Thursday, April 29, 2010
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 :)
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 :)
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
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!
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!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
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!
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 :)
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! :)
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! :)
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