 5:30, but I still don't think that it was enough. And it was definitely not enough after the night I had last night.  Not only did the guy sleeping in the bed above me snore (have you ever heard someone snore in a Scottish accent before? Hilarious), but I think he was on drugs or something. He fell down the ladder of the bunk bed like three times during the night, both talked and farted in his sleep, and somehow managed to knock his portable DVD player off of the bed, where it bounced off the wall and hit me in the face while I was sleeping. Overall, no one in the room with 10 beds got any real sleep. Well, except for him anyway. It was kinda miserable, and I stopped feeling sorry for him after the DVD player almost broke my nose.

The Bridge of Sighs

Today, I got up bright and early (mostly because I couldn't take the snoring any more) and decided that I would see Glasgow during my last day in the city. I started off walking down Bath Street toward Cathedral Street, where I knew that the Glasgow Cathedral and Necropolis were. Overall, its about 2 miles and I covered it in about a half an hour (with stopping to shop for souveniers). Once I got there, I was completely overwhelmed by how beautiful everything is. I walked around the Cathedral for a while until I found the enterance for the Necropolis, or City of the Dead. You start off going across the Bridge of Sighs, which was funded by the Merchant class in Glasgow as a symbol of their wealth and the devotion that they felt for their dearly departed.

Once over the bridge, I wandered around the base of the Necropolis for a while, looking at dates and names of the people who were buried there. Some of the monuments were very plain at the bottom, but became more and more intricate towards the top of the hill. Just to compare, here are a lower tombstone (left) and one at the top (right).

It was so peaceful and such a beautiful view at the top that you can almost forget that you're at a cemetary, where dead people are buried beneath your feet. It was entirely gorgeous, but still kinda creepy. I felt something slap my leg and kinda vibrate. I freaked out and screamed, thinking that I had stepped on a snake or something while I wasn't paying attention. Here, I stepped on a stick and the curved edge made it vibrate against my leg. I heard a couple of people at the bottom of the Necropolis laugh at me. Oh well...I'm used to people laughing at me after I do something stupid. I'll live (though I may not have if it were actually snake).

After the Necropolis, I walked around Glasgow city centre for a while, exploring side streets and trying to find a bus stop that would take me to the National Science Centre. As I wandered, I found a ferris wheel, kinda similar to the Eye of London, except it was the Eye of Glasgow. Of course, I rushed over for a ride. Luckily, I thought to bring my student ID with me, because it saved me two pounds. Yes, I am cheap. Anyway, I rode this thing to the very tippy top, and it held there for about five minutes. It was kinda windy today, which made the carriage I was in swing (kinda terrifying, let me tell you).

View of the Glasgow City Hall from the Eye

I took the opportunity to take some pictures of the Glasgow skyline while I was up there. It gave a really fantastic view of both the city and George Square, where the Eye was assembled. Here's one of the shots that I took while trying not to rock my pod anymore than it was already doing. After the fifth trip around the Eye, at which I was starting to feel slightly sick, I headed back out into the city. While I ended up not going into the Science Centre, I did take a tour of Glasgow on a double decker bus. They gave you a set of earphones, which you plugged into a radio on the bus to set the language you wanted to hear. The bus played a message telling us about all of the various tourist attractions and historical monuments that surrounded us on our two hour tour.

Of course, like my tour in Limerick, I sat outside the enclosed area of the bus to get better pictures, risking frostbite to my extremities. I couldn't feel my legs by the end of the tour, but it was worth it to get to see more of this entirely beautiful city. It is truly amazing to think that the city of Glasgow was first lived in during the 6th century A.D. Considering that's nearly 13 centuries more than our country was even settled, I was hugely impressed. Very little of the original architecture still remains, though there are still some buildings from the Victorian and Georgian Eras that are still in relatively good shape considering their age. However, they are not all being used for their original purpose anymore. For example, the building above was once a Catholic cathedral, but is now used as a restaurant. Kinda cool, if you think about it.

After the tour dropped me off relatively close to my hostel, I popped by a shop to get a slightly larger bag (on wheels!!) to make my life a little easier for the trip back to Dublin. Exhausted and unable to feel my legs, I walked back to the hostel, greeted Sheffield and the guys at the Reception desk, and headed up to my room to write this post. If you guys want to see more photos of my trip into Glasgow, check out my Facebook profile (www.facebook.com/hopelesswanderer). As always, if you have any questions, leave them in a comment below.

Best,
Brooke

Hatters and Hares

As the title implies, the last two weeks have been MAD!!! Crazy, that is. The International Society and classes have had us poor exhange students running ourselves what feels like all over Ireland. And there may be some truth to that. We've had signups for trips around the country, signups for clubs, signups for classes and tutorials, and signups for other signups. Well, that last part may be exaggerated, but not by much. The preparation has paid off, however, as we have begun to take trips with our respective clubs and societies.

Yeah, the cliff behind the guy in red. 

For example, yesterday was the Outdoor Pursuits Club's journey to The Burren for rock climbing.  Being on this trip, I was expecting to make a fool of myself by not being able to make it the whole way up the cliffside. Just to give you an idea, here's a look at the cliff they wanted us to scale.

However, because the rocks were too wet to climb (because this is Ireland and it's always freaking raining), they decided that it was not safe for us poor beginners to attempt to climb this cliff. My thighs and my dignity thanked them.

Instead, we took a hike of the area, a set of cliffs that overlook the Atlantic Ocean called the Burren. While some climbing was involved, it was more like this >>
than the whole fall-to-your-death thing they had planned. Which was also a relief. Overall, we all had a great time slipping on rocks and risking our lives just to get a peep at where the ocean hits the bottom of the cliff. Really, it was a beautiful experience and one I will likely never forget. Because of strong headwinds, the guides had to keep telling us to back up. Actually, the way they phrased it was "We're not fishing Americans out of the ocean today, guys! The water is too cold." -_-

Having more balls than brains, I risked my life to get the perfect picture to summarize how beautiful this experience really was. The Atlantic really is prettier on this side of the pond. The sound of the water hitting the rocks was especially soothing. Particularily since it was like 10 o'clock on a Sunday morning after a Saturday spent out with friends at the bar. One of my new German friends, Thomas, took a picture of me on the edge, but hasn't sent it to me yet. I'll include it on the next post so that you can all applaud me for my bravery. XD

Since we were so unfortunate as to not be able to rock climb at the Burren, the guides decided that we could spend the rest of our day relaxing at the beach. Lahinch Beach in County Clare was the next stop on our fantastic Sunday voyage. However, it didn't really feel like a beach (probably because it was so freaking cold). But we took a walk on the sand and enjoyed each other's company. We picked up shells and skipped rocks as we walked along the shore until we reached a bridge at the end of the beach. As we waited for stragglers, one of the senior members found a balloon in her pack and balloon rugby was founded.
I didn't get any good pictures of some of the fantastic tackles that went on. Suffice to say, more than one person went home with sand in their shorts. Sadly, the balloon did not make it home, as it was tragically killed in the first play of the game. Its remains, however, were passed from one member of the OPC to another for several minutes after its demise. Once all of the stragglers were accounted for and we did a buddy check like good little fifth graders, we all stood by patiently for a group shot before heading back to the other end of the beach, where the town starts and the pub beckoned.

However, because some of the members are completely crazy (like the Thomas I mentioned before) they thought it would be a fantastic idea to strip to their underwear and go for a nice swim in the ice cold ocean. Did I mention that it was 9 degrees Celsius outside? That's about 48 degrees Farenheit. Not nearly warm enough for sane people to go swimming, but as I said before, the first few weeks drove us crazy. Or at least that's my excuse. Once they were done being crazy and were dressed again, we headed back to the bus for our dry clothing and went out to the pub to watch the Ireland v. Wales rugby game, which was lost in the last minute due to a penalty on Ireland's part. It was not a fun bus ride home. XD

Even though it was cold and exhausting, I still had a fantastic time on my first look of Ireland outside of Limerick and UL. And I still had enough energy to finish out the night at the bar with a couple of friends, so all was great. Hope you all had as nice of a weekend as I did, and hope your week promises to be a fantastic as mine. I'm leaving for Scotland on Thursday, so there will most definitely be a new post by Saturday at the latest.

As always,
Brooke