Irish Film Institute

-------Sorry I haven’t gotten the chance to update my blog recently, I’ve been super busy having adventures all over Ireland and Scotland the past week and a half! So here’s the stuff I missed-----

 

Today we went to the Irish Film Institute to watch Irish movies for the morning. We watched a cute short film called “Yu Ming is Ainm Dom” about a young Chinese man who spent 6 months learning Irish, only to move to Ireland and find out that everyone spoke English. Next was an absolutely shocking movie named “Six Shooters” that was the weirdest movie I’ve ever seen. That’s all I can say about that movie unfortunately. It’s supposed to be dark humor, but if it was funny, it was definitely too dark for me. “Pentacost” was about a boy torn between being a good alter boy in the Catholic church and following his love of Gaelic football. It was a pretty funny short film. We watched a feature film next called “One Hundred Mornings.” This was sort of an Irish post-apocalyptic movie, and I’m still not sure what the point was of it at all. While the acting was amazing, the plot was too artsy for me to enjoy. However, all of these movies are winning huge awards for Ireland in International film festivals.

Scotland is the most beautiful place in the world

On Friday a group of friends and I went to Scotland for the weekend. We spent Friday in Edinburgh, which was an amazing gothic city. It was so beautiful, and definitely a city I want to come back to! We even went on a ghost tour, because apparently Edinburgh is one of the most haunted places in the world. The ghost tour was kinda hokey though, so I would love to go back and go on a real one.

On Saturday and Sunday we went on a two day tour of the Highlands of Scotland. We made various stops including Dalwhinnie scotch distillery, a visit to Highland cows, the William Wallace monument, Glencoe (the most beautiful place I’ve ever been) and spent the night Saturday night at the cutest Bed & Breakfast on the shores of Loch Ness. Despite a slight windshield wiper malfunction, which was an issue considering it was Scotland and it rains a lot, the weekend was amazing! I highly recommend Scotland to anyone who wants to travel. 

Loch Ness

Glencoe (the pictures can't do it justice)

Hamish the Highland Cow

Stormont and HARRY POTTER

Today we had a very unique opportunity to see the Northern Ireland Parliament building, and actually meet with members of Parliament in various parties. Some people even got to ask them questions about policy and their opinions, which was really neat. After that, we went to go see the last Harry Potter on opening night in Northern Ireland, which is technically part of the UK, so that was cool! It was a lot different than I expected, honestly. Because Harry Potter is such a big deal in the US, I was expecting it to be much bigger in the UK. I was super worried that we only got to the theater around 10:30PM, expecting we would probably not be able to get good seats at all. Very surprisingly, the movie was not sold out at all! In addition, we had all dressed up as various Harry Potter characters, and were the only ones who had! It was definitely not what I had expected, however the movie was excellent. 

All dressed up for the movie!

Antrim Coast

To get away from some the excitement and danger of downtown Belfast, today we took a bus to the Antrim Coast to spend some time in the country. Our first stop was Dunluce castle, another very pretty castle. While I really enjoy castles and old stuff, I’ve seen so many castles in the past month I can’t even tell you why this one is important.

Mermaids cave below the castle

Second, we went to the Giant’s Causeway, a natural wonder of the world where the ocean has made almost perfectly pentagonal and rectangular blocks of stone. It was really cool to just sit out there by the ocean and admire how beautiful it was. Luckily, we had an amazing day, and were even able to go out in short sleeves!!! That was kind of a big deal here.

We ended the day on the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the surrounding island. Again, this was another picture taking opportunity, and I was shocked at how blue the water was! It was almost like we had left Ireland and had went somewhere tropical instead.

Carrick-A-Rede Rope bridge

So pretty!

Belfast

Today was the Twelth of July, which is a holiday here in Belfast with a parade to celebrate. Protestants celebrate this day as the defeat of Catholic King James by Protestant King William of Orange. This was a huge Protestant victory back in the 1700s. However, because of the continuing tensions between Catholic nationalists (support a united Ireland, not having Northern Ireland as part of the UK) and Protestant unionists (who are proud to be British) since the troubles in Northern Ireland, this is also a very tense day. Last night there were various bonfires around town, as big as an entire city block. We weren’t allowed to go see these because of the danger, many riots broke out around them because they are usually fueled also by alcohol. Because the economy of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is so bad right now, there are not very many opportunities to do anything for people my age, and this boredom leads to riots and violence. There was actually a huge riot in the West side of Belfast where some nationalists threw Molotov cocktails and rocks at police officers and firefighters, burned buses, and generally just caused trouble. (Fun fact: Northern Ireland is one of the only places in the world where firefighters and EMTs are not viewed as heros, and are actually attacked). The scary part of this was that was where we were going that afternoon on a mural tour.

Bonfires the day after

Belfast is famous for it’s murals depicting both sides of the struggle, as well as various famous historic events, such as the hunger strikes in the 1980s. The city had been mostly cleaned up by this point, but it was still a very real reminder of the troubles, while officially ended in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement, still continue today. 

Mural of the first hunger striker to die, Bobby Sands

"Boys I ain't never seen nothin' like a Galway girl"

The title of this post is part of the lyrics of a song by Steve Earle called "Galway Girl" which is the most popular pub song (literally, at least once a night), and is also featured in the movie PS I Love You. As you can guess, this weekend we went to Galway! We woke up super early Friday morning and took a two and half hour express bus to Galway's city center, where we checked into our hostel and boarded a ferry to the Aran Islands, a rugged area off the coast of Western Ireland. It was downpouring in Galway, so we were pretty sad about spending the entire day outside in it, but happily when we got to the Innis Mor, the biggest of the three islands, it was sunny! We actually had an amazing day weather wise. Because we didn't have that much time and I wanted to see everything, I took a tour bus around the island while everyone else biked. Our first stop was Dun Aonghasa, an ancient ring fort on the highest point in Innis Mor. While it was definitely a hike to get up there, the view from the top of the ocean and the island was absolutely incredible. Plus, there were no fences or anything, so you were able to get really close to the edge if you wanted. Then we saw various other stops on the island, none as cool as Dun Aonghasa in my opinion.

Beach on Innis Mor

View from the top of the cliff!

The next day we got up early again and took a bus out to the Cliffs of Moher. This has been the background on my computer since Christmas, so I was super excited to finally see them in person! While it was kind of expensive to take the bus there, and it took two hours one way from Galway, I definitely recommend doing it that way for anyone interested in seeing the cliffs. We drove all through the Burren and Connemara regions of Western Ireland, and it was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life. I would love to come back some day and go hiking through that area.

After the Burren we finally made it to the cliffs, and they were everything I could have dreamed of and more. We stayed there for a couple hours and ate a lunch overlooking the cliffs. This was such an unbelievable experience that the pictures I put up won't even come close to summing it up. Definitely a place everyone should visit at least once.

From there we headed back to Galway in time to go to their famous market, where we had delicious home made donuts from the Galway donut man, and shopped around their Quay and Shop Street areas (kind of like State Street). Overall a great weekend with lots of amazing photo opportunities!

Kilmainham Jail

After class today, we went on a field trip to Kilmainham Jail, a place where many famous Irish revolutionaries were held and where some lost their lives. The jail itself was built in the late 1700s, with a "modern" addition about 50 years later.

When the jail was built, it was very progressive and one of the first jails to have cells. Before then, most jails just held all prisoners in one big room and said "have at it." Men, women, and children were all imprisoned in Kilmainham, and not surprisingly, the population of the jail surged around the time of the Great Famine in the late 1840s. In a tiny cell, there could be as many as 8 people living in it for weeks.

My friend Amber demonstrating how small the cells are!

The jail was actually super creepy, and to stand where 15 of the leaders of the Easter Rebellion in 1916 were executed by firing squad (two weren't executed-- one was American and one was a woman) was really eerie. Seeing where many other prisoners were hanged, either publically or later privately, was also a little scary. After an hour inside the jail, I couldn't wait to get out and be back in the rare sunshine!

Creepy jail

The names of the 15 executed

Where they were executed

22!!

Today was my 22nd birthday! While it was exciting to celebrate in a different country, and especially on the 4th of July, I definitely missed all my family and friends (so I appreciated all of your facebook messages)! I even got to talk on the phone with my mom, brother, and Jeff, in addition to a really sweet email from my mom. The day itself went by pretty fast, with the first (and probably only) time I had class on my birthday, and that in itself was a strange concept. After class, we had cake as a celebration for Independence Day and I was surprised with flowers and a card signed by everyone on the program, which was super adorable. Next came dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe Dublin, where I had probably the best meal I have had in a long time (also probably because I have been cooking for myself these past couple weeks and so have existed on mostly cereal lol). I had a salmon pasta with alfredo and spinach sauce, and two summery drinks. It was delicious! After that, we all went out and had a great time in the American touristy part of Dublin (Temple Bar). After everyone had a few pints in them, we all started singing God Bless America, and surprisingly a lot of people joined in (Irish and American). Still, we probably still annoyed most of the Irish people in the area. Overall, a great fourth and a great birthday! (Pictures to follow!)

A weekend in the city

This weekend, we decided to not spend most of it on a bus and stay in Dublin instead. On Friday, a bunch of us decided it would be really fun to go see a movie. After google-ing movie theaters forever to find one within walking distance, we finally found one. Once we got there, we found that it was completely worth the half hour walk to get there. This movie theater was amazing! After standing in line for about 20 minutes (it was super crowded), we finally bought tickets for X-Men and tried to find our theater (a hard task considering there were 16 theaters and 4 stories in this building!). The theater also had a bar, concessions with tons of food, and a Ben and Jerry's ice cream place. The theater seats were really comfortable too, and the movie was very good!

On Saturday, we got up pretty early and went to the Dublin Farmer's market in the Temple Bar area. While we originally had trouble finding it, we ended up loving the market! Not only was there delicious food (I got buffalo mozzarella cheese from Ireland's only buffalo cheese manufacturer and organic cherries that were better than Door County cherries), but there was also jewelry and clothes.

After the market we went to a Riverdance show! It was really awesome to see kind of the evolution and different flavors of Riverdance, stemming from Spanish flamenco to American jazz and tap, and Irish traditions. We even were given upgraded seats, so we were only a few rows in!

Then on Sunday morning a bunch of us really wanted to go to St. Patrick's Cathedral for church because of their apparently amazing boy's choir. We wandered around for a while, trying to find the Cathedral, and ended up getting there late and not being let in. We walked around and shopped until we were able to go to another service at another church. After church we headed off to Croake Park for the Championship Hurling match between Kilkenny and Dublin. The best way I can describe hurling is to say that sometime in the distant past, the Irish got together and combined every sport into one and called it hurling. The sport included aspects of other sports like cricket, soccer, baseball, football, paddleball, and lacrosse. Unfortunately, Kilkenny ended up winning 29-18, despite our cheers for Dublin.

Croake Park

Hurling!

Archaeology Day!

Today we took an all day field trip to visit several famous archaeological sites in Ireland. Naturally, this was my favorite day in Ireland so far :)

First, we visited the Hill of Tara, an ancient ring fort with many archaeological finds. First up was the Mound of Savages, a passage tomb dating back to 3000 BC. They used to let you climb into it, but now have bars over the door. Still, I was able to go up and touch it, which was pretty cool. Archaeologists have found tons of cremated remains within the tomb, and interestingly, a skeleton buried on top of the tomb (this unburned burial suggests he was a foreigner to the area).

Mound of the Captives

View from the Hill of Tara (also, it's sunny!!)

Next on Tara we were able to see the stone of destiny. Legend has it that when a local king wanted to be high king of all Ireland, he would have to find two wild horses and hook them up to his chariot and drive it past the stone of destiny. If the gods favored him for high king, the stone would cry out when he rode past, signaling the gods' okay.

The stone of destiny

Hugging the stone of destiny

For our next stop of the day, we traveled to Trim Castle, located in the heart of Co. Meath. This was also the site and castle they used to film most of Braveheart, so it was pretty cool to see it in real life. The castle itself was built in the 1170s, and has been remodeled several times. It's original owner was in constant fear of being attacked and his castle burned, so he designed Trim Castle to be completely attacker-proof. Through many ingenious ideas such as a collapsable wooden enclosure for archers that doubled as a flaming missile, "murder holes" to pour hot oil through, four foot wide stone walls, and three reinforced doors to get into the castle, Trim was never taken by force.

Trim Castle

The castle keep (aka main part of the castle)

A wall!

Leaving Trim, we made our way to our final (and coolest in my opinion) stop of the day. Our bus driver had gotten a little lost by this point, so we were all pretty confused when he told us that we had arrived at our destination: Loughcrew. After climbing up a ton of stairs and the side of a mountain, we arrived at the top. Let me just tell you, it was worth the climb! From the top of Loughcrew, on a clear day you can see more than 18 counties! (There are 32 total) On the top of this hill, the main focal point is another passage tomb, this time built around 3800 BC. That's almost 6000 years ago!! And this one, they let you climb into and take as many pictures as you want! This was the coolest experience for me, being able to stand in a tomb built almost 4000 years before Jesus, and actually touch some of the stone carvings in the back of the tomb. Similar to Stonehenge and Tara, the tomb is aligned with the east, so on the equinoxes, the sun shines directly into the tomb and illuminates the carvings on the rocks. It was an amazing experience and a great day!

The passage tomb at Loughcrew

Standing in a tomb

Some of the wall carvings

Irish Music and Dance

While at school here, the staff has put together various night time activities for us to "enrich our learning environment." Basically, this consists of poetry and book readings from famous Irish writers, field trips to various areas, and occasional seminars. Tonight's seminar was all about Irish music and dance, and we had several Irish musicians come in to play for us. Some instruments were familiar to me, like the fiddle, violin, and flute, but there were others that weren't as much (like this pipe instrument that sounded vaguely like a bagpipe). There was also a singer, which was very interesting to listen to, and traditional Irish dancers who incorporated volunteers into some of their performance. Thankfully, I wasn't chosen to participate, but a guy from my program was. I didn't have my camera at the time, but I definitely wished I did with some of the faces he was making while he was dancing! After laughing about it for a while after, we decided to head to bed early in preparation for an all day field trip tomorrow!

Blarney, Killarney, and the Ring of Kerry

This weekend was my very first weekend trip in Ireland! A group of girls and I decided to go to the Cork/Killarney area, and see several attractions along the way. While this was initially a source of great debate where we would go and see because there are so many cool things, we finally narrowed it down to Blarney castle and the Blarney Stone (a must see in Ireland), and the Ring of Kerry tour, a six hour bus ride in Co. Kerry, known for it's incredible scenery.

We left for Cork in a bus from Dublin at 7AM, and arrived in Cork around 1:30. From there we took another bus to Blarney Castle. The castle itself was actually pretty neat, and they let you explore for yourself, which I enjoyed. I crawled through caves in the dungeon, walked up and down a narrow stone spiral staircase in the rain, and generally tried to picture what the castle would have been like at it's prime (anything wood being now gone unfortunately).

Blarney Castle

Trying to imagine the inside of the castle with a floor right below the fireplace!

More Blarney castle and the view

After climbing several hills and 100 steps to the top, we finally got to the Blarney Stone (which, of course, they save for the very last thing you do). Set in the castle in the 1400s, this stone is rumored to give whoever kisses it "the gift of the gab" or of eloquence in speaking. Numerous famous people have kissed it, including Winston Churchill, Bono of U2, and of course, me. To actually kiss it though is pretty scary, because it includes about a three foot drop headfirst. There are rails to hold onto and someone to grab onto you, but still, it's a little scary!!

Kissing the stone!

After that, we wandered through the castle grounds for a while, and came across a site where the ancient druids had once worshiped and lived. I even got to stand in a druid circle and sit on the ancient alter. By that point though, the rain had gotten to be too much, so we headed inside for some soup and shopping at the Blarney Woolen Mills.

After that, we caught the bus back to Cork, and then another to Killarney, a really cool tourist town a couple hours out of Cork. I really really liked Killarney! They had good food and plenty of shops to look around in, including an Irish candy store, a Claddagh jewelry store, and the European equivalent of a dollar store (which is not as cheap given the exchange rate unfortunately).  We went out that night and wandered until we heard good music coming from a local pub. Although the musician played primarily American music, he was still very good and it was a good night! I even stayed in my first hostel ever, which was pretty exciting, sharing one room with seven other people, including two random, but very nice, French guys.

The next morning, we woke up pretty early to go on the Ring of Kerry tour. Our bus driver was a very interesting person, and drove the bus a little scarily on the narrow mountain roads. Still, despite some pretty awful fog and rain blocking some of the views, I really enjoyed the tour and stopping in small towns along the way.

Some of the views from various Ring of Kerry locations

After this weekend, coming back to Dublin was a very welcome return to reality, although I would highly recommend both the Ring of Kerry and Blarney Castle to any visitors wanting to go to Ireland!