- adventures with #1
- moneyyy
- christmas
- new years
- BARS!!
- family
- christmas eve...food and the yankee swap!
- full fridge
- american cereak brands
- REAL cheeseburgers
- wendy's frostys and fries
- denny's date nights with tjmaxx crew <3
- ice skating in boston
- parents
- geoff too...i guess
- ROLLIE!! and HENRY!!
- MY CAR!!
- beach...maybe a tan if i'm lucky
- snowboarding
- snowmobilling
- sleddddddinggggg
- o'connors
- normal chips
- cheetos (i've had the biggest craving for them lately!)
- REESE'S!!!!
- proper haircut
- pedicures
- hiking
- nature hikes
- coolige park with bailey
- late night beers with daddy
- bonfires!
- s'mores with alyssa =] and banana boats!
- sarah landry's sarcasm
- hibachi with mallory brideau
- walks to the farm
- The Hill in general
- MY BED!
- heat and hot water
- country concerts with #1
- amy boucher's hugs
- cousin-time
- finally being LEGAL to do something FUN!
- visits to plym
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Things I CANNOT wait for when I get home!
Northern Ireland and Belfast
During my last weekend in Ireland, Caitlyn and I took a final weekend trip up to Northern Ireland. We stayed in Belfast and signed up for a day tour trip through Derry and the North shore. The bus ride to get to Belfast was over 7 hours and we had to change buses 3 times! I was so happy to finally get off the bus.
We decided to tour the city our first night there. They had a christmas fair and there were lots of food vendors! Everything looked delicious. I got a slice of 3-layer chocolate cake! Soooo good!! Caitlyn got a chocolate muffin with truffles on top. You can't get that back in the States. Nope, you can't!
On Saturday, we took a bus tour through Derry and the surrounding areas. We went up the Giant's Causeway and toured through the country side. I didn't think the tour was that great, but it probably would have been much better during the Spring when everything was green and in bloom. Our first stop was at the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge. The bridge was used by fisherman to catch salmon. It's no longer in use, but you can pay to cross it. I didn't do it, but it looked pretty cool.
When we were done at the bridge, we got back on the bus and moved on to the Giant's Causeway. When we got there it looked like being at the mini Cliffs of Moher. The views were great and it was a cleary day. The Causeway was supposedly made by a Giant who was in pursuit of a woman he loved who had left Scotland for Ireland to marry someone. The Giant built the Causeway to connect Ireland to his home island.
In truth, the Causeway was created by underwater volcanos. You can't really see the causeway in my photos because the tide was high but the cliffs were cool. We walked the entire length of the causeway and it took over an hour to make it to the end. Such a hike! And Caitlyn actually fell in the mud OOPS!
We left the Causeway and headed to Derry. Derry wasn't exciting at all. A dark city with a stone wall, that was about it. At that point, we were tired and didn't want to walk around. I just wanted to get back to Belfast to the hostel and to my bed. When we got back to Belfast we went down to the Christmas fair again and saw the lights on everyone's houses and buildings. The lights made me miss home a bit and driving around looking at all the houses where a christmas truck seemed to explode all over them with lights and plastic snowmen and blow-up santas.
On our last day in Belfast, we planned out our day on a map and wanted to see the Botanical Gardens and soem Titanic sights. We got up in the morning and headed over to the Gardens. It had frosted that morning so all the plants were frozen in a winter wonderland. But there was a greenhouse where there were tropical plants inside and it was really warm!
Belfast was great, but it wasn't as spectacular as I have heard from others. When our bus came to get us, we had another 7 hour ride to look forward to back to Galway. Half way back, we had to switch buses and found out that the next bus would not be there for another hour. We ended up hanging out in a parking lot with no lights, a cold bench and the bus station closed for the night. Perfect. Well the bus finally came and he guy was probably one of the nicest irish guys I have met. He was so nice and made the rest of the ride back to Galway smooth and fast. When we finally got back to our apartment it was about 12:30 in the morning. I was ready for bed!
Well it's Tuesday now, 4 more days till I'm back in the States. So EXCITED!!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
I kissed the Blarney Stone!
This past weekend, Caitlyn and I took a bus down to southern Ireland to see County Cork. The bus ride was long enough, 4 hours! When we got to Cork it was beautiful! The city was right on the water and all the houses were painted different bright colors. We had a little trouble finding our hostel, no one knew where it was and we trekked up and down cobble-stone hills trying to find the place.
We finally got to the hostel, on the last hill we climbed! We checked in and decided to look around the city. There was a christmas fair with dancing turkies and food vendors everywhere! The weather was also pretty nice, whenever we look at the weather channel it says awful weather but we always manage to luck out and miss the rain/snow/wind.
On saturday, we booked a tour that would take us through County Cork and up to the Blarney Castle. The tour was small, only 8 of us which made it nice and friendly. The roads were really icy so we did our tour backwards, we headed to the castle first. When we got there, the icy covered everything there was a fog. The place looked like a scene from the Secret Garden.
There was a hill we could hike called Breakheart Hill, we climbed to the top and got a whole view of the penninsula and the town. The wet and icy hike was deffinitely worth it, even though it was getting colder and dark.
All in all the weekend was great, we got to see southern ireland and the weather held out for us. I got to kiss the Blarney Stone and see the ocean. In a few days we head to Belfast and are doing another tour on saturday through Derry and some other cities.
We finally got to the hostel, on the last hill we climbed! We checked in and decided to look around the city. There was a christmas fair with dancing turkies and food vendors everywhere! The weather was also pretty nice, whenever we look at the weather channel it says awful weather but we always manage to luck out and miss the rain/snow/wind.
On saturday, we booked a tour that would take us through County Cork and up to the Blarney Castle. The tour was small, only 8 of us which made it nice and friendly. The roads were really icy so we did our tour backwards, we headed to the castle first. When we got there, the icy covered everything there was a fog. The place looked like a scene from the Secret Garden.
Unfortunately the pictures can only be inserted landscape style
We went into the castle and it was pretty cool, there were small rooms everywhere and the icy had formed on the stairs so it was pretty slippery. To get to the top we had to climb up these narrow spiral stone steps that just seemed to be getting smaller and smaller as we climbed higher. When we got to the top the view was amazing. We could see for miles, even with the fog. The view looked over the castle gardens and the stables. I would have loved to live on that property.
Caitlyn kissing the stone
It was pretty scary on the top of the castle, it was icy and the guard rails were low. But the views were great and kissing the stone was something I can now cross off my list of things to do before I kick the bucket =]
When we left the castle, we walked around the grounds and everything was pretty magical with the ice covering everything. There were giant trees that we could climb and paths that lead through gardens and the woods. There were "wishing steps" that if you walked up them and back down with your eyes closed, your wish would come true within a year. There was also a witch stone that was in the shape of a witch's face.
When we left Blarney, we got back on the bus and headed to a town called "Cobh" which is really pronounced "Cove". The irish language doesn't use the letter V so when you see "bh" together, it's pronounced like a V. Cobh was the last stop that the Titanic made before it's journey to America.
The town itself was also really pretty. It was a fisherman's town and there were little houses and shops that lined the road that followed the shoreline. We walked up a hill to St. Coleman's Cathedral. It was so big inside and the stained glass windows were beautiful! The view from the top of the hill was amazing as well.
After spending an hour or so in the town, we got back on the bus and made our way to the last stop on the tour, Kinsale. On our way there we took a boat across the bay to get to the other side of the penninsula. It was pretty interesting being on a bus on a boat, Caitlyn had never done it before and I hadn't done it for about 10 or more years probably. When we got to the other side, the bus drove through the country and made our way to Kinsale which was another water-town. It wasn't made up of fisherman, it was more upscale, almost like visitng the Cape. There was a hill we could hike called Breakheart Hill, we climbed to the top and got a whole view of the penninsula and the town. The wet and icy hike was deffinitely worth it, even though it was getting colder and dark.
All in all the weekend was great, we got to see southern ireland and the weather held out for us. I got to kiss the Blarney Stone and see the ocean. In a few days we head to Belfast and are doing another tour on saturday through Derry and some other cities.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Tim came for a visit!!
Tim finally came up for a visit this past weekend, FINALLY!! That boy has stood Caitlyn and I up for several weeks now. He was supposed to come up Friday night, but silly goose missed his bus, but he showed up Saturday morning!!
The day started out great, the sun was out and it wasn't windy or sub-zero temperatures. We started off by taking him through a tour of downtown and shop street, which then lead us to the Christmas fair in Eyre Sq. I was glad he came, it was nice seeing friends from back home (states) and introducing him to my new friends in Ireland.
We found out that on Galway Bay, there was an ice skating rink set up!! We all headed over there and ended up running into our friends Jess, Alison, Amie, Sam and Mickey! The rink was set up inside this make shift building that looked like it was for weddings. The side of the building facing the bay was all glass windows so we could see the water and shops that lined the shore. It was a nice reminder of skating in Boston and at my Grandparents' pond in past years.
I can't remember the last time I had gone skating, probably with girl scouts 8-9 years ago?
Not only was it a great weekend filled with great friends and nights out, it also SNOWED EVERY NIGHT!! It's been pretty cold every night, but it was cold enough to turn this constant rain into snow.
The day started out great, the sun was out and it wasn't windy or sub-zero temperatures. We started off by taking him through a tour of downtown and shop street, which then lead us to the Christmas fair in Eyre Sq. I was glad he came, it was nice seeing friends from back home (states) and introducing him to my new friends in Ireland.
We found out that on Galway Bay, there was an ice skating rink set up!! We all headed over there and ended up running into our friends Jess, Alison, Amie, Sam and Mickey! The rink was set up inside this make shift building that looked like it was for weddings. The side of the building facing the bay was all glass windows so we could see the water and shops that lined the shore. It was a nice reminder of skating in Boston and at my Grandparents' pond in past years.
I can't remember the last time I had gone skating, probably with girl scouts 8-9 years ago?
Everyone was having a great time, even with our clip-on skates and tiny rink!
After skating we headed back to the apartment and made plans for the night. We decided to hit up the larger pubs and one in particular; Coyotes. We usually avoid coyotes because it's an "American" bar but they also have a mechanical bull!! Needless to say that was a stop on our list.
All the girls rode the bull, me too! But it was so slippery and no one could stay on for more than 20 seconds. I think I made it about 4! Unfortunately Tim and the other boys wouldn't ride it =[ HHAHA the Irish men could not believe how Tim managed to show up everywhere with 6+ girls...seriously the boy was a P-I-M-P this weekend, even though the bouncers and security all thought he was 12.
King's Head
I also ran into my friend Meghan from FHS!! Imagine running into an old friend from high school that I haven't talked to since probably high school!! I couldn't believe it =]
Not only was it a great weekend filled with great friends and nights out, it also SNOWED EVERY NIGHT!! It's been pretty cold every night, but it was cold enough to turn this constant rain into snow.
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