May 2008

Well, after the tour today we took a nice 3 hour nap and then planned out tomorrow, had dinner, and i played with pictures and we're about to go have one last drink in Ireland. My pictures are now in photobucket and the url is photobucket.com/chelsea_gomez_europe08 check them out...i have almost 200 already it's crazy but they're great. unfortunately the titles to the pictures weren't saving so i'm going to have to try to fix that!

Alright, so since last time, we went to the Guinness storeroom wednesday after class and lunch to see how guinness is made and hang out in the gravity bar at the top to have a free pint. It was definately interesting but very touristy. After that we picked up some food to cook in the hostel for dinner, went get a drink with the group, made dinner, did a little school work and did some emailing/uploading pictures and then called it an early night and went to sleep because we were exhuasted. Yesterday, we had class in the morning in the garden next to the Dublin castle. After class, around 12, we grabbed a quick lunch, did some more emailing in the hostel for a minute and then walked to the other side of the city to see The Sex and the City movie which was amazing. We got to see the river and walk around a different part of town. Then, we ate a quick sandwich before heading off to watch a rugby game. It was a Wales team and St. Mary's which is in Dublin. The Wales team is staying in our hostel and on Wednesday night a few of the people in our group met them so we figured it'd be fun. We were a little late but what we saw was great and then after, they have a rugby country club type bar where we hung out and had a GREAT time. They had a piano and so one guy played and everyone sang, talked and just had a really good time. It was nice to get out of the city and actually get to talk to people from this area and the Welsh people. The bus ride back to the city was quite entertaining to say the least. Those English boys are nothing like those in the US haha. After, we went to a bar in the city called Turk's Head with the team and our entire group and it was a lot of fun. It was more like a club so we danced and had a good time. And now for today, we took a bus tour out to Wicklow. It was absolutely spectacular! The countryside is amazing. It's so green, clean, and I loved seeing buildings that are older than i can even imagine. You definately can't find anything like it in the US. Unfortunately, some of the girls weren't feeling so great from the night before but we managed to have an amazing time. The water was beautiful and crystal clear, along with the sky. We have luckily been quite fortunate with the weather. It hasn't rained a drop (of course i just jinxed myself). We stopped for lunch in larah and I had some genuine tomato basil soup sitting outside with a beautiful view. It was unreal looking at the countryside as we drove back to Dublin, because it's exactly what you see in the movies. Green fields that go on forever, beautiful flowers, cute little Irish houses, and of course sheep. We got to see a great, very old monastery and cemetary. We got to see the forest where Braveheart was filmed and also the lake that they fished in for P.S. I Love You. Our guide was funny and super nice which made it all the better. We also stopped by some cliffs and it was just so great and serene to sit on the edge and enjoy the beautiful view. I promise I have plenty pictures and am in the process to make a photobucket album but the internet connection is not good to upload photos to the internet so it might be a while! But be patient and i'll let you know where it is and when i get it up! Thanks for reading again...I'll probably have another early night because we plan to go to St. Patrick's for mass tomorrow and we also have alot planned for tomorrow!

Last night was great! We went to Quays Bar and I had some Irish Salmon and Irish potatoes along with a nice Bulmer's Cider. It was delicious! We also went down to the famous Temple Bar and had a few pints with the locals. We ran into an Irish Tiger. His name was James and he actually plays tennis at LSU but is originally from Dublin. It was interesting to talk to him and his friends for the night. On the way home we had a near death experience with a car walking across the street...Jay walking isn't a good idea in Dublin obviously! We called it a semi-early night going to sleep around 1 since we had been awake for over 24 hours. This morning we had class in front of the Christ Church Cathedral that was built in the 1000's. I can't say I've ever had a better classroom. We discussed what we would be doing this summer as far as classes and discussed some organizational things along with getting to know everyone's names. For our Media in the British Isles class, we have to decipher some riddles to go on a scavenger hunt and to later explain their importance to media and culture. I'm pretty excited about both of our projects...they're all about exploring and meeting people and seeing place. What more could I ask for out of a class? After all that, we split up and Jamie and Elizabeth (2 upperclassmen in my sorority) and I went look for postcards and walk in a few shops and managed to get loss before we got back to our hostel. Now, we are hanging out for a little bit before we go check out the Guinness factory!! Sorry there are no pictures yet, but it's kinda hard to download them and plus I only have about 25 Mb space...I'll get them up as soon as the site allows me to!! I'll be updating you later or sometime tomorrow!!

Well, we finally made it in after being detoured to Baltimore because of storms near Newark, and then finally getting to Newark and flying out by 1230 am....then there was the 7 hour plane flight that I got maybe 1 hour of sleep on MAYBE. And then we dropped off our stuff at our lovely hostel and went search for a quick snack and wander around town and do a couple errands to prepare for the rest of our trip. Now I decided to take a little nap and write some emails and shower and what not before we go out for our first experience with pubs in the temple bar area of Dublin!!! And of course we won't stay up too late since we have class in the morning!! Well, there will be a lot of updates with more juicy information later!

Well, I got to the airport 2 hours early just like everyone always says; I met up with some of the girls going on the trip with me; and we started talking about our adventure. Not knowing anyone yet, I talked to the girls and found who I'd be working with in our PR class while in Europe and after we found out our plane to Newark would be delayed, I decided to make a travel blog! So now, I have this to keep all of you informed of what's going on this next month. Keep checking up to see pictures and read my blog of going to Dublin, Edinburgh, London, and Paris!! I'll also be doing a project in my Public Relations class that involves me and my partners interviewing 5 locals in each of the countries about their perspective of America and Americans and our relations with our foreign neighbors so I'll also keep you updated with some of that information too! Well, hopefully we'll be getting out of New Orleans soon and I'll have an update from somewhere a little more interesting than the airport!!