June 28 (Day 18)

Here's a couple nighttime pics from Day 17....

Joe always gets stuck taking the ladies' night pictures.... : )

Outside the Quays....oh, and there's no prohibition against having alcohol in the streets here, so the pubs pretty much spill out into the road.

Day 18: Amazingly, I woke up this morning, even though my alarm decided it would be much funner if it didn't go off....I still got up 45 minutes before I had to leave - yay for showering AND breakfast, all in one morning. : ) Today was a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher, better known as....

"The Cliffs of INSANITY!"

So, we all got on the bus, kindly paid for by CEA (our study abroad program provider). Along the way, we saw Dunguaire Castle and the Burren, and we stopped for lunch. We didn't go into the castle, but we did stop for a couple pictures. The Burren is basically huge limestone formations all over the place - it's pretty cool to look at. There are also some ancient structures scattered about - from the omnipresent low stone walls (which, by the way, are constructed without mortar or anything like that to hold them together) to 5,000 year old burial grounds, such as we saw on the return journey.

Dunguaire Castle.

Out on some of the Burren, leading down to the sea.

Some of our group, meandering.

The Burren, marked by those cool stone walls.

An ancient church we passed, or what remains of it....they still actually use the cemetery, though.

More lovely coast, on a "clear" day.

After a quick lunch, it was on to the Cliffs. Apparently, getting near the edge is pretty dangerous (who would've thunk?) There are deaths every year, from both accidents and suicides. I guess with the combination of certain death if you go over and the conditions - high winds, eroding ground, etc. - it's pretty explainable. Anyways. A lot of it has a stone wall a couple yards from the edge, so you can't go up to it. There are two parts that don't, though. One you can usually go to, but not today - it was blocked off by the Irish Coast Guard. Tragically, there was a death last night, and they were doing recovery. : ( The other part is blocked off by a low barbed-wire fence that everyone feels free to hop over, and then you can wander as far as you like along the edge.

As the bus driver said, continuing his tour guide narrative, "If you do happen to fall over, however, if you just look to your right, you'll have a fantastic view of Galway Bay. However, as it will be the last view you'll ever see, we do not recommend it." Reminded me of "gone with the Schwinn" on Mt. Haleakala a few years ago....

Me, go near the edge? With how I feel about heights? And I would NEVER just hop a fence like that, right? ; ) Well....a lot of folks did climb the fence, and I don't feel anyone was really unsafe - nobody was teetering on the edge. The driver said that some folks stand right on it, leaning into the wind over the edge. Then the wind stops, and you're, well, basically screwed. Yeah. Not smart. Nobody did that today. But we did get a good look. I didn't go too near the edge, but a little bit before I backed away again, satisfied to return inland a bit.

Anyways, the Cliffs were really beautiful. It was rather misty and foggy, but apparently, it was rather clear in comparison to how it often is - we could actually see all the Cliffs. It was immensely windy up there, too....

Meghan and I.

There they be, in their majestic beauty....

Hi.

Yeah. Don't stand on it.

"Only Fezzik is strong enough to go up our way. He'll have to sail around for hours 'til he finds a harbor."

View from the top.

The other side....
"Did I make it clear that YOUR JOB IS AT STAKE?!"

That's as close as I got to the edge. To my right (your left) is sheer drop-off. And it was darn windy up there....

Oh, brave souls....some of my fellow students, after having jumped the fence.

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but this is not as easy as it looks, so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't distract me."

"If you're in such a hurry, you could lower a rope or a tree branch or find something useful to do."

Inconceivable. ; )

Oh, and here's for you, Erin, and for anyone who's seen Conan O'Brien's Ireland tour....ya know O'Brien Tower, that he goes to? That's up on the Cliffs. : ) I've been wanting to recreate some of his Ireland moments on this trip, so seeing that was kinda nifty. : ) It is dreadfully windy up there, for sure! And today was a mild day....

O'Brien? I'm an O'Donnell! We must be related!

"I can't imagine why my ancestors gave it up!"

On the return journey, we stopped at Poulnabrone Dolmen, which is a 5,000 year old burial ground. Thoughts of my old desire to be an archaeologist resurfaced....After that, it was the Aillwee Caves, which have rock formations inside dating back over 10,000 years. Pretty crazy. Mom, remember when I used to collect (okay, maybe I still have some lying around) rocks? That part of me was all excited here. : ) They also found brown bear bones here - bears have been extinct for over 200 years on the island. Oh, and fellow Planet Earth devotees....no snottites, but it was still pretty sweet. ; ) Random fact: it takes these stalactites about 100 years (they reckon) to grow one centimeter in length. Upon learning that, I felt a little bad....I had touched one dripping, allowing the little waterdrop to leave the stalactite and run down my hand instead. All things considered, I probably just set it back half a century. This is why humans shouldn't mess with nature - we just screw things up....

Check it out - no mortar or anything.

On the Poulnabrone Dolmen.

Thousands of years....

Just check out that architecture....I don't get how it stays up in all the wind!

Delilah, Eric, and Greg, entering the cave....

Ha, just included this for the weird effect. The gray is from someone else's flash - I didn't have mine on, but caught their's in mid-picture.

Sweet stuff....

See the "praying hands"?

Shiny calcite deposits.

No, not snottites; sorry. Little "straw" stalactites - long and hollow like a straw, and growing at the rate of one centimeter per century.

A sweet stalagmite....

A little waterfall.

Now it's early evening, again. No going out for me tonight, though - just not up to it. Wait, I guess it's not that early....just seems that way with this much light. Farther north than I've ever been, I guess.

Oh, and I went and bought some wellies (aka rain boots) tonight! Don't think I've owned any since I was about seven....but I'm excited. Amazing how something like dry feet can vastly improve your day. : )

Anyways....take care. Cheers!

June 24 through 27 (Days 14 through 17)

Adding this to the last post; belongs on Day 13. (courtesy of Facebook)

So, I'm putting this up now....Usually, it's a late night post, but today, it's a bit earlier. I'd written things down for the past three days as I went along, and I'm just at loose ends this evening, so....yeah.

Day 14: Let it be known - I am directionally challenged. I always thought I was good at the whole north/south/east/west thing....And then I became pretty disillusioned with that when I went to the dreadfully flat Midwest and there were no mountains to guide me. And now, in a foreign country, in a city I've never been to....yeah. I have no sense of direction. Anyways.

It was pretty much a day off for everyone. We were told we had to go register, but when we tried, we found out that wasn't true. Which was a little sad, I confess....considering it took me two hours, between getting lost, finding what I was looking for, finding out that wasn't what I was looking for, finding the right place, discovering they were all gone on break, waiting....and then finding out that I didn't even need to be there. Ah, well. I learned a lot more about NUIG's campus. And I got a sweatshirt. I didn't really bring much in the way of warm jackets or anything. My one "real" sweatshirt is my zip-up RLM one, and it's pretty light. The rest are really light zip-up hoodies and button-up sweaters. I needed something more - especially because my RLM one was still soaked from the night before. The weather here right now is comparable to, say, Portland in December, for you Northwesterners. (And yes....I've only actually been to Portland in December once!) So, anyways, got a really warm sweatshirt to add to the umbrella I bought yesterday. I also bought a pair of jeans and flip-flops later, for similar reasons - I only brought one pair of jeans and one pair of cords. The rest are shorts and capris. And, overall, I just didn't bring many clothes, trying to pack light. So, jeans were a near necessity, as I'll be living mostly in those for the duration of this trip. I need to be able to trade off every day....one pair laying out to dry while I wear the other! And it's nice to have flip-flops for the rain; tennis shoes get rather sloshy. Anyways....yeah. Did that. Made my way to the center of the city, got tea and a scone, wrote some postcards and in my journal, did some of my CSC reading....yep. And I also tried to keep track of places I passed and all the turns I was making, learning the city and how to get back to the apartments. Figured that'd be useful info.

So, that was time spent wandering alone. When I got back, I showered and changed into my new (dry - another rainy day) clothes, and caught up with my roommates. Then a bunch of us went to Monroe's again - they have Irish dancing every Tuesday night, and they'll teach you. So, #37 ("Learn Celtic dancing") is underway. : ) I danced five different songs - it was so much fun. I know Caitlyn took a pic - I may get it and put it up later. Ach, it's fun.

After a while, we went to a different pub. Monroe's was really nice for the dancing, but it seemed to have too many Americans (and yes, I know I'm one) in it. I think it gets pointed towards by a lot of tour guides and such as a great place to go....so, yeah, we went to another, which had a lot more Galwayers, and liked that place.

And on a random note....another shout-out for the wonders of Skype. Seriously, folks....I'm getting unlimited minutes (well, almost unlimited - I restrain myself to 10,000 a month) for three months, to any landline or cell phone in 34 countries, for $20. That beats my U.S. cell plan, let alone trying to do international calls.

The Quad....I think their's is a few centuries older than ours. ; )

Ran across Oscar Wilde, chilling near Shop Street....

Bought postcards with a few different pics, sat in a cafe, wrote them, got up to leave....and that's when I realized that one of the cards had almost this exact shot of the street I was on. : )

Vicki goes out to dance.

I give it a whirl - so much fun! (And so hot and sweaty, too....wow.) (courtesy of Facebook)

Lovely ladies....

On to the next place....the Black Rose. (The name is actually in Gaelic, but can't remember it at the moment....) (courtesy of Facebook)

Joe and Caitlyn, front right, are two of my roommates....

They're really subtle around here.

Day 15: Started classes today - I think they're going to be really fantastic, honestly. I'm still doing Irish History, but I'm changing Representing Ireland: Film & Literature to Irish Society. However, I'm still planning on attending some of the film/lit classes for fun. (Yes, this is part of my conception of fun.) There are also Gaelic courses offered twice a week for free. I'm going. : ) Anyways....twas lovely today. And guess what?! There was a bit of sun for a couple hours today! Yay! Amazing. Granted, it was still windy enough that my legs were actually moving without my help each time I stepped, but hey....

Went to the Irish Studies program reception. I guess a lot of different study abroad programs and individual university programs are here for the same set of classes and trips, so there's a couple hundred students here, beyond the 23ish in our group. It was held in the College Bar, which is....the college bar. Yep. Ha, coming from Wheaton, it's hard for me to imagine colleges building and owning their own bars....and tonight, letting every student have two free drinks. Craziness. : )

After that, headed back to the apartments for some phone calls, studying, hanging out with roommates, and relaxing. Been out every night so far - nice to have one in. Especially when it started to look a little hurricane-ish out there....

At College Bar (Greg, far left, is my third roommate).

Day 16: Full class sessions today. Wow....I really enjoy these a lot - so freakin' fascinating! Wow. And I learned about an ancestor of mine - seriously! In the textbook, and talked about him in class. Craziness.

Along those lines, I started some genealogy research - thought I might have a better chance with the O'Donnell clan while over here! As part of this, I signed up for a free ancestry.com trial, so I could look at censuses and such and figure out the exact immigration dates, so I could track it better on this end with all the passenger lists and such (looking forward to getting a chance to look at those! yeah NUIG!). Well, to my total surprise, the German side of my family started taking off. The website will look through records for you while you work on other things, and results kept popping up. Apparently someone on that side has uploaded a lot of research....because I've gone back to my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents....that's like 15 generations, counting myself, going as far back as 1601, and more to go. There's even one woman not born in Germany in there....actually, Pennsylvania, in 1679. Somehow, she ended up over in Germany again.

There are some great names....Wuepcke and her daughter Woebke, for example, Gretke, Adelheit, Hein, Gesche, and the Brunkhorsts. And some folks had a decent amount of kids....such as 17 for Viedt Ropers (b. 1663), for example (in all fairness, two different wives - extra sadly, I think his first died in some sort of accident, or maybe disease, as three of their children died on the same date). There are also a few people who I worry might've been a little too closely related for marriage, but went for it, anyway. At least I have the right number of fingers and toes, if that's any consolation to myself....

Anyways, beyond that....I am making progress with the Irish and Swedish sides, too! I have determined that three of my four lineages (going off my four grandparents) all trace back to immigrants who came between the 1860s and 1880s (with the exception of the Pennsylvanian, Elisabeth Kraft).

Oh, and I think I'm part Jewish, too. Anyways. Yep.

It was a chill night. Caitlyn and I decided to wander. We weren't really in a pub mood, so we decided to go check out the bay and wander Shop Street (which is pretty much what it sounds like). On the way, we ran into Julie, Christy, Delilah, and Chelli, so we all went together. The bay was really pretty, especially with the setting sun (which means here that it's probably 9:30 or 10:00 at night!). On the way back, Caitlyn and I grabbed ice cream (we have now officially experienced Supermac's - the Irish McDonald's) and did some errands.

Inlet from the Bay.

Pretty! And this is about 9:45/10:00 at night, mind you....

Waiting for it to attack Julie....we're mean - we had a video camera, waiting for YouTube opportunity. : ) But she went there voluntarily! That thing, when it stretched its neck out, was nearly at shoulder level with me.

King (Queen) of the world!

On ye olde stone wall, bordering the Bay.

More lovely ladies!

I was walking along, minding my business....ba dee dah dum....

Day 17: Pouring rain. Again. Ah, well. Only had one class today, at 11:30. The walking is as long as the class, lol....30 minutes there, 30 minutes back, and an hour long course. Funny. After that, came back here for a hot shower and dry clothes. Did some homework and some research work, made lunch, hung clothes in front of the little electric fireplace, chilled with Caitlyn....now it's about 7 PM. Everyone's going out later tonight - it is Friday in the city, after all - and I will, too. Yeah. Just feeling at loose ends around here right now. The news from this morning still hasn't become real. It's just weird. (It was a heart attack, by the way - www.valleychristianschool.org.)

Anyways. Take care, all.