Ireland

Last night, after our long nap we ate some dinner and went have a last cider at the Turk's Head Bar. We hung out with the rugby boys and went to sleep fairly early so we could wake up for mass. We went to the 11 15 mass at the Anglican St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was beautiful. The stained glass, the history and everything was beautiful. Unfortunately, mass on campus isn't quite the same. We took a few pictures and headed back towards the hostel for a bagel at bagel haven which became our new favorite place. Bagel sandwiches with brie are amazing by the way. After a nice lunch with the girls we hung out for a little with the rugby boys before they left then changed into our rugged gear to take our cliff hike. Our hike was in Howth which was about a 20 minute walk and 20 minute train ride. It was like a cute little fishing town by the Irish Sea. There were plenty of sail boats and even some wave runners enjoying the weather...which by the way we have had AMAZING weather that none of us expected since when we would look it up said we would have rain each day. Anyways, as we walked up the side of the mountain, we managed to find a path that we thought would bring us to the main trail but we got to walk to stickers and thorns for about a half mile. It was worth it though because we got pictures others probably didnt' see on the real trail. We continued on for about 3 miles and had the most amazing views I've ever seen in my life. It was beautiful and kinda thrilling to be on the edge of a cliff. I have plenty pictures that will be in my photobucket album but they just don't quite do it justice. It was amazing and I'm quite happy I took the chance to check out the cliff walk. Now for tonight, we are doing laundry repacking and preparing ourselves to say goodbye to Dublin. It will be hard to top our time here in Dublin, but I'm ready to see what's in store!! Tomorrow we will be up by 5 and on our way to the airport by 510 to fly into Glascow!! Keep checking this out and make sure you check out the pictures on photobucket ( photobucket.com/chelsea_gomez_europe08 )....as the locals say, Cheers!

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!

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!