Long time, no post…

Sorry for not updating! Not much has been going on worth noting over the past few weeks, but we just got back from London so I figured it was time to update. I’ll start with what we have been doing lately…

After Germany, Italy, and Paris we came to Cork and took a much needed travel break—we were exhausted. I got pretty sick a few days after we got back and was stuck inside, but got back on my feet rather quickly. I had a bit of actual college work to do in the form of a history paper so I made sure to get that done…The following week our friend, Bryan, from W&J who is studying in Spain visited for the weekend. I took him to Blarney and showed him around Cork, as well as indulged him in some proper Irish culture—drinking pints of stout. After Bryan left I had another paper due.

So between actual schoolwork and a visit we stayed pretty busy, but had little to report about. Moving onto this past Sunday, we got the lads out into the park to play some soccer because the weather was absolutely amazing. Sunny, no rain, warm. It stayed like that for Monday and Tuesday and both days I managed to get some work done for my upcoming finals by studying in the park. Wednesday morning we left for London!

Our trip in London was short, but we saw a lot and the weather was perfect. We arrived in London around 8:15 AM and took the train to Liverpool. We got off and immediately began our tour. We started at St. Paul’s Cathedral. We decided not to go in because it cost £10 which is like $20 and we have seen a fair amount of cathedrals in Ireland and Italy. Next we headed to the London Bridge. I was a bit disappointed with it actually. The bridge was pretty standard and in the pictures don’t confuse the London Bridge with the bridge outside the Tower of London. I will be sure to clearly label them.

From here we took the Tubes to the Tower of London. This place was pretty sweet with the moat and walls guarding the castle inside. The moat was filled in, but the walls were still there and most of the stuff was original. We took a tour through and I will try to label the pictures as best as possible. The Tower of London was basically where the Kings and Queens lived and it was famous for the jail cells and all the executions they carried out in public. Most executions took place on Tower Hill, just outside the walls so that all the people could watch. I got a picture of the area, now a public park, where it would have happened.

Next we visited the London Eye—the 2^nd largest observation wheel in the world. We took a spin in this and got a great view of London. The pictures are bad because the glass in the carriage had a weird reflection. After the Eye we crossed the River Thames to see the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Across from this was Westminster Abbey and down the road was the Ministry of Defense. After these places we began walking toward Trafalgar Square past Downing Street. As we were walking down the road we saw a bunch of people in fancy clothes and it turned out the actor that played The Fonz in Happy Days—Henry Winkler maybe?—was outside Downing Street shaking hands with some other dressed up people.

We made it to Trafalgar Square and headed towards Buckingham Palace. After about a 20 minute walk through the park we made it to the palace and got some pictures. It was too late to take a tour and it also cost a lot so we just saw it from the outside. It was about 6 when we left the palace and we were beat from walking around for about 9 hours. We headed in for the evening and would be sure to get up early and see as much as possible before our flight left that evening.

First thing in the morning on Thursday we decided to visit Wimbledon. Little did we know, The All English Tennis Club wasn’t located at the 2 Wimbledon stops on the subway, but one 3 stops earlier. So after a great deal of walking and asking directions we found the club. The place was pretty much all blocked off and we got a few pictures. We found the Wimbledon Museum where you could take a tour of the inside for £10, but there was so much construction going on that Centre Court and Court 1, the two biggest courts, were blocked off so we didn’t go in.

We found the Tube stop close to the club this time and headed back into central London. We had a few hours still so we visited The Globe which was the theatre that Shakespeare worked with for much of his life. The Globe that we were in was recreated in the 90’s because the original from 1599 caught on fire and was then rebuilt in 1613. The 1613 version was destroyed by the Puritans, as with all theatres at the time, and never rebuilt. I got a few pictures from outside, but inside the actual theatre rehearsals for A Midsummer nights Dream were going on and no pictures were allowed.

That ended up being our final tourist spot because we were tired, hungry, and needed to get to Liverpool to catch the train to the airport. London was pretty fun, but I am getting a bit frustrated with touring cities. It was very crowded, rather dirty, and very fast-paced. It was great to see and visit, but I don’t know if I could have handled a longer stay in London.

So up next our friends that we stayed with in Italy are coming to visit Ireland for a few days. The come next Tuesday and leave Friday. We’ll be touring Cork and Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday we are renting a car and driving to Portmagee where we will catch a boat to the Skellig Islands. Skellig is a tiny island off the coast that has an ancient monastery on top of it. It’s supposed to be amazing if the day is nice.

After our friends leave I’ll be studying for my first final on May 21^st. After that Reline leaves on May 25^th and I have my other final on May 29^th. I leave Cork on May 31^st to go to Shannon and then fly out of Shannon on June 1^st to come back to Pittsburgh.

Look for 1 or 2 more updates coming. I’ll definitely update after Skellig—weather permitting and possibly once more before I leave.

Hope all is well, see you soon,

- Travis

EuroTrip

Hey everyone!

I'm finally back from my visits to Munich, Italy, and Paris. I had a wonderful time and took a ton of pictures. The traveling went pretty much as planned, no hold ups, and I saw so much. I wish I could have stayed longer because even though I saw so much there was a ton more I would have loved to see.

I'll start with Munich. I went to visit Joe in Munich and see a bit of Germany. The first day we pretty much walked around the city and saw the main sites there. We visited the English Gardens which is a park larger than Central Park. In the park (and all over Germany) was a beer garden where basically there were stands that sold beer and food. You order a beer and sit in the woods and drink it. It was pretty interesting. People of all ages were there drinking at all times of the day from early morning until the evening. Many of the buildings we saw were pretty new because 90% of Munich was destroyed in WWII. Joe did a wonderful job of explaining the buildings and how WWII impacted the area. We visited the main site of Oktoberfest...pretty much a GIGANTIC parking lot that brings all of Munich in for beers.

My favorite part of the first day was visiting the site of the 1972 Olympics. I got to see the stadium where Prefontaine ran his 5000m race and lost to Viren. After watching the movie "Without Limits" countless times it was fun to be in the place where the race was actually held. Also, if you have seen the movie "Munich" or are familiar with the Munich massacre that happened to the Israelis during the Olympic games we saw the hotel in which they were abducted and the memorial outside. From the Olympic park we climbed a large hill to see the entire park and from the top we got a great view of the Alps. You can't see them in the pics but it was amazing.

The next day we headed to the Andechs to the Benedictine Abbey. I'll link wikipedia here so you can get a full read on what we visited... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andechs_Abbey
Basically, we climbed a mountain and on top was a church with monks walking around. Apparently this place has brewed beer since 1455 and the beer can only be bought outside the church on this mountain. It was amazing beer and the view from the top was awesome. Inside the church was beautiful but taking pictures was inappropriate since it wasn't a touristy spot and many people were praying inside.

On Tuesday we headed to a concentration camp in Dachau. Dachau was the first concentration camp opened in Germany in 1933. It was a smaller camp used mainly for German political prisoners but also housed many Jews. 200,000 people went through the camp with about 35,000 dying. Here is the wikipedia link for more info... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp

I was about 50/50 on visiting the camp...it was interesting to see but I left with an uneasy feeling in my stomach. The gas showers and crematorium were a little weird to look at and take pictures of...

Finally, the last day it rained so we took it easy and I geared up for my train ride to Frankfurt to catch my plane to Pisa.
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So Thursday I met Reline at the Frankfurt Airport and we headed to see Lindsay in Florence. Florence was beautiful and the weather was amazing. About 70 degrees and the sun was shining allllll day. We walked around Florence and visited the Boboli Gardens. There was a ton of old sculptures throughout the park and Lindsay told me of some famous ones but I can't really remember. In the gardens was a Grotto which was where people went to cool off when it was really hot. Lindsay explained it as the opposite of a sauna with a cool mist filling the room. All the sculptures were covered with calcium deposits.

Next we headed to see the Duomo in Florence. On the way there we saw the fake "David" statue and some other sculptures that I cant remember. The Duomo was pretty cool...it was a HUGE church with a giant dome on top that people could climb. It was extremely large inside with really interesting paintings on the ceiling. Outside the Duomo were these golden doors to the baptistery (i think) and they were also very famous. I will try to do some research on exactly what I saw, but there was just so much to take in I forgot a bit. Finally we headed to the Acadamia. This was a smaller museum with paintings and sculptures and most importantly it houses "The David". The sculpture by Michaelangelo was immaculate. It was by far my favorite piece that I saw in all of Italy and Paris. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed, but I think we all stared at it in awe for about 10 minutes.

The next day- my favorite of the trip - we headed to Rome. Rome was packed on a Saturday and people were everywhere but Lindsay did a great job of touring us through the city seeing as much as possible. We started at the Vatican and saw St. Peters Basilica. We headed inside and it was massive. In the pictures you will see a brown arch-type structure over the altar with a cross on top. This was as big as a 10-story building alone. The place was amazing. The doors outside the basilica that I took a picture of are only opened like once every 25 years. I don't know why, but thats the story. From here we headed into the tombs where all the popes are buried. We got to see where Pope John Paul was buried, but no photos were allowed. Next we headed back outside. I took a picture that might look like a random building with some windows, but one of these windows on the right side is where the Pope talks out of on Sundays. From here we headed the another museum and the Sistine Chapel. The museum was packed with people and made it a bit difficult to see everything. Again Lindsay pointed out some good paintings and sculptures that I should know, but I can't remember at the moment. The pictures are there...I just have to look up what they are. We made it into the Sistine Chapel and Michaelangelo's work was amazing. No pictures were allowed so you will have to take my word for it.

Next we headed to the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain. The Pantheon was spectactular and the fountain was my second favorite thing in Rome. We drank water at the fountain from the aqueducts and I threw 2 coins into the fountain. The first coin was for a wish and the second was to guarantee I will visit Rome again.

After the fountain we visited the Colosseum. This was my favorite place in Rome and the history behind it was so interesting. If you loved "Gladiator" seeing where that stuff took place was awesome. To wrap up Rome we saw the Roman Forum where the old markets and trading would have been and finally saw the Circo Massimo. The Circo Massimo was where the races took place in the Roman times. It isn't a track now, more like a park, but it was still fun to see.

Rome was amazing and I wish I had more time because there was still a ton more to see.

Our last day in Italy we headed to Pisa. There wasn't much in Pisa except the leaning tower, but we had to see it. We took the corny pictures holding up the tower and Lindsay and I climbed to the top. Not too much to say about Pisa except they had excellent Gelato.

I loved the food in Italy as well. Vendors on the streets and the small cafe's sold excellent sandwiches and the pizza anywhere was amazing. Gelato might be my new favorite thing.
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On Tuesday we left Italy and headed to Paris. We only had one full day in Paris so we planned somewhat carefully and headed out early Wednesday morning. We took full advantage of the Paris metro and Joe taught me how to use it while in Munich so I pretty much ran the show on getting around quickly. Most of the time I had no idea what I was seeing, but they were recommended sites from Lindsay and the map we picked up. Our plan was to visit them and look up what we saw after to get the history on it. I'm going to explain what we saw by just listing it...

1 - Eiffel Tower - no explanation needed
2 - Palace de Challiot - across from the tower
3 - Arc de Triomphe Etoile - Arc in the city
4 - Sacre Couer - church on a pretty big hill that overlooks the city
5 - Bastille - a monument in the city that Reline suggested we see...not sure what it was for at all
6 - The Lourve - what a place to visit...absolutely massive with artwork everywhere...since we didnt know much about what to see we did a quick walk through and saw the few paintings either one of us had heard of...most importantly we saw the Mona Lisa, Raft of Medusa, The Winged Victory of Samothrace, Bourghese Gladiator, Aphrodite (Venus de Milo) and Psyche and Cupid.
7 - Notre Dame - really fun to climb and see the Gargoyle's and bell tower
8- Eiffel Tower at Night - every hour on the hour it sparkles for 10 mins and was really neat to see...
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So that was it...I had an amazing time and Lindsay and Joe were great tour guides. Check out the pictures for sure...I will try and label them as best as I can and research what I saw.

I have about 10 days of break left and need to get back in school mode...the next few weeks will be pretty easy going with maybe a short trip to London or a few trips within Ireland. Bryan, from WJ visits at the end of April and Lindsay visits in May. I will do my best to keep you updated! Send me an email if you have any questions or comments!!!!

Talk to you soon!

Travis

Family Visits - Killarney & Galway

Greetings all...

I know it's been a while, but i finally have some news and pictures to put up.

To start off my family visited last week. Mom, Taylor, Aunt Donna, and Krissy visited for about a week. They came in last Saturday and did some sight seeing around Cork on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday morning we left for Killarney and visited the National Park. It was a beautiful park, but we didnt get to see much of it because it was so massive. We walked to the Torc Waterfall, which was awesome then took a bus to see the Ross Castle. We took a good amount of pictures and I uploaded all of mine so check them out.

Thursday morning we took the bus to Galway and toured the city and the family did some shopping. The town was pretty nice and also had a lot to see. Friday was the bus tour of The Burren and Cliffs of Moher. First we saw the Dunguaire Castle for a few minutes and then headed to lunch. After lunch we made the big stop at the CLiffs. What a good time that was. The wind was absolutely ridiculous and everyone was getting blown around and/or over. It was really funny watching everyone try to walk around with the wind being so crazy. Definitely check out the pictures from the Cliffs. After the Cliffs we stopped at the Poulnabrone Dolmen which was a burial site where remains were found from something like 8000 years ago. Pretty cool. Last we stopped at the Aillwee caves. We toured the caves and took some neat pictures, but they didnt show up too well, at least on my camera.

Saturday we went to the Aran Islands and biked around. It was alot of work getting around the island but we saw a good bit. The island was covered with churches and old temples. I will try to label the pictures but i will probably mess it up because there was just too many of them to keep track of. Besides the churches, we visited an old light house that gave a great view of the island. Next we headed to Dun Aonghasa which was a Celtic fort built in 2000 BC. One end is on a cliff so there was a great view of the ocean from it. After the fort we moved onto the seal colony along the beach, but no seals were out. Finally we headed back to the town, grabbed lunch then Taylor and I went to see the smallest church in the world (3.7meters x 1.8meters) atop this hill. We couldnt get very close to it, but we got a few pics.

Sunday everyone left and I returned to Cork. I enjoyed the family visit and had a good time seeing more of Ireland with them. I know the description of the trip is a bit short, but i am attempting to label the pictures from the visits and give some more information there, so check them out at the picasa page. They should be labeled by tomorrow.
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Hockey wrapped up on Tuesday. We won the championship going 8-1-1.

I leave Friday for Germany where I'm staying with Joe for a week. After that I'm heading to Italy for 6 days then Paris for 3. I will have limited internet access for the time so I'll try and update when I can, but definitely look for a ton of pictures mid-april.

CHECK OUT THE PICS!

Talk to you all soon!

- Travis

Scotland and Sweden

I made it back all in one piece!

Scotland and Sweden were amazing and I had a ton of fun. I'll start at the beginning.

My friend Joe, from W&J who is studying in Munich, came in to Ireland on Wednesday. We left for Glasgow, Scotland Thursday evening and went to the hostel. After some confusion with the rooms we both ended up getting free upgrades at the hostel. We went out to see the town a bit and had some Scottish beer at a local pub. We went in early so we could get up and see the city Friday.

On Friday we walked around the city and saw some pretty interesting buildings. Unfortunately it was pouring rain and made taking good pictures difficult. We hurried through the city to see as much as possible since we had to leave for Stockholm in the evening. The rain forced us inside to the World's Tallest Movie Theater to see a movie and dry off. After the movie we took the train to the airport and caught the plane to Sweden.

Our flight ended up being delayed by an hour so we didn't get into Sweden until around 11. After the hour bus ride to Stockholm city centre and figuring out the subway we didnt get into the hostel until 1:15. We immediately went to bed to rest up for a big day on Saturday.

We slept in a bit on Saturday and when we got up we moved to our new hostel since Friday nights was booked. After checking in and dropping our bags off we headed to a ticket center to buy tickets to the Bandy game on Sunday. I'll tell you more about it later. After tickets we headed to IKEA, the main reason I wanted to go to Stockholm.

IKEA was HUGE. The largest one in the world. It had about 6 floors and the warehouse alone was bigger than IKEA Pittsburgh. Immediately we went to the restaurant to eat. I told everyone there that I worked in an IKEA restaurant and they loved it. The workers asked me all kinds of questions about our menu and how we do things. It was pretty funny actually and everyone looked at me kind of weird since I was taking millions of pictures.

The rest of the store was pretty overwhelming. There was a cafe on every floor and the building was cylindrical so you were constantly walking in circles. I got a few catalogs and floor plans along with the tons of pictures I took as souvenirs.

After IKEA we went back to the hostel, dropped our stuff off and went to grab some food. We walked around the city a bit at night and found it difficult to find a place to hang out with a younger crowd. We ended up finding a bar with some live music and Swedish beer.

On Sunday we woke up pretty early and headed to town looking for some Sweden hockey jerseys. No dice on the hockey jerseys, but I did find a nice Swedish soccer shirt. We moved our stuff back to the hostel we stayed at on Friday because it was much nicer and cheaper. We were getting geared up for the big bandy game of Hammarby vs. Sandvikens. It was the semi-final game for the local team Hammarby.

Since probably all of you don't have a clue what Bandy is, check out the pictures. Its basically a mix of field hockey, soccer, and ice hockey. The game is played on a ice rink that is the size of a soccer field - HUGE. The sticks are like that of field hockey, but the rules are extremely similar to soccer and there is no hitting. Its 11 vs 11 and is very fast paced. The locals were amazed that we had heard of this game before. The only reason I heard of the game was because of my friend Anders who plays on my hockey team and is from Sweden.

Bandy was pretty intense. The fans were crazy. The fans chanted the entire game and waved huge flags. They screamed at the refs and yelled what I think were profanities all game long. Remember, everyone spoke Swedish, although most spoke english as well. At one point kids were lighting fireworks off IN the stands. Unreal. It was pretty fun to see how into games these fans would get. It was a great experience. Even though Hammarby lost the fans still chanted until they left the ice. The coolest part of the game was at the end when the team skated to our section and the captain gave a speech. Probably since their season was over, the captain spoke a bit and led the crowd in the team song. The team handed their sticks to fans and shook hands with the kids. I will try to upload some videos of the game, but i dont know if the internet here will allow me.

We went in early Sunday and got up at 8 to catch our plane back to Dublin. We thought we might have missed our flight to Dublin, but we made it with about 30 mins to spare. European airports, like American airports, can sometimes be really fast or really slow. Stockholm wasnt the fastest.

When we got to Dublin at 12 the fun really began. We had a 5 hour wait coming for us. 5 hours wasnt worth paying 12 euros to get to and from the city so we chilled at the airport. Around 4 I went to check in and found that our flight was canceled. Needless to say, Joe and I were pissed. RyanAir offered us a flight at 9 but told us it would likely get canceled too. We asked for a refund and had to take the train to Cork. The train cost a fortune (60 euros compared to 18 by plane) and took another 3 hours to get back. We made it back at 9 and finally completed the big trip.

I had a ton of fun and really loved Stockholm. I wish we could have saw more, but our plans were a bit limiting and took some time. It is definitely a place to visit.
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Other than the big trip...we won our hockey game last week 1-0 and mathematically sealed the championship up. We'll get our trophy next week after the last game.

Mom and the crew come Saturday and should be pretty fun. They arrive in the heat of the St Paddy's celebration...should be a good time.

Next week we'll be going to Galway and Killarney hopefully.

Check out the pictures from Scotland and Sweden! Talk to you soon

- Travis

Weekend Update

So it's been a long time since I've posted last. Sorry. I've actually had some exams and papers due over the last few weeks so we have been hanging out in Cork. I turned in my last lab reports today before my birthday weekend.

Next week things will be picking up pretty intensely. First, Joe is coming to visit from Germany on Wednesday. Thursday we are leaving for Scotland and hanging out there for a day. Friday evening we leave for Sweden and will return on Monday. It should be pretty exciting to see Scotland and visiting Sweden...well lets just say "Original IKEA".

I'll have a week of class then the family visits and we'll be traveling around Ireland. Once they leave its off to Germany, Italy, and Paris. There may be a few other stops along the way, but those are the definites.

I might post some pictures from my birthday if we decide to take a camera out with us, but we will probably leave it in. I have some more hockey pictures coming from the UCC team as well. I'll try and post before I leave and will have tons of pictures and stories on March 10th.

Talk to you all soon!
- Travis

Weekend In Dublin

Hello all,


We spent the weekend in Dublin and had a great time. We saw a ton of stuff and walked until our legs hurt. Definitely check out the 267 pictures I took on the slideshow. I'll try to sum up what we did on here, but there is just too much. Best bet is to look at the pictures and every few i'll try to explain what we did.

Friday morning we went to the airport 2 hours before our flight and ended up getting through security in less than 3 minutes. There is hardly anything to do with ryanair if you dont check any bags. You print your boarding pass at home and walk to the gate. We hung out for a while then got onto the plane. There is no seat assignments on ryanair, which i found a bit funny. The plane took off and about 20 minutes later it landed. We were in Dublin.

We took the bus to the city center and found our hostel. I've never been in a hostel, so i didnt really know what to expect, but it was pretty nice. There were a 16 beds in the room and a bathroom connecting another room of 16. Quite a different way to live for a few days but definitely cheap. We were able to get locks and lock our stuff in cages under the beds, which was nice because we wouldnt have to carry our bags around all day.

First thing we did was go to Guinness. We had a few hours before it closed so we walked to the brewery and did the tour. Pretty fun times. They had a self-guided tour of the huge 7 story building. Check out the pics for sure of this one. Best part of all was free pint of Guinness at the 100m high Gravity Bar.

We returned to the room and got ready to go grab some food and check out the Temple Bar area which had all the pubs and clubs. We headed into town and found The Temple Bar of Temple Bar. It had Guinness as their cheapest pint and a live traditional irish band. So Reline and I are standing there watching the band and this guy walks buy with a Pittsburgh Steeler shirt on. Immediately I tap him on the shoulder and ask him where he is from and it turns out he is from the south park area. Pretty crazy. His friend was from Philly and we got to make fun of the Flyers for a little bit before we headed off.

Next we headed to the Porter House. This pub was recommended by our friend from Dublin who visits Cork regularly. This place was pretty fun and brews all of their own beer. There was a ton to choose from and they were reallllly good. We headed in early so we could get up and tour the city.

Saturday we woke up early and started to walk around. The sites we saw are in the following order and i'll do my best to caption the pictures.

1 - Christ Church Cathedral
2 - O'Connell St - saw many statues of the 1916 Uprising, the Dublin Spire, the huge general post office
3 - Trinity College
4 - St Stephens Green
5 - Dublin Castle
6 - St. Patricks Cathedral
7 - Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Royal Hospital
8 - Kilmainham Gaol
9 - Garden of Remembrance

So those we all the sites that we were able to get to in one day. Dublin offers a city tour bus for 12.50 and you can hop on and off at various stops. We chose to do that and it seemed to be an OK deal. Some stops were easier to walk between than fight for a bus seat. Check out the pictures for some descriptions. They should be complete in a few days.

This week I will be busy with a few papers I have due next week. I'm not sure whats going on this weekend, but I will update soon.

Finally, I removed most of the pictures from the slideshow bars on the side. All the pictures are on the picasa web account of buiklimektr. Any pictures new/old that you want to see can be found there.

Talk to you soon,

Travis

Its a hockey day in Dublin

Hello everyone!

This weekend marked a sad time for us in Cork. The Gateway, the local pub that we first went to and met all of our Irish friends at, got closed down. Apparently the owner didnt pay the bills. The Gateway was the oldest pub in Cork dating back to 1698. Sad times. Hopefully they'll get a new owner soon and open back up with their low prices. Until then we must find a new place to hang out.

Reline was in Galway this weekend and said he had a good time. If he does a write up or sends pictures over to my computer I will surely post them.



Sunday was my first hockey tournament in Dublin. I played mostly with Cork Revolution players vs a few other teams. We were 2-1 on the day. I had goals in the 2nd and 3rd games and we played pretty well. Should have won all 3, but o well. I got a friend to take some pictures of the last game we played. Some turned out nice, others not so good. Check them out!


This week I have my first exam of the year for my Botany class, it shouldnt be too bad.

Reline and I are off to Dublin on Friday and will be back Sunday. We should have a good amount of pictures and stories to tell when we get back.

Talk to you soon,

Travis

Its been a long time...

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to make a quick post since its been a while. This week has been pretty relaxed. We stayed around town this week. Tuesday I had a hockey game, we won 3-1 and moved to 4-0. We're winning the league pretty easily right now with 8 points...the next team only has 4. We have about 5 more games and if we win 3 we'll win the trophy hands down. The trophy is pretty sweet...the guys got a mini keg and got a hockey trophy mounted on top. The winners get their names engraved on it, so i'm hopin to get my name on the Cork Cup.

Wednesday was a fun night. The UCC Hockey Team had a "hockey night" at the UCC Pub. There was free food and we got to watch some ice hockey on the big screen. It was kind of funny watching all the Irish kids cheer for a sport where they dont know any of the rules.

I'm heading to Dublin this Sunday to play in a tournament with the Cork Revolution. It should be a good bit of craic (fun) as the Irish say. I'm going to try and find someone to take some pictures of the game on my camera since it'll be hard to play and take pictures (i'm not that good yet). I know a few people have been taking pictures but i have no idea where they put them.

Look for a post early next week since i wont be back until late sunday.

Cheers.

Travis

Cobh

Hello everyone,


This weekend we visited Cobh (pronounced Cove) just outside of the city. It was a pretty fun trip and required taking a train rather than bus. Personally, i've never been on a train except for the tiny one at Kennywood and the rails at the airports, which i dont think count as real trains. I took a few pictures of the station and the train.



I should first include some facts about Cobh so if you're looking at the pictures it makes sense. Cobh was the main harbor for 2.5 million Irish immigrants between 1848 - 1950. The first ever immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was Annie Moore and she left Ireland at Cobh. Also, the Lusitania sank just off Cobh and many survivors were sent to Cobh. Many of those who died in the attack were buried at the Old Church Cemetery in Cobh. The Titanic also made its last port of call at Cobh before it left for the USA. Where the train station is in Cobh now is where the final bags of mail were loaded onto the ship.

We arrived at Cobh at 11:30 and right off the train station was the Cobh Heritage Center. The center included a ton of information about emigration, the Lusitania, the Titanic, and various other uses of the harbor in wars and during the famine. I'll try and put some captions on the pictures in the slideshow rather than explaining everything on here.

After the Heritage Center we saw the statue of Annie Moore and took some pictures of the view from the harbor. We walked through JFK Park which was just a small playground area with some vendors selling baked goods and fruits. We saw the town clock and made our way up the hill to see the massive St. Coleman's Cathedral.

It was quite a hike up a large hill and many steps to the cathedral steps. The view of the Atlantic was amazing. I felt closer to the clouds than the ocean. The Cathedral was massive. Just compare the first pics of the cathedral when i was near the ocean to the pics when i was standing right next to it. It was huge and extremely detailed. The doors to get in were massive and the inside was spectacular. The stained glass windows, altar, confessional booths, ceilings...everything was so beautiful. The inside was massive. There was a forklift inside the cathedral to do work on the ceiling. As we were leaving we noticed the organ. I have never seen anything like this before. The organ pipes had to be over 100ft high. They all pointed up to a huge round stained glass window. I can't really say enough about how beautiful this place was and the pictures surely do it no justice.

After the cathedral we looked for more to do in Cobh, but there wasnt much to see. The town was really small and there wasnt much else to see. We did manage to find the Titanic memorial which was basically just a tiny 3ft tall monument. After the Titanic memorial we saw the Lusitania memorial which was a bit bigger and more interesting. We tried to head up the Cobh museum, but it was closed. We grabbed lunch near the train station and then grabbed the train back to the city.

It was a nice day trip and although there wasnt much to see, what we did see was pretty sweet. The weather was sunny, but the temperature has dropped the past few days and we actually saw a bit of snow on Friday morning.
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Not too much else has been going on. I am actually starting to work on some papers and study a bit more since i do have an exam and papers due towards the end of February. Hockey is going well and my team is 3-0. I'm going to Dublin next weekend with the Cork Revolution to play in a tournament which should be a great time. The following weekend we will be heading to Dublin for a Fri-Sun trip.

I have also booked some flights for March and April to do some traveling in Europe. March 7th-8th my friend from Germany, Joe, is coming over and we are heading to Scotland. Then from Scotland we are heading to Sweden. I'm pretty excited about this trip because i'll get to see the original IKEA and see the real meatball scoopers.

March 27 - April 3rd i'll be in Munich visiting Joe then I'm off to Italy for 5 days visiting a few friends in Florence. After Italy i hope to get to Paris and Barcelona, but the plans are still up in the air.
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I'll talk to you soon!

Travis

The Jameson Experience

Hello friends,


So today we visited Midleton, just outside of Cork City, and saw the Jameson Distillery. What a neat place! The bus took about 30 minutes to get to Midleton and the distillery was about 200 meters from the bus stop.

Check out the pics of the main gates and pot still in front of the buildings!

We got there a bit early before the tour started and had to kill some time in the gift shop and the main lobby. There were some interesting pieces from the distillery that i have included at the beginning of the pictures. Our tickets cost 9 euro each and included a free glass of Jameson at the end!

The tour began with a short movie about the history of John Jameson and how he began his career back in 1780. After the movie the walking tour began. It might be best to read the blog and have the pictures going in another window because the lady talked really fast and the captions on the pictures might be off some.

We first looked at the ingredients in whiskey: barley, malted barley, and water. The guide showed us the difference between barley and malted barley and explained that the precise amounts of each must be added to make their great whiskey.

We moved into the courtyard where farmers would come to sell the Jameson's their barley. Each sack would be weighed and the farmer would take their pay voucher to the payout window where they would get their money and usually a glass of whiskey for the ride home. Many of the buildings that i took pictures of were used to store the massive amounts of barley.

Next up was the maltings where the barley was soaked in water to allow germination to occur. Once germination occurred, the barley was heated with anthracite and germination would then be stopped. Anthracite was used by the Jamesons because it is smokeless. This is a main difference between whiskey in Ireland and places such as the USA and Scotland.

We moved the the grain stores next which was a HUGE building with a ton of steps leading to the top. Early on workers were forced to carry the barley bags to the top. These bags weighed 16 stone which is like 224 lbs.

Going outside again we got to see the oldest building of the distillery from 1794. It was originally used as military barracks until 1825 when it was turned into a mill. Also outside was the Distillers Cottage. It looks rather small from our pictures, but inside is supposed to have 23 rooms.

The waterwheel came next and was pretty cool. Dates back to 1852 and is 22 feet in diameter. It is one of only a few waterwheels still working today in Ireland. Inside the room near the waterwheel contained the millstones that ground down the malt into grist. Next to this room housed a 20-HP steam engine used to help power the waterwheel when needed. It was bought in 1834 for 800 pounds which today would be like $2,000,000 or something like that.

The next area contained a huge mixer used to mashing. Water is boiled and mixed with barley and malt. Its just like a huge pot that mixes stuff on its own. The liquid that comes out is called Wort. Wort is sent to the washbacks for fermentation.

In the next step, we saw where the yeast is added to the wort and the carbs break down into sugars that convert to alcohol in about 3 days. This liquid is the wash. Wash is about 8% alcohol by volume.

We moved on to the distillation process next. Jameson in Midleton contains the largest pot still in the world. It holds 32,000 gallons and is made of copper. The house that this pot still is in was constructed around the pot still. Jamesons uses a triple distill process. The liquid is heated to 170 degrees where alcohol boils, condensed, boiled, condensed, boiled, and condensed a final time. There are 3 pot stills, but the other 2 are much smaller than 32,000 gallons. After distillation the product is about 80% alcohol by volume. Legally it must be reduced to 63% when it is sold.

We moved into the room that contains all the barrels of liquids. All the barrels are imported from Spain, USA, and Portugal. Different barrels give the whiskey different properties as they mature. All the barrels are made from some type on Oak usually. The maturation of Jameson whiskey is very particular. By law it must mature for 3 years. No Jameson brand has matured for less than 5-7. The Jameson Distillery Reserve and Midleton Very Rare lie in casts for at leasy 12 years. Some Jameson whiskey has been in casts for over 20 years. I'm not sure which of the 2 brands...but one can only be bought in the gift store or bar at Jameson Midleton distillery and the other brand can only be bought in Ireland and costs like 4000 euros a bottle. At the bar, a glass of one of the two cost like 150 euro.

The final stop was the bar where we would get our free glass of whiskey. The guide explained there would be a sampling at the end and needed volunteers so I raised my hand and got picked! I got to sit with a few other volunteers and taste test 5 different types of whiskeys. I tried 3 types of Jameson, Jack Daniels, and Johnnie Walker. Reline got some good pics of me trying them all out and there were some big differences. The Scotch had a smoky flavor from not using anthracite and instead pushing peat smoke over the barley. Jack Daniels had a strong oak taste from the tannin in the barrels. The 3 types of Jameson were definitely the best. After the tasting, we each received certificates saying we are Jameson whiskey taste testers and another glass of whiskey from the bar......at one point i really thought they were trying to get me drunk.

Finally, the tour was over and we headed to the Jameson cafe where we had a cup of seafood chowder, which was amazing, and we had a sandwich. Excellent food. We walked through town for a little, but there wasnt much to see so we grabbed a bus back to Cork!

It was another nice day trip and we got a lot of good pics. I'll post again soon, we may try venturing out a bit farther this weekend for an overnight trip, but we arent sure yet...

Hope all is well,

Travis

RAG Week

RAG week, incase you don’t know is Raise and Give week. There are many functions around campus and the town that raise money for charity. While charity might be the reason RAG week occurs, the students use it as an excuse to skip class and get really drunk. Professors hardly lecture and everyone skips class.

This week the pubs have been packed every night and there are lines of at least an hour to get into every club. Basically, everywhere you go is packed, or jammers, as the Irish say. Our RAG week went like this:

Monday – we went to a HUGE club with 4 venues including 2 live bands and 2 DJ’s. Each room played different music and had a bar. There was a ton of people and it was a ton of fun.

Tuesday – Reline went to speed dating, but it got cancelled and I had a hockey game.

Wednesday – we planned on going to “Freakscene” which is a large club and pretty popular, but the queue was about 200 meters long. We ended up at a local pub.

Tonight – plans are pretty much up in the air still

I took some pictures at The Lough and Bird Sanctuary today on the way to buy groceries. I also took a short video of all the birds going crazy. It wasn’t long because I was right in the heat of things and didn’t want to be the recipient of any bird droppings.

I mentioned that I had a hockey game as well. Basically, I got in contact with a few hockey players in Cork and got invited to go play with them a few times. Long story short, my mom shipped my gear over and I play on 2 teams. There is the UCC college team and an adult house league. The UCC team is basically practice and goofing around. The adult league gets pretty serious, but is really fun with 6 teams competing in 3 on 3 hockey every Tuesday night.

There is a big trophy for the winner of the league and our team is 2-0 right now. My team is pretty hilarious. There is 7 of us and only 2 of us speak fluent English. We have an all Russian top line that I can hardly understand anything they say so I try to stay off their line. My line consists of a Canadian, who I compare to Gary Roberts because he is like 50 years old but an absolute monster at hockey. On the other end of my line is a Swede who has a cannon shot, but can’t skate. The last player is from Switzerland. We don’t talk much during the game, but we are pretty good. So far I have 1 goal and 4 assists in 2 games.

The UCC team is mostly Irish lads just learning the game so its much more relaxed. There is a Czech fella who plays and is from the same town as Jaromir Jagr. I’m not 100% sure what he says all the time, but I think that’s what he was trying to tell me at least.

After my game on Tuesday I got invited to play on the Cork Revolution in a few weeks. The Revolution is like the traveling team that plays in various cities on weekend tournaments. I probably won’t get much time because I’m going to be on the 3^rd or 4^th line and the guys are pretty good/big—I’ve got knocked on my ass a few good times already—but it’s free travel to places like Dublin and Belfast.

I’m really glad I joined hockey because I made a ton of new friends. It’s pretty awesome to meet people from all over the world, not speak fluently to each other, but be able to play the same sport and understand what each other is doing.

So check out The Lough pics and video! We are trying to go to the Jamesons Distillery on Saturday so look for an update on Sunday!

Cheers,

Travis

Kinsale: When it rains it....

We finally got out to Kinsale despite the rain...well it wasn't really rain, it was a strong mist that didn't stop ALLLLL day...we got soaked but we saw a lot of sweet stuff...

We took the bus from Cork to Kinsale and got off right at the harbor. We saw a lot of old boats and fishing crews out in the water and took a lot of pics. The town is tiny and smells of fish and had tonsss of seagulls flying around. After we got a map from the tourist center - to make it obvious we're Americans - we headed on the Salmon Walk to the Charles Fort. What a walk...Salmon Walk's are what it's all about...

It took about 30 mins to get to the fort while it continued to rain. Once we got to the fort we basically just walked around the various rooms and checked out the exhibits they had set up. I won't get into detail, you can check out the pics and get an idea of what went on. The fort was in pretty good shape and there were some amazing views of Kinsale and the harbor, but the rain wouldn't allow for a nice picture or two. Overall, Charles Fort was pretty tight.

Heading back into town on the Salmon Walk, we saw a guy in the water flip his sailboat - something you don't see everyday. Luckily there was like 1 other boat in the water at the time and they came and saved the day. I took pictures. We ate lunch at some cafe. It was good food, but i was really diggin a bowl of seafood chowder or some type of seafood from Kinsale, but the restaurants open a later and the ones that were open were extremely expensive - 12 euros for a bowl of soup!

After our quick lunch at a cafe, we went into the Kinsale Museum where they had a ton of old stuff from the 1600's on. A lot of things from various battles, the potato famine, and ships. I really liked all the parts they saved from the Lusitania - chairs, railings, and even some documents from Germany that documented the sinking of the ship. Also, Reline found the Pokemon stone that you have to get in the game so he was pretty pumped about that.

After the museum we either had to hurry and catch the 2:15 bus or wait until 3:45 for the next one and it was about 2. Reline wanted to see the Desmond Castle so we walked to that. Once we got there it was closed...so we took a few pics and booked it to the bus station and caught it literally 3 seconds before the door shut.

It was a good trip, but I think a return trip would be better since the rain kinda made things difficult and we hurried through a lot of places that we should have seen.
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Everything is going well. This week is RAG week at UCC. What I take from this is no one goes to class, everyone drinks, and there are various activities such as bands, games, clubs, and drinking that gives all the money to charity. Everyone tells us the pubs are "jammerz" or packed from 9 PM on. So we'll see how everything goes, it should be pretty fun to see some bands and what not and skip class legally since the professors sometimes come to class hungover apparently. Only in Ireland.

I'll update soon!

- Travis

The Weekend

Well after Blarney it was the weekend so Reline and I decided to go try and make some Irish friends. We started out at Cissie Young's which was full of adults watching Gaelic football...not our scene...next we figured we would just walk down our street checking out each pub until we found one with some kids in it...worst case scenario would be that we walked all the way downtown where we knew kids would be...

After we checked out about 4 pubs and found only adults in all of them we heard some music coming from The Gateway which is about a 5 min walk from our flat. We headed into the Gateway and decided to have a beer. Immediately about 5 kids came up and started talking to us...long story short the Gateway has the cheapest pints in town and is the oldest pub in Cork...

Our friends we met turned out to be extremely helpful and showed us around Friday and Saturday night. Also, we found out that the big party nights for college students are Wednesday and Thursday, NOT the weekend...so we exchanged numbers Friday and met up again on Saturday at the Gateway...i'll try to get some pics next time I am there

We also explored the gym...which has crazy security...we had to register our fingerprints with our UCC ID's...to enter you have to scan your ID card and place your finger on a scanner and if they match up the gate opens...the gym is pretty nice and have a lot of treadmills and bikes, but was pretty crowded when I was there. I also met a kid who plays hockey for UCC and he invited me to come play for them this semester. I will be checking out a few practices in the next few days and hopefully get my equipment shipped over soon so I can add come USA flare to their team.

Not too much is going on this week...my class got canceled Friday, so on Wednesday is my last day of class...we hope to visit Kinsale on Friday...Tomorrow I will be heading by The Lough - the really pretty lake on the way to the grocery store - so I will add pictures from the Lough and Kinsale as soon as I take them.


Cheers,

Travis

Blarney Castle & Rock Close: 1-12-08

Well today marked our first trip out of the City to explore Ireland. We visited the Blarney Castle and Rock Close in Blarney Ireland and it was truly amazing. It all started with today being a wonderful weather day - NO RAIN.

We left for Blarney around 11:20 and arrived before 12 in the Village of Blarney. From here we entered the gates and were greeted by the Blarney River which would flow by the castle and Rock Close. In about 5 minutes we could see the castle. What a spectacular view of the castle!



As we approached the castle its true size could finally be appreciated. Standing below it, it towered over 80 feet to the top. Check out the pics from the bottom up!

The first stop inside the castle was the Dungeon. We tried to get inside, but there were no lights whatsoever and no windows. It was pitch black about 5 feet from the entrance. Needless to say, we didn't see much of the dungeon from the inside. Next we walked around the side of the castle and got into 2 guard towers outside of the castle. As we continued around to the main entrance, you could see the famous Blarney Stone, 83 feet above us.

We then entered the castle into the Large Ground Room Floor. This part was interesting because it gave us a view of a large Oubliette, which is basically a 15 foot hole in the ground than could only be accessed from above...MEANING: there were trap floor pieces in the room at one point that could be use if intruders or unwanted guests entered. A guard could pull a lever when the intruder stepped on the block and they would fall into the pit with no way out.

After the Oubliette, we entered the Earl's Bedroom. After the bedroom we got our start on the spiral staircase. Let me clear one thing up about these stairs, they are about 1 foot wide and extremely steep. Doorways as well were extremely skinny and not made for tall people. We were constantly squeezing everywhere we were going.

We entered a small guard space and the Great Hall next. From here more steps into a large Family room and Young ladies room. More stairs took us up into the Priests room, Chapel, and large Banquet hall. The final stop before the top of the castle was the kitchen. The kitchen was built in an area on top so that if something were to catch fire it would not destroy the entire castle and because ventilation was much better.

Finally, we reached the top of the castle and were next to the Blarney Stone. We hoped to get pics of us and the stone, but the only way to get those pictures is to pay the photographer on the top 10 euros. Needless to say we each laid on our backs, leaned over the edge of the castle and kissed the stone. Were supposed to be eloquent now...I guess we'll see.

On the way down we stopped in one final room, the Murder Room. This room was extremely small, but hidden above the Ground Floor Room. Guards would hide in here and if any unwanted guest came into the castle, or incase of an attack, guards could pour hot liquids or shoot arrows at those below with complete protection. Kind of a good idea for protection.

After the castle we headed into the caves beneath the castle. The only cave we could find was the Badger Cave. The name came from some guy named Badger, i think, who stole stuff from the castle and escaped through the cave. Apparently, he lost his gold in the cave and there are 3 passageways to nearby towns somewhere in the cave. We found a few people with flashlights and followed them in. All we found was a dead end, muddy shoes, and a wet head.

From the caves we walked into the Rock Close. This place was pretty cool. First we found the Wishing Steps. The story says that a witch steals firewood for her kitchen in the forest and in turn must grant people a wish. The catch is, to be granted a wish, one has to walk down the stairs and back up with their eyes closed. Well this isn't easy. First off, there are 28 steps. Two they are wet because they are under a small waterfall. Finally, there are no handrails or anything. I tried it out and made it, but it took more forever to find each of the steps and Reline had to tell me when i was going to walk off the edge so i didnt fall into the water. I dont know if that counts for a wish or not, but i tried.

Next we saw the Witches Kitchen, which is basically a rock structure with a small inside area that is set up to look like an old fashioned kitchen. Apparently, early Irish settlers used these types of rock formations for cooking and similar tasks. After the kitchen came the Head Druids Cave which was just a small cave like area. The Witches Stone was next. This was pretty sweet because there is an actual stone that looks like a witches face (See the pic) and nose. The Fairy Glade was next and just a small area with this crazy looking tree that is supposed to look really pretty in the summertime. We stumbled upon the Druids Circle and Sacrificial Alter next. The Druids Circle was used for ceremonies and stuff like that and it is said that when standing in the middle, no evil can harm you. Behind the circle in the Alter. This alter is situated so that the first rays of the sun strike the alter at the appointed time for sacrifice.

The Rock Close overall was a pretty sweet place. It was kinda creepy and i wouldn't want to be in there at night. It was very pretty and lush inside with the Blarney River flowing throughout.

Well, thats all for Blarney...we may head to Cobh tomorrow to check out the old shipping port where the Titanic made its last port and the first immigrant to ever pass through Ellis Island left from. Check for an update Sunday!

Thursday, January 10

So we've been here a week and have had all of our classes...

Class seems pretty easy going here and we should each have a lot of free time to get away on the weekends and for break. The weather has been extremely rainy, especially at night, and has been keeping us in at many times when we'd like to go out.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a nicer day because we plan to travel to Blarney and see the Castle and kiss the Blarney Stone. Saturday plans are still up in the air, but we may make a day trip to Cobh and see the coast.

As long as the rain holds off we should be going somewhere this weekend, so look for new pics on Sunday!

As for today, we hope to head into town to check out the famous English-market, which is an old-world food market where all kinds of fresh meats, fish, and breads are sold for great prices. Its a pretty big deal around Cork, so we're going to check it out and get some dinner.

Take Care All,

Travis

Greetings from Across the Pond!

Sorry for taking so long to make a real post, but the first few days here have been crazy. I'll try to update more frequently as well as take a post more pictures in the near future.

--------DAY 1------------
We made it! So our trip over took a little longer than planned, but nevertheless we still made it. Our flight outta Pittsburgh got canceled on Tuesday due to bad weather in Chicago so we had to fly out Wednesday instead. We flew from Pitt to LaGuardia Airport in Queens, NY then had to take a bus to JFK Airport in order to fly to Shannon Ireland. The bus ride was quite interesting and was scarier than both of the flights--we really didnt think we were going to make it the 11 miles between airpoints for a bit of the time.

We sat around in JFK for a while after dealing with Aer Lingus ticket issues (Why would anything go smoothly at this point) and left the US at 6:30 or so. The flight over wasnt as bad as we thought. Aer Lingus gave us dinner and had tons of free movies, games, and tv shows to watch. We hit some turbulence over the Atlantic, Reline thought we were going down, but the plane held up nicely.

Jet lag set in immediately. Our say started at 7 AM Pittsburgh time and we arrived in Shannon at 6 AM Ireland time. From here we had to get through customs and pick up our luggage which combined took about an hour. So from 7 until 8:50 we had to wait for the bus from Shannon to Cork. We were both exhausted and hardly slept but an hour or so on the plane.

The bus arrived and it took another 2 hours or so to get to the main bus station in Cork. From here we went to get a taxi. However, before we got a taxi I planned on going to the bathroom until I found out public bathrooms cost about 0.20 euros to use and the machines give no change. So not having exact change i wasn't about to spend 1 euro to use the restroom.

We hopped in a taxi and the driver took us to our flat just up the road for 8 euro--again another rip off. Check in at The Spires (our flat) took a little bit and we finally got into our room at about 12. We began to unpack until we met roommate #1, Erika, a grad student at University College Cork (UCC). She got us and directed us to a small restaurant (Lennox's) where we got our first taste of Irish cuisine. You'd be surprised to know that if you order chips here you will get french fries, not actual potato chips. I found out through experience, but dint mind because they were excellent.

After lunch, we were both to the point of complete exhaustion, we went to the Centra (a small convenience store by our flat) and got a little food for the day. We returned to our room and slept for a little, even though we weren't supposed to, and tried to regain some energy.

The rest of Day 1 was pretty relaxed and we basically unpacked and laid around. We went to bed extremely early and found the real results of jet lag when we each woke up multiple times throughout the night thinking it was time to start the day.

--------DAY 2-------------
We got up for orientation around 9 and stepped onto campus for the first time. Since we missed Day 1 of orientation because of our flight cancellation, we thought Day 2 would be very helpful. It wasn't. Nothing really went on and we didnt really learn anything important so we left about a half our later. It poured rain and exploring this massive campus was not happening in the rain. We hung around the room until the sun came out and we decided to head into the main part of the city.

We explored downtown Cork and let me tell you, its something else. There is a large river (River Lee) at the bottom of the hill that runs through Cork and right at the bottom of the hill is the Fosters Beer Brewery--NOT AUSTRALIAN FOR BEER. We ate at Burger King, which is way more expensive here than America and tastes just as bad. Reline was looking for a guitar so we found a music store and looked through some other shops downtown. On the way back we bought our first 6 pack of Irish beer and headed home.

That night our roommate suggested we go to Cissie Young's for a quieter first night out in Cork. We walked the 75 meters to the pub and had our first experience drinking with the Irish. We tried Murphy's--a local favorite, Guiness--of course, and the MGD. I am confident in saying that any Irish person could easily outdrink me on their worst day.

--------DAY 3---------
Pretty boring day actually--we went back into town where Reline bought a guitar and I just looked around. Later on in the day we needed to find the real grocery store instead of the small convenience stores. A little more than a half mile down the road was the SuperValu and the walk by included a nice view of the Lough Lake.

There was hundreds of birds mobbing anyone that would feed them and the swans here our huge. Canadian geese having nothing on these things. We came back, cooked dinner and hung out.

------DAY 4----------
It poured alllllllllll day so we stayed in and only went out for a short period to try and see some of campus before the first day of class.


---------DAY 5---------
First day of class!

I had my first class at 10 AM and let me tell you campus is huge. It took at least 15 mins to walk from my flat to the class. Thankfully it was sunny out and the walk was somewhat enjoyable. After class Reline and I headed to the international education office to get caught up on everything we missed at orientation and got our UCC ID Cards. The buildings here are amazing. The Main Quadrangle is basically a castle and the coolest building i've been in thus far. The grass is also perfect, i dont think anyone has stepped on it in years.

I had lab at 3 and had to walk even further to get to it. It took about 25 mins to get to the lab building, but again the scenery here is beautiful. Crossing over the River Lee through the Madryke Gardens makes the walk very enjoyable.

I should note that class is crazy over here. This week is like a "test" week where we just go to any class we want and see if we like them. We then register for the classes next wednesday. So if i dont like a class, i just go to another and register for it next week. Also, some classes only last 5 weeks and many of the classes that last the entire semester are only once per week. My schedule is pretty relaxed and I hope to do some major traveling soon.

Reline and I seem to be handling the cooking pretty well. I cook and he washes dishes. Pretty simple. Also, we met our other roommates, Caroline, who is Erika's sister and a 2nd year student and Steven is a 2nd year student who has been extremely helpful.

Overall, everything has been going well and I hope to finally take some pictures if the weather permits. I'll load them to the picture site--the link is posted on the right hand side at the top of this page. Once we iron out and take care of all the small details of life in Ireland (immigration and such) many more pics will be coming. We hope to visit Blarney this weekend and make it our first trip of our visit.