Bus Rides, Blarney Stone, & B & Bs

Warning: This may be an excessively long post.

I haven't blogged since Thursday Nights fateful Karaoke night... so here is a recap of my wondrous weekend in Ireland.

Friday.

Dublin was having a bit of a schizophrenic weather day. Sun was shining, but then one minute it would start pouring. I took advantage of the sun to head into the city centre and explore for a bit. No class on Fridays gives me sometime to hang out. I was originally going to go to explore the town of Howth, but the temperamental weather made me re-think it. I had some lunch and got on the bus and got off at St. Stephen's Green. It's a beautiful park and I just wandered around for a while listening to my ipod. Watching the people feed the pigeons. One guy reminded me of the woman from Home Alone with the all the birds.

After a while of wandering around the park, I was getting cold. The local TGI Friday's was also polluting the air with delicious smells of fried food, so I had to get away. I went into the neighboring mall...St. Stephen's Green Mall. It is about the prettiest mall I've ever seen.

About 1:30 Claire came into the city so we met up and walked around some more in St. Stephen's Green Park. Claire has a bit of a statue fascination so we walked to all the major statues of the important people in Ireland. We walked to Merrion Square and found the famous Oscar Wilde statue. We had to scale the rock to capture the moment, but if Rick Steve's guidebook can do it, so can we.

Near the statue are columns with quotes on them and some foreign men were standing there reading them and advising us not to fall off the rock. Later we realized all the quotes were from Oscar Wilde... Some of my favorites:

-A cynic is a man who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.-

-Life is not complex. We are complex. Life is simple and the simple thing is the right thing.-

-Nothing worth knowing can be taught-

After visiting Oscar, we head to meet some people from our Irish History class at the National Museum of Ireland. There was about 25 people that showed up, which was surprising..we thought it would only be us. I walked around the museum with some girls from Boston University and then hung out with them for a while. We saw the "bog bodies" which are victims of torture whose bodies were thrown into the marshy lands and then because of the composition of the bog, were naturally preserved. I took some illegal photographs... seen here. This guy is from about 200-400 AD.

After we'd seen all the museum had to offer, Claire and I head to Dunnes to get some stuff for dinner. We then hit up some bookstores to find guidebooks for our European Spring Break. We cooked beef stirfry with rice and Jen and Stacy joined us and brought ice cream. So good. It was another great meal, talking about our favorite SpecialGuy29 and good ol' Chris Hansen and his hit television show "To Catch a Predator". We decided that we really wanted to go to Cork and see the Blarney Stone so we made plans to meet at 9 am and catch a bus to the city and catch another bus to Cork. We decided that staying over night would be a good idea, but we decided to decide the details when we got there. Spontaneity at its finest. Then we departed, with big plans for Saturday.

Saturday.

As planned, 9 am outside Roebuck Residence Halls. Backpacks filled with the basic necessities. Pajamas, tooth brush, snacks, a change of clothes. We met up with Mariel who decided to join us on our adventure. After a noisy busride and some power walking, we got to the bus station just in time to buy our roundtrip tickets to Cork and board the bus. 4 and a half hours to Cork. Claire and I read some of the guidebooks and chatted. I listened to my ipod, napped a little, and paparazzied the Irish Countryside. Gorgeous. Majestic. We passed cattle, sheep, horses and the rolling hills of Ireland. We saw mountains. And castles. Katie, you would've been mesmerized, just like when we went to Chicago for the first time.

We stopped at a rest-stop about halfway through. Home of the Wimpy Burger. Kid you not. I also found these in the cooler... and I had to take a picture....just like home, hanging at W. West Shore, throwing Capri Suns across the room.

After more bus ride, and scenic tours we arrived in Cork. It looks a lot like Dublin, but more hilly. According to the guidebook, it is the "Venice" of Ireland. But we are beginning to question the guidebook, so who knows.

We found a bathroom (and a 20 cent charge to use it), and found out what bus we needed for Blarney. We then decided lunch would be a good idea. We found a little cafe, the Bagel Bar, and got some sandwiches. St. Patrick's Street (pictured below) reminds me of Grafton Street. My chicken caesar panini was great, and after a stop for mitts for Miss Jen and the ATM we found the 224 to Blarney. We are great at timing and the bus was just arriving when we walked up. We got on the bus, 6.20 euro later, and about 20 minute ride into the town of Blarney.

Blarney is exactly what you picture a little Irish town looking like. Colorful pubs, stone fences. We saw some local B & Bs and the Blarney Castle hotel and decided we should spend the night in the charming town of Blarney. We headed to the castle first, because it was about 4 pm and we were dying to kiss the stone before sundown and it closed. We paid out 8 euro entrance fee into the castle grounds and set foot towards the castle.

We had only one word to describe Blarney Castle: Majestic. It was overwhelmly beautiful, and a picture does not capture it.

The grounds and everything that surround the castle are as perfect and beautiful as it. I legitimately took about 300 pictures in the 24 hours of traveling.

This is the view from the back, walking up to the entrance and to the stone.

Inside the castle. The stairwells were very narrow and windy and the little rooms of the stairs were perfect little nooks. We were one of the few tourists there so we had pretty much free rein.

Once we got to the top of the castle, we looked out and we could see for miles. Or kilometers I guess. We have been incredibly blessed with great weather.

(me & my favorite canadian at the top of the castle..ready to kiss the stone)

When we got to the top, it was so beautiful and breathtaking and the radio was playing Bob Marley "One Love". It was absolutely perfect.

There was no line to kiss the stone. During peak season (after St. Patrick's Day) over 1500 people a day come to the castle and kiss the stone. That's a lot of action for just one stone. We tipped the guy who held us, prior to leaning over, extra incentive not to drop us. I think it's virtually impossible to fall due to the bars they have in place but whatever. So you lay down on a mat, the guy holds you, you hold the bars, lean back and kiss the stone. It is supposed to give you the gift of eloquence, aka smooth talking and flattery. Sounds like something Aunt Kath would call a schmooze.

Because we were the only ones in line, we had a chance to chat with our "holder" and the photographer, who took an over priced picture (10 euro) of you kissing the stone. We got our own. I think we had a real advantage since no one else was there. We also got the guy to take a picture of all 5 of us. He did it on all of our cameras. Seriously nice people. He was also rocking a Colts windbreaker. Right on.

We joked around with them about the fact that the Blarney Stone is so unsanitary. Thousands, millions of people have put their lips on it. We asked if they turn people away if their lips look questionable. They informed us that they sanitize the stone every 30 min- 1 hour. Which is good because some guys tried to tell Mariel that the local kids sneak in and pee on the stone after hours. Now, this is coming from a guy named "Bootsy" so I'm not sure how reliable the source.

That's the guy that held me when I kissed the stone and his cleaner. Righteous. He wanted us to tell the world that they in fact keep the stone clean. And since my blog obviously reaches the far ends of the world and into Narnia... here is your little plug Blarneyman.

That is the stone from the ground.

After we left the castle and bought our souveniors (a 40 cent postcard) we head to the Rock Close. Supposedly enchanted, somewhat creepy looking.

We set out on a hunt for the wishing steps which were included in my guidebook as another superstitious place for visitors. Given I have yet to find my leprechaun or the pot of gold or a four leaf clover, I'm going with whatever superstitions I can find here in Ireland. According my guidebook (and doubted by all) you have to ascend to the top of the wishing steps, make a wish, and climb down the stairs backwards with your eyes closed and then when you reach the bottom turn around (que the Bonnie Tyler) and ascend up the stairs again, backwards and eyes shut. So My dedicated and believer friend Miss Jennifer Matchett and I did the somewhat strange ritual. Some of the other visitors seemed to think that we were making it up... but whatever. We will see if our wishes come true.

We explored a little more and decided that since it was getting dark and we had yet to find a place to sleep, we should adventure on back into town.

(typical of the whole trip so far--map in hand)

Jen and Stacy explored the Blarney Castle Hotel and found that it would be 50 euro a night per person for a room & breakfast the next morning. I thought that was a little more than I wanted to pay so we decided to check out a few of the B & Bs and see what the comparable rates were. We walked to the top of the hill and saw this cute little white house with a B & B sign out front so we knocked on the door. Jen, designated talker, asked the young man who answered the door if this was indeed a place to stay. He said yes, but he had to check with his mom. He came back a few minutes later (after we thought we were out of luck) to tell us yes he had room for us and that his mom said we could stay for 30 Euro a night (a discounted price since we were students and probably pretty pathetic looking). Owen showed us our rooms and we got settled. Soon his mom, Carol, came and brought us towels and showed us how to use the electric shower.

Now, Carol Hallahan had to be about the cutest woman ever. I loved talking to her, she just made me smile. She was exactly what you picture a B & B owner to be like. She was so sweet and she suggested a good place for us to have dinner. At the Castle Hotel. A nice local place. The locals call it Johnny's because Johnny Foster owns the place. And then to go across the way for live music. She also suggested other places to go in Ireland, namely Kilarney. We thanked her and headed on our way, all so upbeat and loving on the town of Blarney.

The Blarney Castle Hotel restaurant and bar offered us a very relaxed atmosphere for dinner. It was filled with locals and we sat near the bar. We ordered our food-- soup for me and Jen, bangers and mashed for Stacy, ribeye for Claire, and fish and chips for Mariel. Mariel and Stacy had some pints and we sat around and just chatted.

This kid was sitting next to us with his dad, but his dad left for a second and it totally looks like this kid is enjoying a pint of Ireland's finest.

We were all enjoying ourselves and the locals. We enjoyed our meal and splurged for dessert which was very tasty. We talked about everything under the sun... just one of those days when you find comfort in talking about life and how crazy, mixed up it can be. It was like we were laying our burdens down and basking in the glory of Blarney...in the fact that we were in Ireland and that it offered us an escape from the day to day normalcy or craziness. We talked about how Jen had gone bison hunting in the Yukon with her 7th grade class and had to be warmed up by the blood of the dead bison. Let me tell you, you never know what to expect with the Canadians and it makes for a great travel buddy. After a while, we decided to move the party to the local pub across the street for some live music.

We found a nice booth and resumed conversation. Must have been the Blarney Stone that gave us the gift of gab. About 10:30 the music was supposed to start. Unfortunately, we had picked the booth that the musician sets up in and so we had to move. We wandered around looking for a new seat but the place was filling up. The barkeep came up to us, asked if we needed a place to stay, and then cleared a spot for us. That's the second time someone's gone out of their way to help us find somewhere to sit in a pub. We ended up sitting next to four locals. 2 originally from Barcelona, one from France, and one from Poland who had all visited Blarney, fell in love with it, and never left. We chatted with them for a while. Jen, Claire, and I decided we were feeling a little tired so we headed back to the B&B while the musician began to play some Counting Crows. We could here the sha-la-la-la as we walked down the street. We got ready for bed and then ended up sitting around and chatting for a while eating hobnobs and laughing.

Sunday.

We woke up for our traditional Irish breakfast served at 8:30 am. Carol greeted us and got us tea and coffee. I had some orange juice and a little granola with milk. We also had toast and then our traditional meal of eggs, sausage, and bacon. It was picture perfect...the ground outside was frosty and the sun was coming up over the hills.

After breakfast, we paid Carol, got some local advice from her and went on our way. We loved our time at the Meadowbank B & B and we're so energized by our hearty breakfast. We wanted to explore the town and Carol gave us some shopping advice. We walked down the street and around and decided we all wanted to explore the gardens around Blarney Castle some more. The locals at the bar told us they were absolutely gorgeous. We figured we could see if they'd let us back in with our ticket from yesterday.

The lady at the main gate said that it was no problem so we began another walk around Blarney Castle. We decided to go along the lake and around the grounds on the "lake walk". We walked through the gardens--definitely not in bloom yet. But we did get to see some horses. We named this one Buttercup and we offered it my apple but he declined.

We walked down the path and enjoyed the brisk morning air. We were the only people in sight which just made it so much better. Definitely not touristy at all.

The path lead through the woods, by a lake, through this lush green dense woodland area. We tried to climb up the big hill but it was barb wired off. We saw holly like straight off a christmas wreath and a fox that was running across the path.

We all were just so engrossed in the beauty. Everything was pristine and the air was fresh...with a hint of farm somewhere in the distance. Jen was determined to find fairies and I am a born explorer. We loved the woodland area..it reminded me of some kind of rainforest. Lindsay, you are going to love this place. It has so many cool trees and plants. It was such a wonderful place, you could wander for hours and just soak it up. The weather was absolutely perfect, we couldn't ask for a better day.

We soaked up the scenery for a bit, then we head back towards the castle and towards town. We stopped at Blarney Woolen Mills, shopping for an authentic sweater but passed. We got back on the bus towards Cork. Found a little cafe to have lunch in, our big breakfast was burned off by the hiking. A chicken salad sandwich hit the spot, then it was back on the bus headed for Dublin.

I slept some of the way and just thought about how cool the weekend was. Authentic Ireland. It's such a blessing to be able to experience it, the beauty, the way of life. People are so friendly, the pace is so comfortable. It makes you re-evaluate. Traveling is definitely a luxury, and I'm lucky to be able to do it now. I can see why people fall in love with Ireland. It's like untouched beauty. Especially when you get outside of Dublin....although Dublin was beautiful when we arrived back in town tonight.

Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?

I found the perfect cure to homesickness: airplane tickets & karaoke.

After pondering for a few days about Spring Break, Laura, Claire and I bought our airplane tickets. Jen is working out the details with her mom and Stacy & Stevie are still on the fence. While our proposed trip is budgeted to cost $800 for 10 days, which is using every cheap method of travel, my new philosophy is that I will work it out. Like I said to Momma, I mean, I'm going to start going to horse races every Sunday and trying to bet myself into wealth, but once in a lifetime opportunity, bite the bullet, rack up the debt, live on grilled cheese for 4 months, I'll make it happen. Not that my mom would ever be like No, Don't Go. It's more that justifying it to her makes me feel better. But this is my perspective, am I really not going to go because it's expensive? All my life I've taken experience over wealth... so rack up the debt, finish my last year, score a great job, and pay back all my adolescent adventures.

So ANYWAY, this is the PLAN. We leave Dublin on Saturday March 6th and fly to Berlin, Germany. We stay there for a few days, hit a concentration camp on our way out of Germany, and head to Prague, Czech Republic. Land of my ancestors. Spend a few days. Take a bus to Vienna, Austria. See the sights. Bus it to Budapest, Hungary. Then we fly out of Budapest to Dublin on Monday, March 15th. Just in time to get home for Irish St. Patrick's Day Celebrations.

It's going to be really amazing. I'm super excited. Four ridiculously awesome places, that I may never get to see again.

I'm going to try to figure out London, Paris, and Italy this week.

After booking our trips, we decided it was time to get of campus and live the Irish life a little more. We met up with Muriel, a new friend from San Francisco. Jen, Stacy, Claire, Muriel, and I took the bus to Blackrock which is where another campus of UCD is. We heard about this place called the Wicked Wolf that has Thursday Night Karaoke so we head there. The places was filled with regulars when we arrive... and a short Irish man who reminded me of a leprechaun was on stage performing a lyrical inaccurate version of Heartbreak Hotel.

We sat and enjoyed the karaoke for a while. The regulars did some interesting covers. Some were ridiculous. They played everything everything from Elvis, to Elton John, to Whitesnake (a crowd favorite), to U2 (for obviously reasons) to Michael Buble.

Some of our friends from Boston University that we met at the horseraces showed up. There were a lot of Americans in the audience. I also ran into Clara, one of the girls in my International Marketing group from Spain. One of my favorite moments from the night was when someone sang Bohemian Rhapsody. For some reason, that is the best song to hear mass amounts of people sing at the top of their lungs. Everyone in the pub was singing along and totally into it. I mean, fist pumping, head nodding, into it. Claire even added some Opera sounding effects to it.

It was totally wicked. Maybe that's why it's called the Wicked Wolf. Cause everyone is howling.

Some other guy sang Piano Man by Billy Joel. The announcer pronounced Joel like Jo-Elle. Like rhymes with Noel. The announcer was a trip. He was like a backup singer, back up dancer, announcer all in one. During one guy's performance he took the microphone stand and used it to play air guitar.

Then our friends Edith & Bridget sang Breakfast at Tiffany's. All the Americans sang along, I'm not sure about the locals. The place got pretty busy. The leprechaun performer from before came and tried to make conversation with us about 30 times. The problem was that it was so loud so it was like not suitable for conversation. He asked were we were from, Chicago, and he told us he was from Dublin. He was nice enough and cheers us about 12 times, but we were all kind of relieved when he left to go to his hotel. Strange since he lives in Dublin. Must be a story behind that somewhere.

Jen and Stacy made us proud when they got up and sang one moving rendition of "Total Eclipse of the Heart". The crowd was loving it and me and Claire were standing on our stools rocking out. There is something about Bonnie Tyler's moving ballad that makes everyone want to "Turn Around".

The announcer was loving it. He gave all of us Americans a shout out. And then a special shout out to Chicago when Taylor from BU got up. Some Irish local yelled "Oh yea Chi-town". Obviously we have fans.

Claire and I decided we were going to sing Lady

Marmalade but unfortunately the place was on last call.

Apparently, it closes at midnight. So we are going to have

to save our singing skills for next week. Time to practice,

work on our moves, etc.

The announcer took over and sang "I Believe in A Thing

Called Love" which we all rocked out to, it typical

American style. And then we ended with All Night

Long by Lionel Richie.

Taxis home and then time for bed.

Woke up with Total Eclipse of My Heart stuck in my head.

There's No Place Like Home

Yesterday I felt like Dorothy. I could finally understand that fictional character time honored statement. Even when she was surrounded with a yellow brick road and a wondrous place called Oz, she still missed Kansas. Why would you miss Kansas-- there's nothing special about that place. Except that it contains all the people that you love. So where I don't miss the cornfields or the flat lands of Illinois, yesterday for the first time, I missed home while being in Ireland. Now, its not a "pack my bags, I'm on the next plane out of here" kind of missing, so don't worry. I just didn't think I'd miss home while being in Ireland. I mean, it's pretty awesome.

On the flip side, I feel like I've experienced so much in the last two weeks. And opened my mind a little more each day. Last night, in Irish History, I found a new perspective on America as I listened to the history of this Emerald Isle. The colonization of Ireland by the British was often justified by describing the native inhabitants as barbaric. England used the differences in their lifestyle, in their economy, and in their religion to justify going to Ireland, taking over, and taking the natives' land. Their rationale was that they were helping these people, by showing them the "right" way of doing things, the English way, English law, English farming, etc. When you hear this, or at least when I heard it, the reaction is kind of like -Just leave them alone, and let them do what they want-. But England wouldn't, couldn't do that, because the Irish land was appealing, and their location was threatening to the continued safety of England. As I listened, I began to see the similarities between England and the United States. While I am as patriotic as they come, I wonder if sometimes the decisions and international policy that we enact isn't very similiar to the English colonization of Ireland. We justify it, claiming that we are bettering their lives, promoting freedom and economic prosperity, but really, are we just trying to gain land and power?

There's your international perspective for the day.

Otherwise, things are pretty quiet around here. I just got home from grocery shopping at Tesco. I ran out of peanut butter, so the trip was necessary. I stocked up on the essentials....yogurt, granola, clementines, frozen vegetables, cheese, granola bars. Then I made myself some lunch of makeshift mac & cheese...basically pasta with butter, milk, and cheek melted into a sauce of sorts. Going exploring again this weekend..maybe to Cork, maybe Howth, wherever the wind blows us.

They Never Said That Broadening Your Horizons Was So Expensive

Happy Australia Day. My new favorite foreign holiday. Not that there is much competition. I can't really think of any rivalry foreign holidays. I enjoyed today's mini-celebration with my favorite Australian Laura who brought a little of her homeland to our meal time. Dinner has somewhat become my favorite part of the day, since we all get together, and actually eat something more than fruit and peanut butter and granola. I am literally almost out of peanut butter since I've eaten so much of it with fruit lately. But it's a good source of protein in a somewhat meatless diet.

Anyway, back to the Australian barbecue. Since January finds itsself in the middle of Australian summer, Aussies celebrate Australia Day much like we celebrate the Fourth of July. As the 4th of July is one of my personal favorites at home, it wasn't surprising I enjoy the idea of Australia Day. We celebrated like all Americans in Ireland celebrate Australia Day, we hung a flag in Laura & Claire's kitchen, fried up some burgers in a pan, ate them on bread slices with lettuce & ketchup and drank Coca-Cola out of mugs. To top it off, we had these delicious Australian deserts called Pavlovas for desert. Think Strawberry Shortcake but more sugary less cakey.

After dessert we discussed travel plans. It seems everyone I know abroad is scheduling trip after trip and I just want to hop on the bandwagon. I am not one to close the door on opportunity so I want to make the most of my trip in Europe. I want to do it all. Whoever first used that phrase must not put in the fine print.... I want to do it all, all that I can afford. Nothing is free, ever, and so it makes the idea of seeing the world a little more difficult.

Currently we are working on our spring break trip.... Berlin, Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. Four places I would never think of going....but that's what makes it so cool. We'd fly to Berlin and then travel by bus or rail to the other places for a total of about 10 days. Add in living expenses (food, accomodation--hostels) and traveling expenses and you come to a total of a little less than $1000 American dollars. What up expensive. But an opportunity of a lifetime.

Then you still consider the fact that there are other places I want to go. What is a trip to Europe without seeing London....Big Ben... The London Bridge... places we've talked about since we were children..sang songs about. Or Paris....the Eiffel Tower.... or Italy... Rome...Pisa. The leaning tower. Pasta. Gondolas in Venice. Gelato. If by chance, Greece. Those beautiful white houses juxtaposed against that magical blue water only found in Santorini.

I want to see it all. I want to do it all. Soaking all in. Tasted it all.

They say you are only young once. Take advantage of it. Celebrate Australia Day in Ireland. Do something different. Broaden your horizons. On a budget.

Actually have to make a group presentation in class tomorrow. Education in the classroom still is as important as all this education outside of it. So I should get some sleep.

The Not-So Glamorous Life of A College Student

Unfortunately, life in Dublin does not just involve traveling and seeing the sites. Once in a while, I actually have to go to class. Well actually, class was cancelled today because half of my class was going on a field trip. I'm not sure how legit that really was, but either way, no class. I did however have a group meeting for my project that is due tomorrow & presented on Wednesday.

So it was the usually breakfast of champs, two bananas. Then off to Quinn to meet my group. After an hour of confusion over group members, we finally got down to business. Things seem to work the same in any kind of educational system. I did learn some kind of new things from my Irish group members (well one is from Spain). Gambling is pretty huge in Ireland. They bet on the ponies (like I witnessed yesterday) and on football (soccer). All of us in America thought that these people just were passionate about their teams and that's why they got into it so bad. Nope, probably have some money riding on the game. Think NCAA March Madness, makes it so much more exciting when you actually have something riding on the game. After a while of working on the project, we divided it up and went on our way.

I got home and had some lunch. Well two apples with peanut butter and some granola while I chatted with Lindsay Lou. Did some homework, took a nap. Then I made myself dinner which was actually pretty good if I say so myself. I cooked a chicken breast on the stove top in some extra virgin olive oil that was seasoned with herbs & garlic. Then I boiled some noodles, strained them and added butter and garlic seasoning. Not too shabby for the domestically challenged.

Finished up some homework and met with the girls to figure out travel plans. We are currently trying to work out Spring Break adventures, Easter weekend, a pre-finals week vacation. I have a few (or many) places I want to see....London, Paris, ITALY, Greece, Prague. Everywhere. Anywhere. I want to do it all.

Win the lottery & quit school and maybe it'll happen. :)

Day At The Races: Leopardstown

Today we went with the study abroad students to Leopardstown Racetrack. Apparently, its called Leopardstown because it was the town were all the lepers (not leopards) used to live. Thank you Claire "the guidebook" Fisher and her new Feckin' Irish Trivia Book. The Illinois girls and I walked to the nearest bus stop and took the bus down the N11 to Leopardstown Road and then walked about a mile (1.609 kilometers--that's for you Brent) to the racetrack. We met up with Dorothy who is in charge of all the study abroad events and she paid for our admission into the track. We wandered around and watched the first race. There were people of all ages at the race track and unfortunately, no big hats or fancy dressed people. The racetrack is surrounded by the mountains, so it was completely gorgeous. Of course today there was no fog in sight, unlike yesterday.

After the first race we went to the winner's circle and met up with Dorothy & a group of more Americans, who were from Boston University. Dorothy bought all of us lunch of hamburgers and chips (chips being french fries) and our hamburgers came with like tomatos, cucumbers, and cole slaw all on the burger. It was delicious. We sat and watched a few more races and talked with the girls from BU. I didn't place any bets...given my unlucky nature. I'm still looking for my four leaf clover. Some of the owners of the winners of the races won up to 100,000 euro ($150,000). The names of the horses are the most entertaining part, with names like American Job, Hoochie Mama and Where's the Dosh?.

The races were exciting to watch and everyone screams and cheers when they are near the finish line. A few jockeys fell off their horses, so that makes it more intense, just like the fights spice up hockey. It was cold in the shade, especially when we were sitting so we walked around a bit to get the blood flowing. After watching 5 races we decided it was time to go home. The ladies outside the gates were selling Toblerone bars... I almost bought another one just for kicks. We walked back down to the bus stop and made our way home.

It was about 4 when I got home, just in time to skype with my favorite people. I called Momma and lucky for me, my favorite brother & Allie were there. We talked for about an hour, mostly Brent made ridiculous faces & made me laugh. But it was good to talk to them. :) I have to actually do some homework tonight for my project that is due on Tuesday. Then I might read my book or watch some tv online if the website that our new friends gave us works.

Good weekend in Ireland.