Chinese takeout.

So we went for Chinese takeout the other night and before catching myself, I tried to convert the dollar amount into euro. I've been doing this alot lately, haha, and am always pleasantly surprised when I realize a coffee is actually $1.99 and not 2 euro. Life's cheap!

Also Kelly and I illegally loaded up on Sushi (sushi is NOT part of the takeout menu) but Kelly is pretty stealthy and I was rather determined, so we made it work. Not going to lie, it was pretty thrilling!

I forgot how much I missed sushi...and my sister :)

4 months later and the "check engine" light is still on-driving again.

While in Dublin, I forgot all about driving. I forgot what it felt like to drive, how my car operated, and most importantly, that it’s okay to turn right on a red light. hahaha...

When I returned, I was actually quite concerned I would not remember how to function behind the wheel of a car, but after a slow exit from my cul-de-sac, and a cautious look both ways before pulling out, it was like I had never stopped driving. Hands on the wheel (ten and two, of course) and radio turned slightly lower than usual (for fear of crashing after four months of not driving), I cautiously rolled down my windows and the confidence slowly started to return. It was really nice to drive through the streets of Goose Creek and say hello to my original stomping grounds.

I said hello to my local Bi-Lo, Publix, and Blockbuster, all the while feeling like I was looking at everything with a fresh pair of eyes. I’d been gone so long I was just trying to take everything in and see what had changed! Turns out, for example, a local church near my house has been completed after 5 months of renovation, and the thing looks amazing!

Also, I forgot how distracing a good billboard can be. Darn advertisers ;)

On my journey home, a particular song came on that really reminded me of my friends in Dublin. It was Rihanna’s “Rude Boy, one of our favorite songs to dance to in Ireland, and I actually started to tear up while listening to it. Not safe while driving, I know, but I just couldn’t help myself! I made such great friends in Ireland, and we had such a great time together, that it makes me so upset to have to leave that behind. After I composed myself, Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” came on and I lost it all over again, haha. It’s probably not best to drive when one is so emotional :)

Despite my wildly emotional state and the lack of recent driving experience, I made it safely home and immediately began to write down all the details of my driving adventure. It was a wonderful trip, and can only be compared to flexing a weak muscle after months of not working out. Kind of crazy, I know, but it really did take a few minutes for everything to come flooding back.

I will say, though, I am going to miss the 30-minute walk to and from school everyday. When the weather was nice and my ipod was charged, that walk to and from school could sometimes be the best part of my day! I plan to do much more walking now that I’m back, especially when it’s just a quick trip to the store to buy cookie mix for Kelly and I, haha :)

Keep reading for more about my re-introduction back into American life!

I'm baaaack!

So I’ve been back in the States for almost three days now, and a few things are really starting to make me aware how far away I’ve been. And realize that I actually lived in another country, on my own, for a solid four months.
This blog covers the first 24 hours of my assimilation back into my previous, American life…

When I first got here, I was greeted at the airport by just my dad, standing at the security gate with his khaki pants and bright yellow shirt. I seriously wanted to drop all my luggage and race up to hug him, but I contained myself for the awkwardly long walk down the ramp and picked up my pace to a fast-paced gallop. Mall walker style. haha.

I then gave my dad the biggest, most epic hug of my life. I was overcome with emotion. I had missed him so much! I hadn’t had a dad hug in a whole semester and even a skype chat is nothing compared to a good dad hug.

I then turned around to find my mother and sister sitting in the terminal, staring out the window waiting for me to arrive. They hadn’t realized my plane had come in yet :)

So, I snuck up behind them and we shared a three-way hug incomparable to any other. It’s like being reunited with my best friends. Perhaps because they are, haha.
We hugged about four more times, then I wasn’t quite sure what to say/do. Mostly because mom was crying like a crazy fool (in the best way) and my sister and I could do nothing except for exchange glances that read “oh mom, typical”. I could have told you that would happen, though :)

After collecting my baggage and leaving the airport, I was overwhelmed and confused and felt a little out of place. Where do I begin? Do I tell them about the crazy friends I’d made in the airport that day? Do I talk in more detail of my travels through Europe? Do I start with Day 1 and tell them everything?

We had been facebooking/skyping throughout my entire journey, but it felt so different to tell them everything in person.

Then again, it felt sort of like I’d never left. It was much easier to slip into my family role, even easier than coming back to visit after my first month in college.

Perhaps it was because I had left and returned so many times before. Or because I’m much more sure of myself now, and I have a firmer grasp on who I am in and out of my family, that I’m able to stay constant whether I am with my family or not. I don’t know if that makes sense, but this whole experience is rather difficult to describe.

Kelly and Dad and I chatted on the way home about all the things I hadn’t had the chance to catch them up on yet. We went into detail about the friends I’d made, my trip to Scotland, and all the “everyday” sorts of things about Ireland that I really didn’t notice until I was talking to people who had never been there before.

We came home and I just couldn’t stop talking. I was so excited to be back (it canceled out the jet-lag until about 8:00 pm when I wanted to DIE) and it was so nice to be in our own home. We ordered pizza and made salads and I got to ride in Kelly’s car with her. Gaah I missed that girl! She’s grown up so much since I left, it seems, and she’s got so much more of her life figured out. It’s crazy! I’m so proud and excited for her!

We spent the rest of the evening talking about Ireland and all the funny things that happened with my friends and I. It’s so different to be back and not have anyone know the full details of all the happenings of our Dublin spring semester. So bizarre.

We then baked cookies (a favorite sisterly bonding activity between Kelly and I) and drank tea and chatted some more about Ireland.

By about 10:00 pm I was beyond tired (the kind of tired where you slur your words and say things that don’t make sense) so I retired to my bed for a long, epic night of sleep.

I forgot how comfortable my bed was! And I had cleaned and re-arranged my room before I left so it was a nice little treat to conk out and go to bed.

Oh, and did I mention? Kelly left me a number of Charleston travel brochures on my bed, along with a praline from downtown, as a welcome home present! She’s so cute!
I hope she and I will get to do some traveling together! We live in such a beautiful, historic city, and we’ve never been tourists in our own hometown.

That’s something I’ll really miss about Europe is the ease of traveling and the unlimited sights to see! I plan to do much more traveling now that I’m home, even if that means a day trip to Charlotte, or a weekend in Myrtle Beach. Something to keep it interesting, and to make me realize how beautiful any place can be!

That sort of leads in to another blog post: all the things I’m going to miss about Ireland.
Stay tuned for that one, it'll be up soon :)

That's all for now!

Cheers!

The Smithfield Hooligans.

So here it is, the long-awaited blog about the “13 and unders” romping around Smithfield with no parental supervision, and empty bottles of Lucozade, just ready to chuck at an unaware American.

These, my friends, are the Smithfield Hooligans, and this is their story…

The hooligans’ age range is from about 8-13 years of age, just old enough to be let out of the house without parental supervision, and just young enough to look harmless. The majority of them also have freckles, which helps them look even more innocent.

They run around Smithfield wearing “trackie bottoms” (sweat pants), Adidas shoes, hoodies, and occasionally their favorite rugby jersey. They also like to gel their hair in spikes atop their hoodlum heads. It’s a mystery as to how it stays spiked during all their hooligan antics, but they manage to keep their hair perfectly stiff the entire day.

Their favorite activities include: hanging outside of SPAR and Centra (Irish convenience stores) for no apparent reason, drinking Lucozade (Orange Powerade mixed with caffeine), consuming Tayto Chips and Crunchie Bars (Google it), running into Americans with their scooters, and chasing people down the street.

My friend, Julie, was actually attacked by some Hooligans in Phoenix park. They hit her with sticks and threw rocks at her, all the while calling her names and yelling she was a “stupid American.” These are the most extreme hooligans of all, since most of them seem to be rather harmless. From a distance, anyway, haha.

The Hooligans also like to play a game I call “Throw an empty soda bottle in the road and watch cars run over it for enjoyment.” It'd take hours to explain, so I won't do that here.

Many of the Hooligans have to find games like this to play, since they do not have access to a local playground. These city-slicking kids live in a strictly residential area (Smithfield) and Phoenix Park is the closest semblance to a kid’s playground. However, the park is a solid 15-20 minute walk away and contains nothing more than bronze statues and jogging trails.

Once, I saw a gang of hooligans running around Smithfield with a horse they (or their parents) must have purchased at the Smithfield horse market. They were literally romping up and down the streets, with no real purpose other than to show off their new horse to the entire community. Now that, my friends, is an epic Smithfield moment.

(For more info, go here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Smithfield-Horse-Market-Dublin)

And let's not forget the ladies...

There is also the less-recognized female Hooligan, who likes to wear pajamas or an entire matching trackie suit. She also likes to straighten her hair, dye it one solid color (see “Dublin Women” blog) and walk around causing trouble with the hooligan boys. She’s typically the more innocent of the group, but no hooligan pack is complete without one of these hooligan girls. Typically, though, they grow up quicker than the boys and move onto shopping and, eventually, clubbing (again, see “Dublin Women” blog).

So, there you go. An in-depth look at the lifestyles and habits of the infamous Smithfield Hooligans. Luckily, I was never personally attacked by any of them, but I exercised great caution and was sure to never make eye contact. They are pretty harmless, really, unless you’re hanging outside SPAR after 9:00 pm. Then I wish you the best of luck.

To paint a clearer picture, I’ve added a few pictures of the Hooligans in their natural habitat:

Some Smithfield pictures...

Smithfield

So we live in a place called Smithfield. I don’t know what I’ve told you all about this place, but it’s a rather “up and coming” sort of area. More like “still on its way,” hahaha, but we love it.

Anyway, Smithfield is located North of the River Liffey, which has a connotation all its own when mentioned during conversation in Ireland.

North of the Liffey, namely Smithfield, is the "less-posh" part of Dublin, more “rough around the edges” when compared to the chic areas near Harcourt street in South Dublin. The young, urban professionals live on Harcourt street, if that gives you any idea, and this is also the location of a club called “Krystle” where the strict dress code requires prom dresses and tuxedos. On a Wednesday.

North Dublin, however, (mostly Smithfield in this blog) can be characterized by a few other things:

1) Girls in pajamas. Midday, going to the grocery store.

2) Bargaintown! A massive discount store selling couches, lamps, mirrors, and carpet.

3) LUCOZADE An orange-flavored energy drink consumed mostly by the Smithfield Hooligans-more on them later.

4) Horse droppings on the ground.
Smithfield is famous for its monthly horse market (held the first Sunday of every month), where horses are brought and traded in the main square of Smithfield. Apparently, the dealers still spit on their handshakes to secure a deal, and the horses are traded like Pokemon cards. It’s a pretty big deal, actually, but nevertheless the horses leave little “presents” on the sidewalks for weeks to come. It’s lovely.

(For more info, go here: http://hubpages.com/hub/Smithfield-Horse-Market-Dublin)

5) The notorious Smithfield Hooligans (see next blog).

6) The Dublin Doors.

I’m sure you guys have seen/heard about the colorful doors in Dublin, found mostly in residential areas such as Smithfield. The doors are all brightly colored (blue, yellow, red, purple, etc) and unlike any others I’ve ever seen. There is an old Irish story that explains the doors were painted different colors so the drunken Irishmen coming home from the pubs at night would easily recognize their houses’ door, and not stumble into the wrong residence. We’re not quite sure how true this story is, but Smithfield is loaded with these beautifully painted doors. My favorite is a set of doors located behind Blackhall, a few blocks away. It’s a maroon door next door to a lime green door. So fashion-forward :)

In addition, Smithfield is also home to, what I consider to be, the best Centra around.

Centra is like a gas station convenience store, only better. They sell everything from fruits, vegetables, and brown bread, to kinder eggs, bottles of wine/Bulmers cans, taco seasoning, etc. All one’s basic necessities in one little store!
Smithfield has two Centras, actually, both within 20 seconds of each other (why, I will never know) as well as a SPAR (the more expensive version of Centra) on the corner near the Liffey. Now, Centra and SPAR are not ideal places to buy all one’s groceries (we have Tesco for that!) but it’s nice to have three stores so close when we’re in a pinch.

Finally, Smithfield is home to a number of pubs and restaurants. Nice restaurants, actually, like an Indian place called “Green Chili” and a fancy Italian restaurant on the way to Tesco. We also have the Glimmer Man, a popular pub for us college kids, and the jukebox is pretty inexpensive so we get to play D.J. when we go :)

**Tourist alert-Smithfield is home to the Jameson Distillery, and only a five minute walk from the Guinness Storehouse, so it’s a pretty cool place to live if you’re looking for something touristy to do!

Hokay, that is all! Enjoy the next few blogs, hopefully they'll be a re-cap of my everyday life in Dublin, we shall see!

Cheers!

And thank you all for reading/following my blogs. I hope they are as fun and entertaining to read as they are to write/experience! I appreciate you all :)

Laundry.

So I realized I never really blogged about the “experience” of doing laundry as a study abroad student in Dublin, Ireland.

When we first moved in, they told us we’d be doing laundry in the sink, which I don’t think any of us really believed.

But when we realized that one load would cost about six euro in our Blackhall accommodation, many of us quickly became comfortable with the fact that the bulk of our laundry would be done old-school; in the sink, bent over like an old Hungarian woman (to quote Lara’s blog, “I’m A Stranger in a Strange Land”), hoping the hot water would not run out before the last towel was clean.

This was fine at first, and I actually had a pretty good time the first few weeks.

I would turn up my music, bust out the powdered detergent, and get to scrubbing. I did it in the kitchen sink the first time, then realized how silly that was since I had my own sink in my room.

I must say, I felt like Charlie’s mom in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” but it didn’t matter-I was having fun! It was de-stressing and a good time for me to reflect, while also being productive! Meg even bought us a rope to line-dry our wet clothes and we had a good system going for a while.

Then, things started to get complicated. Annoying even, especially when my knuckles were sore from scrubbing my socks, or when my dress wouldn’t air-dry in time for the next day of school.

I became so inconvenienced with waiting that I eventually took to blow-drying my clothes with my dad’s travel-sized blowdryer (thanks again, dad!) in a frantic effort to expedite the process.

A couple weeks in, I realized I hadn’t washed any big-ticket items, like towels or my north face, so I was without any real outfits for a good solid days.
I realized this would just not do, and I gave in to the Laundromat down the street, Mr. Tubbs.

Ohhhhhh Mr. Tubbs!

Mr. Tubbs (or just “Tubbs” as it became affectionately known) was about a five minute walk outside of Smithfield, and the study abroad students could be seen camping out inside with their laptops or a deck of cards, waiting patiently for their laundry to finish.

I could personally be seen trekking down the River Liffey sporting my sweatpants and hoodie (looking like a legit Smithfield Hooligan) with a mesh laundry bag slung over my shoulder like Santa Claus.

Tubbs cost us about 8 euro for a load of laundry, so I tried to avoid that place like the plague. Plus, the woman who owns and operates the business was VERY anti-american, and VERY vocal about it. In short, she hated us, and has been quoted as saying so.

I often went to Tubbs with a book, or my journal, and would listen to the angry lady become hostile with some of her customers. She despised ignorant customers, or those who had never been to Tubbs before and did not know the Laws of the Land. She also could not stand anyone over the age of eleven.

After a few visits I learned, though, and she seemed to despise me less. I even tried to play down my “Amercan-ness” by wearing my Dublin Business School hoodie a few times.

It really puts my American life into perspective, especially how convenient everything is. It's so easy to multi-task in the States, and life is so hurried. But simple things, like doing laundry in the sink, or walking instead of driving, can really force one to slow down and smell the roses. I guess I have laundry to thank for re-teaching me that lesson, and I'm so grateful it has!


Thankfully, we all got through the Dublin laundry experience alive, and managed to wear semi-clean clothes the entire semester, haha. I won’t say I never wore a cardigan four times in a row without washing it, but it's all part of the experience.

Cheers!

Scotland-pictures!

Scotland-Part three!

We were quite excited for our “Loch Ness and Legends” tour, especially since we were promised a kilted tour guide!

So after running to meet our bus, we were happy to meet Andy, our tour guide in a kilt and fleece pullover!

I must mention that in Scotland, the kilt thing is really no big deal. Men wear kilts on their way to the grocery store, to the office, or while walking the dog. Some of the kilts are incredibly nice and worn only for special occasions. But others, like the one Andy was wearing, are for everyday use. Like giving tours of Loch Ness, of course :)

The tour left around 8:15, and for the next four hours we were driven through the highlands of Scotland, being told stories and legends of the places we saw. I hate to say it, but we were all drifting in and out of sleep during the four hour drive.

Could have been the lack of sleep for the past three days, or the fact that we were all stuffed from the breakfast we bagged from our Holiday Inn (stuffed it ALL in my backpack and feasted on the way to Loch Ness, haha!) but the four of us conked out for the majority of the drive.

We were all in it for Loch Ness, though, so as long as we were awake for that it was fine. PLUS, we awoke just in time to see one of the sights where the MacDonald clan kept their cows, and another sight where they were slaughtered by the Campbell clan in their sleep. Sneaky, sneaky!

We stopped for lunch at a beautiful lake, took some pictures, and continued on our journey. Aka-we all took another loooong nap.

When we awoke, we were finally at Loch Ness! AH!

We got off the bus and boarded our Loch Ness “cruise”. The boat was equipped with a sonar system, funded by MIT, to search for Nessie while carting tourists around the lake. They’ve got quite the system going, especially since they are making money (costs 10 pounds per tourist) while conducting scientific research.

Apparently, quite a few photos have been taken of a possible monster in the lake, leading one to believe that Nessie is somewhere in there. MIT just hasn’t found her yet.

The cruise also had a little Nessie sticker on the windows of the boat, so if one’s camera is positioned correctly, it looks like Nessie is sitting there right on the water! Pretty clever, actually, and my dad actually fell for it when he looked at the pictures on f/b. :)

After returning to shore, we bought some postcards, (which apparently held up the tour, since they allotted no time for tourist-like activity after the cruise. What were they thinking? haha) and boarded the bus again.

This time, Andy took a break from telling stories, and turned on the relaxing Scottish tunes. It was nice for all the tired tourists on the bus (those who had been awake the whole trip) and we took the opportunity to sleep a little more, and play the Question Game! Learned a lot about Shannon as we ate bananas and asked each other random life questions, and the view from the bus was incredible as we drove!

We had two more stops on the way home; one at a little town in Scotland, known for their great cafes and restaurants (so says Andy), and another at some magical forest where we snapped a few photos and left. I don’t think he ever told us the significance of that place, but it sure was beautiful!

After, we boarded the bus and returned to Edinburgh about 7:00 pm. Ash and Shannon had a flight to catch that night (we had to split the return flights into two, since Ryanair only had 2 seats left on the Monday return flight) so we booked it back to the hotel. After frantically packing up Shannon and Ashley’s belongings, the two caught a cab to the airport and left that night.

After seeing Ash and Shannon off, Julie and I decided to get dinner in the city. It was so windy that night that Julie and I could NOT WALK properly hahahaha! It was so funny! But we ended up at a cute little pub with local elderly man watching the football match on T.V. I got a tomato and cheese sandwich and crisps, and Julie and I just relaxed and talked for a while. Julie is a great conversationalist, so we chatted for a good hour or so.

After, we decided to hit up McDonalds and get a couple of Cadbury Egg McFlurry’s-a glorious fusion of American and European desserts. Quite a cultural experience, really.

We then braved the strong Scottish winds and walked home to our Holiday Inn hotel. We conked out immediately (after watching a little T.V., of course) and woke up in the morning to catch our flight.

Our flight out of Edinburgh was incredibly smooth, and we caught the airlink bus back to O’Connell Street once we arrived back in Dublin.
Julie and I walked home, reflecting on the trip, our lives in Ireland, and the young women living in Dublin (see earlier post-inspired by our conversation).

All in all it was a great trip (probably one of the best!) and I am so happy I got to share it with such amazing people! I learned a lot about myself on that trip; how I like to travel, what my priorities are, and a little more about how the world works. Also, we learned the origin of the term Sh**-faced on our FREE Sandeman’s walking tour. I’m telling you-that is a hidden gem of Europe!

Side note-I had Lord Chauncy’s marketing class later that day, where I was surprised to find KATE (Lara’s friend from Wisconsin) sitting in my seat! She had come to visit for the week and I was so excited to meet her! She also brought us Easter chocolate, which we shared while Lord Chauncy was using Cadbury chocolate as a marketing example-he had a tendency to use chocolate as an example at least once per class, haha. Torture!

Anyways, it was truly a GREAT weekend and I hope you check out the facebook pictures (under the Album entitled “Hey guys, I think I’ve been Poltergeisted!”) and many of the stories I’ve just told will come to life! Check out part 4 of the Scotland blog series for a few pictures...


Cheers!

Scotland-Part Deux

The next morning was Easter Sunday, so we went to a nearby church called St. Mary's Cathedral. The service was beautiful, and the interior was so immaculate. Also, there was a Cardinal in attendance, so a ton of news cameras were everywhere. Who would have thought? How lucky! I thought of my mom and Gramma the whole service-I miss them so much, especially when I go to church!

After, we walked to the indoor mall and got crepes and a few other things. Life's pretty inexpensive in Edinburgh, especially compared to Dublin, so we took advantage 

We then went back to the hotel to plan the rest of our day and our tour to Loch Ness that Monday!

We decided on a couple activities for Sunday, the first of which being souvenir shopping. I got my grandpa a MacDonald clan scarf (he’s very much into our family history/ancestral tree) as well as a magnet for my dad.

After, we had planned to visit a place called St. Mary's Close, but it was booked the whole day, so we went to a cool visual/science museum called Camera Obscura.

Camera Obscura can only be described as a visual “experience”, with about five floors of very cool pictures, kaleidoscopes, and a "Big Brother" type camera at the top of the museum. It's a camera that literally zooms in on the streets of Edinburgh, and you can sit in a room and watch the people walking around the Royal Mile.

Also, the top of the museum offers a beautiful view of Edinburgh (see facebook for pictures) where you could see the most amazing view of the city!

After, we decided shop for more souvenirs and get dinner at a pub called Deacon Brodies, named for a con artist we learned about on our walking tour (http://www.bestpubs.co.uk/layout0.asp?pub=105887)-smart man, actually.

We ordered our food (another veggie burger for me!) and started to chit-chat. We ended up staying at Deacon Brodies for over two hours, just talking about things like where we saw ourselves in 5 years, how we feel about divorce and marriage, and what sort of relationship we'd all like to end up in (if any). It was really a great bonding experience, and was one of the best conversations I’d had in a long while. We even ordered dessert to prolong the dinner, hahaha :)

By the time we left, it was about 9;00 pm and we headed to the Starbucks (again) for our ghost tour!

We were led through the streets of Edinburgh by a man (I forget his name) with a scruffy beard and a knack for telling stories. Luckily, he was a comedian and professional actor, who loved giving tours in the after hours, so we were entertained the whole time.

The first stop was a graveyard, housing Hume’s mausoleum (one of Scotland’s greatest thinkers) and a number of other graves/ghosts. I literally got chills during some of the guide’s stories.

One was about a woman who was buried alive (she had fallen into a coma and no one knew) and she began to scream as two men tried to saw off her fingers after she’d been buried. They were trying to steal her jewelry after she had been buried, but were taken aback when she started screaming and left her there! Ah!

The tour also took us up Calton Hill, where Scotland’s “National Disgrace” stands proudly at the top. Scotland tried to build their own acropolis, modeled after ancient Greece, but it was never finished due to dwindling funds. Glasgow offered to help fund the project but, according to our tour guide, Edinburgh would rather “have an unfinished acropolis than accept anything from Glasgow”.

Bitter much? Haha.

So the acropolis remains unfinished, and has for 180 years, which is why it is referred to Scotland’s “National Disgrace” instead of their “National Monument”.
(The Acropolis’ most recent use is as the sight of an annual pagan celebration, in which witches run around nude and consume a ton of alcohol.)

The tour ended with a complimentary pint at the Bank Bar (popular spot!) and the four of us sat at a table near a group of 15 year-olds who looked at us strangely whenever we started laughing or talking too loudly. Must not be used to our craaazy American ways! hahaha. Juuuust kidding.

That’s the thing about Europe, though,-it’s not uncommon for kids as young as 14 to be relaxing in a bar or pub. Europeans look at alcohol and pub life in a completely different way, and children are exposed to the drinking culture (that’s right, I said culture. See Lara’s blog --http://theverydramaticblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/irish-love-jesus-but-they-do-drink.html-- for more information) at a very young age. It’s really no big deal to them.

Fun fact: When we lived in Germany in 4-6th grade, Kelly and I took Irish Dancing lessons in a pub. Sometimes, there were a few customers sipping on a pint while we were practicing, but the place was mostly shut down for the lessons. For some reason, I just don’t think that would fly in the States, haha.

After our pints, we bought some peanuts (Cajun flavored!) and headed back to the hotel. We were dead tired (that ghost tour took it out of us!) so we crashed immediately. Plus, we knew we had to wake up early for our Loch Ness tour the next morning, so we wanted to be well-rested for that.

Next morning was Monday and our bus tour left at 8:00 am. Early for us college kids :)

Scotland-Part 1

So, a few weeks ago a few friends (Ashley, Julie and Shannon) and I went to visit my ancestors in the beautiful country of Scotland! I was hoping to find a few members of the MacDonald clan, haha, but we ended up finding so much more!

We flew Ryanair (naturally) and arrived in Edinburgh around 8:00 am on Saturday. We took a bus from the airport to City Centre and as soon as we entered the city, we looked to our right and saw Edinburgh castle. Seriously one of the most breath-taking castles I've ever seen in my life! It’s perched atop volcanic rock, so it’s literally sitting on a cliff in the distance. Incredible.

After marveling in the beauty of the castle and the cleanliness and charm of the city (it’s like a miniature London, but cleaner and friendlier) we checked into our hotel –Holiday Inn, very nice!- and walked around the city a bit. It was still rather early in the morning so the sun was just rising and the morning dew was still glistening-perfect for pictures!

We then walked to the Starbucks on the Royal Mile (one of the two main streets in Edinburgh) for our free Sandeman's New Europe walking tour!

Sandemans is a great company that offers free walking tours, as well as pub crawls and ghost tours, in some of the most popular cities in Europe (a few of us actually did the one in Dublin a couple weeks after the Scotland trip, haha!)

*** If you ever go to Dublin, Edinburgh, London, etc, check them out! They’ll usually meet at 11:00 and 2:00 at a notable point in the city, and the tour will start from there. Like I said, it’s completely free and the tour guides work for tips only. They are enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and genuinely interested in the city! It’s a great deal, and I plan to do many more!

We also got a free drink upgrade for participating in the tour :)

Our tour guide was Mark, a hilarious and very animated college student who told us great stories at each place we visited. They were the kinds of stories/interesting facts you wouldn’t learn from any ol’ guidebook (like the pub who was named after the first woman to be the beneficiary of double jeopardy).

Mark also told us about a particular statue in Edinburgh that experienced a stream of unfortunate luck. The horse looked like a drunk donkey, and holes had been drilled in the “donkey” so when it rained…well, just take a guess, hahaha. Just take a look on facebook for a photo.

We saw the entire city in just three short hours, including the Edinburgh castle (up close), the old Edinburgh market place, a heart on the ground which everyone spits on, and the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote the first two Harry Potter books!

Funny story-when we were walking through a graveyard on the way to the school that was the inspiration for Hogwarts, I slipped and fell in a muddy patch of the graveyard. I had mud all down the left side of my body, including on my jacket, my tights, and my sweet walking shoes. It was fine, though, my friends and I all thought it was hilarious. That was until Mark began telling us stories of people who had mysteriously been "tripped" or "hit" by ghosts in this particular haunted graveyard.

I'd been "Poltergeisted!" as we liked to call it. (In case you were wondering, this is where the facebook album name "Hey guys, I think I've been Poltergeisted" came from, hahaha.)

So, we then went to a pub for lunch (got a veggie burger!) and went to the national museum to see Dolly, the first cloned mammal! It was in the middle of a kid's zone type of area, just spinning around in her glass case (she had been stuffed in 2006). We thought this was a little odd, but we took some pictures and left, went to the hotel, napped, and prepared for our pub crawl that night!

The pub crawl was through Sandeman's New Europe tours again, and cost us only 10 pounds for 5 pubs and free entry into a nightclub at the end! We started at the Bank Bar, an old bank they turned into a bar, and visited a number of other pubs (a new one about every 30 minutes). My favorite was a mixture between a pub/dance club called Frankenstein, which had a haunted house-type theme. I felt like I was in a Halloween haunted house, rather than a nightclub, and clubs with very noticeable themes are quite rare from what I’ve seen. Needless to say, it was awesome.

The pub crawl then took us to a dance club called Espionage, where we danced the night away on four different levels (all with different music). We also found 10 pounds and a “Bride to Be” pin on the ground, which we immediately pinned on Julie. Ha!

Altogether, it was a great, great night and a wonderful start to our trip! :)

The Dublin Women: An Observation.

So, I’m sitting here in a café with half a pot of tea left and nothing to do with myself. I’d like to take this opportunity to blog about the young women of Dublin, ranging from ages 12-mid twenties. They are all quite different and I’ve been quietly observing their lifestyles/habits since day one:


We’ll start with the youngest; ages 12-14- These adolescent females are living examples of premature independence and early maturation. They typically take the bus to and from school, but will stay in City Centre as long as possible after school lets out. They do this to maximize their shopping/BFF bonding time. They travel in groups of 4 or more (often with a few male hooligans to keep them company/give them street cred) and can be spotted shopping in their school uniforms from 3:00-5:30 pm (must make it home in time for dinner) on Grafton and O’Connell Street. They are big fans of text messaging (SMS), fast food, shopping for accessories, and straightening their hair. A number of them are also into colored nail polish (at a private, Catholic school, mind you! Risky!). Just wait till they grow up…

15-17: They have now begun to discover alcohol and childhood has begun to diminish. They have shed their school uniforms for leather jackets, calf-high boots, and dramatic eyeliner. They are quite ahead of the U.S. as far as fashion goes, so be expecting to see black tights paired with cut-off shorts and floral prints walking down the American runways soon! Additionally, this age group is also known for dying their hair one solid, dramatic color. They will then straighten it and wear it down, or messily put it in a bun/ponytail to communicate the “rocker”/”I don’t even care what I look like” look. I’ve tried it, but the curly hair just doesn’t scream “I don’t give a darn” like the Dublin girls’ can. Shoot :/

18-21: When Dublin girls hit about 17 or 18 they can legally drink in public dance clubs and pubs around town. Serious nights out begin on Wednesday here, and run clear till Sunday. No breaks, no nights off, there are literally well-dressed, high-heeled young women dancing around town until 3:30 am on almost every night of the week. Popular Wednesday spot; Dicey Reily’s. We typically go to Dicey’s about once per week and hit up the dance floor with scores of fashionable young Irish women. They also play Jay-Z and Lady Gaga at Dicey Reily’s, as well as have a beautiful beer garden (no rooftop and you can see the stars in the night sky!), so we’re pretty much guaranteed a good time.

22-25: These are the blossoming business professionals. They are incredibly well dressed, have fabulous business suits, and manage to successfully wear high heels while rushing to their next business meeting across the Liffey. They dine at places like the Italian Quarter (an area on the North side of the River Liffey with a number of classy Italian Restaurants) and go grocery shopping after work. They are “up and coming” career women with (what seems to be) incredible drive and professionalism. Many of them also attend the law school next to our accommodation, and they may be the best-dressed of them all. Who knew students could afford such chic fashion? An inspiration to college students everywhere!

So, there you go, a few of my observations. Not all of the girls living here fit each description, but I hope this gives you some insight into everyday life here in Dublin, Ireland! :)

Cheers!