All Good Things Must Come to an End
So, as you can guess by the title of this post, this is my last night in Ireland! I am having some extremely mixed emotions over the whole thing and I checked out of my apartment today. I’m in the hotel with my mom and grandma, and while I’m excited to go home and see my friends, brother and pets, it doesn’t seem like it should be over already. I feel like I just got here, and I miss my friends a lot.
Many of them became my second family while I have been in Ireland and it’s so weird not being around them all the time!
But, like I said, I am excited to go home, too. It’s just weird that it’s over so soon.
A short summary:
1) “THOMOND” is pronounced “TOE-mund”. Try to get an Irish person to say “THree” instead of “TRee” — they can’t do it and they roll the ‘r’. It’s pretty funny.
2) Go to Belfast.
3) Dogs have the run of this country
4) So do the children
5) Supermac’s is absolutely horrifying. Don’t eat there. Ever.
6) SPAR sandwiches are pretty delicious, though.
7) Nothing is open on Sundays — NOTHING.
8) Reception is NOT open 24 hrs/7 days like they claim, at least in Thomond. Instead, it’s probably open 7 hrs/6 days a week — maybe even less and never at the same times. It’s just randomly closed for 3 hours one day, and open during those 3 hours the next. It was insanely frustrating.
9) The Irish rarely clean up after themselves.
10) Scholar’s has the best/cheapest food on campus. Try to avoid Stables.
11) They have creepy lasagna here: shepherd’s pie filling (including peas), in between noodles, with a flavorless, white, cream sauce on top and then cheddar cheese. No ricotta. It’s just weird.
12) Mexican is wrong. Don’t order it anywhere.
13) There are no squirrels in Limerick.
14) Schoolwork is…quite different…
15) Umbrellas break — bring a slicker with a hood, rainboots/water resistant boots instead
16) The beds come with sheets, but I brought my own. There aren’t towels though…although, I don’t know why that would be appealing. I brought my own towel, too.
17) Grocery shopping is the most annoying thing in the entire universe
18) Traditional music is absolutely gorgeous and super fun
19) Leaving home is hard — but going home is harder.
20) You WILL change; embrace it, don’t be afraid.
There are other things that I could think of as well, but I’m too tired to do so at the moment. Basically, Ireland, I want to just say ‘Thanks’ for helping me become the person I am today. ’Thanks’ for letting me meet some of the best friends I’ve ever had. ’Thanks’ for the laughs, the tears, the hugs, the rainbows, the sunny days, the rainy days, the death bridge, the birds, the classes, the trips, the memories (good or bad) and ‘Thanks’ for the adventure of a lifetime.
-Cass
0Ring of Kerry — The Kingdom
So this post is about a month old, but you really need to forgive me. The two weeks between the Ring of Kerry tour and my Europe adventure were exhausting and a complete whirlwind. Angie and I were trying to get our lives in order before we left for 12 days and updating my blog was not a priority. Anyways! Onto “The Kingdom” of Ireland!
So only Angie and I went on this tour with Hibernia Adventures. First, let me say, that they are a wonderful tour group, and since we sat near the front of the bus to avoid being bus sick, we were able to get to know the guides pretty well!
We left pretty early, I think 8am at the flagpoles bus stop, which, honestly, was an exhausting and annoying trek from Thomond at such an early time — but we made it.
The Ring of Kerry was absolutely beautiful! The landscape was so different from any other part of Ireland I had seen! Mountains, crystal blue waters, bright, vibrant, green grass and white sheep dotted along the countryside! Speaking of sheep, I got to hold a lamb and she was the sweetest little thing ever.
I’ve sort of decided that I’m going to move back to Ireland and own a plot of land in Kerry. I’m going to breed sheep, learn to knit and make sweaters in my cottage. I’ll also have lots of bichon frises, teacup pigs and I GUESS Bella and Caoimhe (my current cats) can come too.
Angie and I were pretty good with our money on this tour. Probably because we wanted to spend it all on food in Italy, but I surprisingly only bought a mug from an adorable little pottery shop on the second day of this tour.
Something different that we did that isn’t on many other tours was we played some ancient Irish games — hurling, Gaelic Football, Spear and Rock throwing, and we were also forced to tell stories. Of course, Angie and I exploited a “Tim Story” because we couldn’t think of anything else that related to our “Irish Proverb”.
On Saturday night, we stayed in Tralee and Angie and I went on a “date” of sorts to this delicious little Italian restaurant. Of course, like many other places here, we were skeptical of the food and it’s quality — but it was surprisingly amazing.
Then we went back to the hostel early, took some spooky photos of Angie walking in the dark like a creep, then we read and went to sleep by 11pm. I think Angie and I were the only ones well rested on day two. Additionally, we had our own room — so that was a major, major plus.
The second day we went around the Dingle Peninsula and it was absolutely beautiful! We went into Dingle City and got ice cream, laughed at a phallic poster of an ice cream cone, hopped on a boat to see Fungie, the dolphin who lives in Dingle Bay, and eventually we made it back to Limerick, where we collapsed, and tried not to think about the papers we had to write by that upcoming Friday.
07 days
I’m leaving this green and rainy island in less than a week. I have 7 more nights in this room, 7 more nights in this bed, 7 more nights with this shower, 7 more nights cuddled in these sheets, 7 more nights without a snuggly-kitty friend.
I have a few more trip posts to write, including Ring of Kerry, my 12 day adventure through Europe and various adventures I go on with my mother, who has been here for a few days already, and my grandmother, who arrives tomorrow.
This experience has been completely eye opening for me — while my world got a lot bigger, the Earth itself got a lot smaller. I know people from all over, I have changed and grown up, and finally developed into the person I always wanted to be. There was a little drama here and there, but I know that a lot of the people that I met here will be lifelong friends, namely the lovely and beautiful Angie — but there are others as well.
It’s been amazing being able to look at my life at home so objectively, and be able to return to it with a new mindset and be true to myself — someone I have grown to love more than anyone I know.
I miss food from home, and I can’t wait to indulge in Hebrew National hot dogs, Jimmy John’s, Noodles and Co., and broccoli cheddar soup from Panera. Of course, the novelty will wear off quickly, but it’s something that I am allowing myself to be excited about.
I miss my cats and I can’t wait to see their furry little faces again.
I miss my best friend/brother and I can’t wait to play videogames with him before he galavants off to Spain for 6 weeks this summer.
The only things I’m sad about — and are now on my “to visit” list of places for when I return to Europe someday in the next 10 years are as follows:
Prague, Czech Republic
Paris, France
London, England
Krakow or Warsaw, Poland
Florence, Italy
Tuscany, Italy
Nice, France
Seville, Spain
Edinburgh, Scotland
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Budapest, Hungary
Munich, Germany
Nuremberg, Germany
Stockholm, Sweden
Zadar, Croatia
Maybe I’ll need two trips to do it all ;]
0Rome, etc.
So, I go on my 12 day Europe adventure with Angie in 5 days. Oh, yes. Five. Days. I can’t believe how quickly this trip is sneaking up on me, but it is. I’ve nearly finished all of my essays that I want to get finished by tomorrow, I have a music exam to do tomorrow, then I need to run some errands, and do laundry — in addition to other, horrible, miscellaneous tasks before I leave Monday night/early Tuesday morning.
Just a refresher:
Rome from April 24-April 29th
Venice from April 29th-May 1st
Jungfraugh, Switzterland from May 1st-May 3rd
Southern Germany from May 3rd-May 4th
Amsterdam from May 4th-May 5th
Then I come home, have a few finals, my mom shows up, I take her and my grandmother around Ireland and then I go home.
In 34 days.
I go home in 34 days.
When I get back from my trip, I will be heading home in 17 days. I can’t believe this semester is almost over — it has been the time of my life, that’s for sure.
1“Amsterdam is determined to make us fat.” (Post 2 of 2)
I know it took me a while to get this post up, but I’ve been busy. And certain people who had photos that I wanted didn’t post them on Facebook until recently. So, sue me.
So anyways, as promised, this is blog post ENTIRELY dedicated to the amazing food that I ate while in Amsterdam. Of course 90% of it is sweets and chocolate, but I do have a sweet tooth that has been known to make me eat terrible, terrible things.
I don’t really care. Because if it’s delicious, I could care less how much sugar and fat is in it.
So on the first day, I didn’t eat much of anything interesting.
On the second day, I ate a BUNCH of stuff:
1) This waffle:
2) A hot dog
3) Stroopwaffles
4) Heineken Beer (Didn’t “eat” it but whatever)
5) Pad Thai
6) A crepe with Nutella, chocolate sauce and strawberries:
On Saturday:
1) This apple and cheese pancake at the Pancake Bakery:
2) 2nd best apple pie I’ve ever had:
3) Chocolate:
4) Nachos
5) Another nutella, chocolate and strawberry crepe
6) A cookie crumb, nutella, banana and chocolate crepe
7) Cheesey fries
8) Reese’s Puffs
On Sunday:
1) Stroopwaffles
2) Wrap
3) Chocomel
4) Sushi
5) Waffle with ice cream
On Monday:
1) Almond pastry
2) Chocomel
3) Wrap
4) More Chocomel
5) Reese’s Puffs
On Tuesday:
1) Another apple and cheese pancake from the Pancake Bakery
2) Stroopwaffles
3) McDonald’s
Yep.
0Amsterdam: A Place in the World to Call my Own (Post 1 of 2)
First and foremost, I want to state a few things:
1) Amsterdam is the most beautiful and wonderful place I have ever been. My heart has been broken since I have been away from her, and it’s hard to put the pieces back together.
2) The food was absolutely spectacular, and honestly, the food ALONE deserves it’s own blog post, and I might just do that. I probably gained 50lbs in 3 days.
3) I will go back there many more times in my lengthy, nomadic, Earthling existence and I will bring every single person I love with me to share a place that reflects who I am.
4) I am determined to find a way to move there.
That being said, this post will be extremely long, full of photos, and it’s possible that I may shed a tear or two as I remember my week long adventure in The Venice of the North.
Thursday 29/03/2012:
Sophie, Emily, Carolyn, Katie and I spent the majority of the day traveling. Our flight wasn’t until 5:15pm, so we made sure to catch the Dublin Coach with plenty of time to spare between our arrival and our flight departure.
Unfortunately, my AWESOME dragon belt that I have had for years broke before we even got to Dublin and I had to pitch it. Of course, I had a funeral for it, and it’s unlikely that I will find such a legit belt ever, ever again. Since my belt broke, I was belt-less the entire trip, and I kept re-adjusting my pants, but my large hips and small waist kept causing them to slither down. For a week.
When we got to the airport, and we were about 3 hours early, so we decided to go to this little food place called “The Chocolate Lounge” — really? Let’s make it more difficult for a girl with an insane sweet tooth to save money — and I got belgian waffles with chocolate ice cream and hot fudge.
The flight to Amsterdam was quick — quicker than I expected at about 1 hour and 10 minutes — and we landed in the airport at 7:30pm.
In Schipol Airport, the train station is actually attached to the airport, so it was super easy to catch the train to Amsterdam Centraal. Unfortunately, as we were waiting with our bags for the train, I guess it was running late AND got switched to a different rail line, however the notices were in Dutch, so as we are standing there at Track 1, a train pulls up to Track 2 behind us. We are waiting and twiddling our thumbs, and as the train from Track 2 begins to leave, I noticed where it was headed “Amsterdam Centraal” and exclaimed, “son of a bitch!” as it drove away.
So we waited 15 minutes and another train showed up.
Thankfully, learning my lesson from the useless woman at the airport in Berlin, I purchased a map of Amsterdam so we could find our way around the city without problem. I used that map multiple times a day. Once we got to central station, we figured out where our hostel was and proceeded to walk there — it wasn’t far, but my rolling duffle bag kept jostling about from the cobblestone/brick streets and sidewalks. My arm was sore from taming it for a few hours.
We checked in at the hostel around 9-9:30pm and it was right in the thick of the Red Light District. We decided that after we dropped our bags off in our room, we would go meandering out in the Red Light District.
Our hostel!
It. Was. An. Experience.
1) You can’t take pictures of the women, but I can tell you, that they all look like Barbie dolls, and so surreal-y inhuman that it was sort of nauseating.
(Google Image)
2) There are different “rows” depending on the street you are, so there is “Fugly Row”, “Skinny Row”, “Hot Street”, “Blue Light Row” (those who have both kinds of junk), etc.
3) There was a sex shop in every other building, and sex shows on every street corner.
4) Some of the women are down little alley ways that are so slim that there is only enough room for two single file lines — one moving in either direction. At one point, the five of us were walking down one of these skinny alleys, finding it difficult to make eye contact with the men who ALSO were finding it difficult to make eye contact with us, and it was so quiet. We were in the middle of a bustling city and it was dead silent in that alley way. The only thing you could hear was the shuffling of shoes and the awkward intensity of the solicited sex just adjacent to you.
In fits of awkward laughter, we made our way back to the hostel around midnight, and cashed out for the evening, since we had to get up early-ish to meet Andy Steves and the rest of the group.
Friday 30/03/2012:
After a night of unconscious bliss, we all went downstairs to meet Andy Steves, and found that the hostel was serving breakfast. I had a glass of orange juice and a half of a peach jam sandwich, but that was about all that I wanted. There were only 12 of us in the group, plus Andy Steves, and we were heading out to go to the Van Gogh museum. We took a round about way of getting there to see the city, make a few pit stops, take photos with the IAmsterdam sign, and then we got in line for the museum.
Dam Square
The museum was absolutely wild, and I wish I could elaborate more on this, but I can’t.
All you have to know, is this painting changed my life and it is my favorite:
(Google Image)
After the Van Gogh Museum, we went to this little flea market and I stuffed my face with copious amounts of food.
Sidebar: I have never been so happily full, for so many days in a row in my entire life.
We had a little bit of free time, so we went to the Heineken Brewery, which was really cool, but it was also just like every other brewery tour ever.
Then we made our way back to the hostel to meet Andy for Thai dinner and a Red Light District walk about.
I learned quite a few things about the Red Light District that I would never have guessed, and if you have any questions, just feel free to ask.
After Andy walked us around, he encouraged us to go into a peep show. This was probably the weirdest thing I have ever done. I really wanted to do it though, because, “When in Rome…” and it took a little coaxing, but I got Kelsey (my new friend that I met on the tour who shares a piece of my brain) to join me in a booth.
You’re probably thinking right now, “Wow, that must have been super awkward watching a naked girl dance around without any clothes on,” and honestly, it wasn’t. I have all those parts, and if I really wanted to, I could dance around in front of a mirror and get the same result. No, no, no, that was not the awkward part of the experience. The awkward part was something else entirely that I had not expected.
The “Sex Palace” where we saw the peep show:
The way the peep show was organized, in case you have never been in one, and honestly, I DO NOT recommend it if you are actually attempting to be aroused, is like this:
It’s a giant circle bed in the middle, surrounded by windows, see photo of the ACTUAL room (don’t mind the semi-nude woman):
There is a little, private room behind every one of those windows, and when you put your money into the machine, the window defogs and you can see into the room for a set amount of time. At the end of your time limit, the window fogs back up and you can put more coin in to continue watching.
So here is the awkward part: You can see EVERYONE and EVERYONE can see you.
So the lady dancing, not awkward, but being able to watch the creepy man across from you “enjoy” the dancing lady, THAT was awkward.
Even though I recommended you not go into one if you actually trying to be aroused, it was surely entertaining and an experience I’ll never forget. I’d go into a peep show again. Even if it was just for the value of a funny story.
Then we went and got crepes.
So after I washed my eyeballs out with Listerine, we continued on our walk, and headed back to the hostel for bed.
I fell asleep listening to “Mantra” by Tool and had the weirdest dreams ever.
Saturday 31/03/2012:
On Saturday, we went to the Anne Frank House/Museum, and even though we got to sleep in a little bit, it was chilly and a little rainy, and the walk was sort of long. Once we got inside, it took us about an hour to get through the whole thing, and I lost my shit a couple of times.
We climbed behind the bookcase into the secret annex, saw Anne’s actual room with the preserved walls with her actual “decorations” still hung about — photographs of celebrities, puppies, brightly colored fruit, and magazine ads for things she wanted. We went into the museum part and watched a few moving videos, including one that featured Otto Frank talking about Anne and her desires, and it made me break into tears — moved by his love, and the love that my own father holds for me.
After we were all sniffling and trying to hold back further depression, Andy took us to this little restaurant near-by called “The Pancake Bakery”. Remember how I said I’m going to write a blog dedicated to the food? Look for more information on this later.
Then we went and had the best apple pie in Amsterdam — probably the 2nd best apple pie I’ve ever had, after my mom’s, of course.
Our group minus Andy!
Then we went to a diamond cutting and polishing demonstration at GASSAN Diamonds and it was really interesting!
Afterwards, we had a free afternoon, and while everyone else napped, Kelsey and I went out in the world to buy souvenirs and look for some grub. We went to this Mexican food restaurant, which, surprisingly, was not a COMPLETE disappointment, like every other “Mexican” food I have had while in Europe. We went back to the hostel to meet up with everyone and join them for dinner, but we planned on getting crepes instead.
Andy had a night out planned for us, and Kelsey and I followed everyone out to this bar, but it wasn’t fun, and we kept getting hit on by weirdos.
So we went and got crepes again.
And then fries.
And then pizza.
And then we went to bed.
Sunday 01/04/2012:
On this day, we went to Keukenhof to see the tulips. Apparently, they only bloom three weeks out of the year, and we just so happened to be there during the first week. We got some spectacular pictures of the place, and the whole time I was there, I just kept thinking about how much my mother would love it. So, it’s now a life goal of mine to take her back there someday.
After Keukenhof, I had to gather up my stuff and go find my hotel, which was across town. I took a 15 minute tram ride, checked in, and it was really nice. I rode the tram back into town and met up with our new friends for a sushi dinner at Wagamama.
Then we all parted ways, and I traveled back on the tram to my hotel and sat and watched Dutch reality TV shows and laughed even though I had no idea what was going on.
Monday 02/04/2012:
Since I was by myself and waiting for Andrew to show up later that evening, I decided to spend my day at the zoo and I had so much fun. Even though my camera died half-way through the zoo, I still got to see a bunch of baby animals and spent WAAAAY too long staring at tropical fish tanks! I was at the zoo from about 11am - 4:30pm.
I went to a local grocery store, Albert Hein, and got a few take-away items for dinner, and headed back to my hotel to eat, but first I stopped at Amsterdam Centraal to buy day passes for the tram so I wouldn’t have to bother with paying the trams anymore.
Back at the hotel, I watched “Dr. Phil” because it was in English and then after it was over, Dutch news came on, and I snuggled up in a ball and fell asleep for an hour and a half.
I woke up at 7:15pm, right at the exact time I wanted to leave to meet Andrew at Amsterdam Centraal at 8pm. I jumped out of bed, threw my shoes on, and practically ran to the tram stop. There was traffic in the last leg of the journey and I was about 10 minutes late, but thankfully, Andrew didn’t wander off.
We took his bags back to the hotel and this drunken Dutch guy was talking at us in Dutch on the tram, and we both sat awkwardly and stared straight ahead hoping he would move on. He just so happened to be getting off at our same stop, so we rode the tram to the next stop and backtracked on foot. After a few minutes of respite in the hotel, we went to the Red Light District, where I showed him around and impressed him with my knowledge of prostitution in Amsterdam.
Afterwards, we got crepes.
Then around 11pm, we took the tram back to the hotel and “our friend” was no where to be seen. We both crashed out for the night.
Tuesday 03/04/2012:
I told Andrew that I wanted to take him back to “The Pancake Bakery” because it was so wonderful, so I planned our route through the trams accordingly, and we got there just in time to beat the lunch rush. I walked him around the area near the Anne Frank House and showed him the gorgeous church near-by. I took him to a couple neighborhoods that I had been in and we walked around and chatted about various things, including but not limited to, how much I was in love with Amsterdam and wanted to go back and live there (I said that quite a few times in my week visiting).
We went back to the hotel for a little rest, and we both accidentally fell asleep for about 2 hours before we went back into town to grab some dinner.
And we saw “our friend” again, but thankfully he didn’t get off at our stop this time.
Wednesday 04/04/2012:
This was the saddest day ever for me, because I was leaving one of the only places in the world that I have actually fallen in love with. I have never loved any place, thing, idea, what-have-you, as much as I now love Amsterdam.
I sadly borded the train to Schipol Airport, watching the city get farther and farther away from me through the dirty windows and every kilometer that separated me and her, my heart broke a little more. I sat and ate a sad lunch in the airport scheming up ways to stay and avoid going back to Ireland and avoid going back to Illinois, but my efforts were futile, and I borded the airplane destined to take me back to Dublin.
To this day, and it has been nearly 5 days since I have been back in Ireland, I can’t help but feel this sadness within me that I know is the empty hole where I packaged up Amsterdam and left her. Thankfully, I go back in a little under a month with my Ireland lover, Angie, and that’s honestly the only thing keeping me going.
Until we meet again, my love.
2Ze Hunger Games
This post is completely dedicated to The Hunger Games movie that is released on Friday.
First, me and my friends bought tickets to see the movie — oh, and they are for 8pm tomorrow night. :] So I get to see the movie CRAZY EARLY, American friends! I shall let you know of it’s awesome-ness when I get back home.
This video is a parody of The Hunger Games and is called “The Hungry Games” and it is hilarious.
St. Paddy’s Day in Galway, Ireland
So, I went to Galway City, Ireland with the Blarney Crew for St. Paddy’s Day.
It began Saturday morning, with an early, early, alarm clock and ended with me passing out at 9pm Sunday night.
We got to Limerick City Centre right on time, however the tour bus was late, so we stood around with our bags for about a half-hour and then we got on the bus, paid the tour guide, Amelie, and headed out to Galway.
Poor Angie kept getting bus-sick at the back of the bus so she was pretty miserable. We stopped in The Burren on our way to Galway City and we actually got photos of the Portal Tomb.
The Burren is a really strange stretch of land that is completely limestone.
Finally, we got to Galway City and Tim, Angie, Pat and I were all hungry. So we went hunting at the local pubs to come up with — bupkiss. So eventually, Angie and I went to this little cafe inside of a mall. Not exactly what I wanted, but I had a delicious Caramel Cappuccino and a focaccia sandwich with chicken breast, fresh tomato and lettuce.
After we ate and we happier, we went to watch the parade, but it was really hard to see over everyone who was already there.
So Tim and I went exploring for a better location, which was next to impossible.
I’d like to set the rumors straight in the United States.
YES, the Irish care about St. Patrick’s Day.
YES, they celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
NO, it is not lame.
NO, it is not a bigger holiday in America.
FRANKLY, St. Patrick’s Day is a JOKE in America in comparison.
Eventually after not finding anywhere to stand to comfortably see the parade, Tim and I noticed this:
A bunch of people on the roof of this small building.
After further investigation, we realized around the left side was a little garden and it would be easy to scale the side and get to the roof.
So we did.
Our view was exponentially better from a-top that building and we did some excellent people watching as well.
Yes, that is a Chinese Dragon. I don’t know.
Tim and I got ahold of Pat and Angie and told them to join us on the roof of the building.
The parade was really weird:
The Chinese Dragon
Zombies?
The Recycling Monster
Finally Pat and Angie showed up and I was talking to Angie about our view, we were sitting on the edge of the structure with our legs hanging off. There were a few French people to our right and a couple Irish guys to our left. We because sort-of friends with these people. Then, Angie and I noticed that Tim and Pat were missing. Apparently, Pat’s shoes didn’t have a very good grip and he couldn’t get up on the building. So Tim had to jump down, push Pat up, and then climb back up himself. We all laughed. PARKOUR!
All of us on the roof
“…ass!”
“SORRY, MOM!”
“It was Angie, don’t get mad at Cassie! And I don’t usually swear!”
“Yes, she does, she’s a liar!”
Bahaha!
“Ohhhh, what is that?!”
“It’s a FIRE”
“Ooooh, I want to see the fire!”
“Fiiiiire!”
“What is that…even for? Tin…smithery…dry stone…walling?”
“I am so confused by this parade…”
“I wish I had gotten a video of the Recycling Monster…”
“What ARE they!?”
“And then…the Lorax? I don’t know.”
“It’s NOT the Lorax!”
“You’re Irish — what does that mean?”
“I don’t know what ANY of it means.”
“I’m sorta scared of them now…”
“I do not blame you for a second…”
“Are they racing?”
Since the parade was sorta weird, we started people watching and it was intensely ridiculous. The holiday should be renamed “Slut Patrick’s Day”.
And the parade was still weird:
After the parade ended and we were thoroughly and utterly confused by the Halloween/Cultural/St. Paddy’s Day Parade, we decided to explore the city.
We found this statue of Oscar and Eduard Wilde:
Then we went to a gift shop and I found the world’s MOST PERFECT, AWESOME, IRELAND gift EVER for someone (who is equally awesome) I’m sending a letter to tomorrow. I shant show the photograph for fear that he will see it before it arrives. :]
Then we stumbled across a super fun traditional band:
Then we did a little bit more wandering and these photos were taken:
Then we ran across NONE OTHER than the awesome Gymnasts we saw in Cork when we went to Blarney Castle!
Bahaha, pretending he’s too afraid!
There he goes! So awesome!
Then we went searching for some food and we eventually stopped in this little restaurant called “Riordan’s” and I got a delicious sponge cake with cream and strawberries and added chocolate syrup. Absolutely delicious.
In Riordan’s, they had photos of Irish writers! And J. Swift was hanging right behind me! Snapped a photo because I love him, so. :]
After we ate, we headed back to the bus and went to the B&B, which was really cute. We all napped for about an hour and then started getting ready for our night out on the town to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Galway!
I had a little Captain in me.
Me and Angie!
Angie’s drink.
Pat and Tim
New German friends, Lia, Tami and Claudia!
I don’t even know what to say.
Pat, Claudia, Me and Angie
Angie, Me and Claudia
After we left the bar, we headed over to the McDonald’s for some fine American cuisine to get our stomachs in check before heading back to the B&B. Unfortunately, Angie was bus sick on the way back :[
While there, these guys were passing out in the booth and I took it upon myself to try to help them as best as I could.
I got some water for them, and tried to wake the guy in white up and get him to come around. He drank a ton of water, and he didn’t speak English, and the guy in green kept accusing me of being a “whiny baby” even though his friend was obviously in distress. At least guy in white walked out of McDonald’s on his own. :/
When we got back to the B&B we slept for about 3 hours. Meanwhile, Tim yelled at me in his sleep “CASS!!” and I was delusional around 7:45am and thought Tim was still in bathroom when he wasn’t. Then we began our day around Connemara National Park and the Cliffs of Moher.
The property of the B&B:
Angie and I sat at the front of the bus so we could see out the front window and keep from getting bus sick, which was the best choice we had made the entire trip. We made friends with our tour guide, Amelie, and the organizer/bus driver, Sean.
Finally, we got to Connemara, and it was absolutely beautiful. This was the most beautiful day in Ireland I have seen since I have been here.
Exceptionally rare snow on the top of the mountains!
Then we went to this castle that some nuns live in:
And we took a wee break and went int this cafe to use the restroom and eat cake:
On our way around to Cong, we found this fairy tree and we stopped and took pictures of it. If we had ribbon, we could have tied it to the tree for good luck. Apparently, women leave their bra sometimes…yeah, that’s smart.
More snow:
When we got to Cong, we stopped in this 900+ year old Abbey where there is a graveyard, and I love grave-walking, and I ended up finding some Birminghams buried there! “Hello distant ancestors!”
We went into this little pub and had the most amazing Seafood Chowder, bread and water and then went to go hop back on the bus to head to the Cliffs of Moher.
We stopped at a really picturesque part of the Burren, so we stopped on the way.
LANDSHARK!
Tim Parkouring his way around the bluffs.
Then we made it to the Cliffs of Moher!
And Gangter Sean, I have a surprised for you:
BUILDING IN A GRASSY KNOLL.
This is the visitor’s centre for the Cliffs of Moher.
We were so high up, my knees kept going weak.
It was a gorgeous, gorgeous day of running around the Irish countryside and we couldn’t have wished for better weather than we got.
LANDSHARK!
Irish Gents
Before I post about my weekend adventures in Galway, Connemara and the Cliffs of Moher, I’m going to take a few minutes to rant about Irish Gents.
First, you should know that all Irish men are avid “charmers”. They begin charming at the moment of conception and continue to charm their way through life until the day they die.
This being said, Irish men continuously try to “charm” their way out of negative situations.
Irish men also tend to put themselves into more negative situations with the amount of drink they consume. The amount being high the younger they are. For every one drink, they probably put themselves into 25+ negative situations than they usually would sober. So let’s say a 22 year old Irish Gent has had 10 drinks. That means that he is going to put himself into 250+ negative situations than he would. Let’s also say this Irish Gent happens to drink in excess every other day. That’s an insane amount of experience talking his way out of negative situations — so they are extremely good at it.
In my experience, this behavior is EXACTLY why Irish men have a limited chance of being with me, because the usual tricks to scare American guys away don’t work on the Irish.
For example, St. Patrick’s Day weekend in Galway.
I got hit on by about 10 guys. Give or take a few.
Even though I was considerably drunk, I was not welcoming of their advances, because I am not a stupid person.
There was one guy who kept following me around the bar, spontaneously found me sitting with my friends upstairs, kept touching me, and even though I told him to back off, he didn’t get the message. Eventually, I told him that I had boyfriend and he didn’t believe me. My friend had to intervene and was saying in plain English that I had boyfriend and to get lost. Eventually he did.
Another guy kept showing up and staring at my cleavage and at one point I was talking to Angie and turned my head and he was just…there…like a huge creep. I jumped a little and asked him if we had met before. He said “yes, in my dreams” and I rolled my eyes and said “keep dreaming, buddy”. And yet, he kept coming back and trying to talk to me.
At one point, someone dumped half a pint of Guinness down the front of my shirt and while I was waiting at the bar for a napkin, this Irish guy asked if he could buy me a drink, I said no, because I had stopped drinking for the evening. He asked what I was doing at the bar and I told him. At the first mention of beer on my breasts, he looked down and said “Wow, they look excellent even though they have Guinness on them. Can I just drink the beer from your chest?”
At the end of the night we went to McDonald’s and I was standing in line waiting to buy a pie and this one guy with an eyebrow piercing started talking to me and kept glancing down at my cleavage. When I called him out on it, he insisted that he wasn’t, and that I had beautiful eyes and lips. I said “that would work if I was drunk, buddy, but I definitely saw you.” He laughed and said “well, they are beautiful. You should be flattered.” I didn’t say anything and he said, “you are so gorgeous, love, I can’t believe it.” Then his friend from Holland showed up and BLATANTLY had a conversation with my breasts. Eyebrow Piercing kept standing up for me and telling his friend to stop it and that he was “insulting the gorgeous American”. He winked at me and shuffled closer. I walked away to order.
These are why I do not have patience for Irish men, and highly doubt seeing myself end up with one.
Dear American men,
I’m ready to come home to you and your fear of insulting me.
Love, Cassie.
Facebook and St. Pat’s Posts
THE OPTIMISM:
“Heading off to Dublin very soon! Going to be an amazing Paddy’s Day with some good craic!”
“Dublin tomorrow for St. Patrick’s Day!”
“Getting ready for Saint Patrick’s Day in Galway, Ireland.”
“Dublin for St. Paddy’s Day Weekend!”
“Off to Galway for St. Patrick’s Day, should be amazing!!!!”
“So excited to spend St. Patrick’s day in Ireland!!! Off to Galway! :D”
“Off to Dublin to celebrate St. Patty’s Irish style!”
“oh you know, just heading to Galway for Saint Patrick’s day…no big deal. :)”
“Get ready, Galway. The Blarney Crew is coming. Happy St. Pat’s!”
“St. paddy’s day in Dublin…..should I be excited or scared?”
THE REALITY:
“So far in Galway we managed to get on the wrong bus, walked 15 minutes outside the city to get to our hostel, and get delicious gelato…helllllo St. Patricks weekend!!”
“So… Lost in Dublin. Not cool.”
UPDATE: “Have you gotten un-lost, yet?
”Un-lost! No worries!”
“Hates taxis…Due to a taxi being an HOUR late we missed our bus to Dublin. We now have to wait for the next one at 2:30AM…At least we will get there eventually, however now we wasted a paid night in our hotel >_>”
“…wtf…confused”
“So far tonight met some class people in the pub, had some shamrock shakes, and witnessed a fight in mcdonalds that was broken up by the mcdonalds bouncers… Yes they have bouncers!”
Two Days later:
“Holy crazy night in Galway! Definitely a St. Pat’s to remember! Round…3? Coming up tomorrow at UL… I love Ireland.”
“St. Paddy’s Day in Ireland = Success”
“St. Patrick was good to me :)”
“Thank you, (name removed) for making my first Irish Paddy’s Day absolutely brilliant! Green clothes, good beer, and good craic….LOVE it!”
“No other st. paddy’s day will compare after you spend it in ireland. officially fell in love with dublin”
“Best weekend so far!! Galway and the Aran islands I never want to leave you! But in exactly 2 months I will be home… Sad but extremely happy day”
“Exhausting but excellent weekend in Galway.”
“They should make a t-shirt saying, ‘I Survived St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland.’”
“Officially in love with Ireland.”
“Hottest shower of my life to get the Guinness out of my cleavage. I made it out of Galway alive.”
