The Luck of the Irish; Escapades in Ireland!

Turns out Leprechauns don't have gold, only beer.....just like every other Irishman. 

"Oh, he doesn't smell like Irish Spring

And he never taught me anything

But still I slap my chest and sing

Of my drunken Irish dad!

Oh, his face looks like a railroad map

And he never shuts his freakin' trap

But all the ladies stand and clap

For my drunken Irish dad!"

(It's best if you sing this song while being completely, as the Irish say, ossified)

Let me tell you what are true stereotypes of Ireland;

1. Green, everything is green. The clothes, the land, the sports teams, the grass. Everything is green.
2. Historic. Wrought with castles and history, Ireland lives up to authenticity.
3. Catholicism. Although not many Irish people are religious, they will still often stake claim to being staunchly Catholic. This of course arises with tradition, but the number of cathedrals that dot the landscape attribute to that fact.  
4. And lastly; Beer. Beer.... freakin' everywhere. There's beer in the buses, bikes, roads, inside your markets, your shops, your clothes. How could I not start this post without showing a picture of a Leprechaun guzzling down a bottle added with the lyrics of Irish drinking song? I'll report more on that later.

Now let me tell you which stereotypes of Ireland are false;

1. Red-hair. It's nowhere to be found in Ireland. The only red-headed person I saw the whole trip was one of the students we brought with us. That makes my picture above just a little false.
2. Irish people are different. While my stay was short, I often tried to compare the people to people of America and I certainly didn't find anything too contrasting that you can't find with someone in America. I've come to the conclusion that there's only two type of people in the world; those who live in the city, and those who don't. Doesn't matter if that city is Dublin or New York.
3. And lastly; the Irish eat only potatoes, bacon, and cabbage. While this is obvious, it's a fun stereotype that's fun to poke at. And while they eat everything else as well, I certainly did have my fair share of them while I was there :)

See?

Plus an Irish breakfast, the best.

So, if you haven't caught on by now let me just state the obvious and remind you all that I spent this last week of my study abroad in the lush land of Ireland. The trip included only four of us from the entire class; the others decided to go to boring France or stay in London. We left after right after class on Monday and flew back to London on Friday night.

Now thanks to Jean, whom lived there before, we were able to utilize her connections to make our stay as enriching, full, and least expensive as possible. Now we split up our time there in two sections; one in the capitol of Dublin and the other in the historic city of Cork. I will begin to address you in such a manner.

DUBLIN

Alright, so we got into Dublin and met Bishop Joe and his wife. He was Jean's Bishop there when she was younger and they allowed us to stay with them for 3 nights. Unfortunately I didn't get to see much of them because they both work full-time, but at least I did get to experience the hospitality of the Irish. So we went to bed early cuz we knew we'd be up early to start on our lovely and hopefully sober adventures of Ireland.

My humble abode during my stay.

   

The backyard! Yay for suburbs!

So once we got out in the morning we went to the "spire" which is apparently the iconic meeting place  for any tourist in Dublin because it's so easy to spot. Well, we met up with Jean's old friend, an Irish girl named Aisling. She was our Dublin tour guide for the next two days. First she took us to go see a Viking museum. Viking museum? In Ireland?? Turns out the horned-helmet, opera singing barbarians (more false stereotypes, by the way) had quite the history in Dublin.

I guess Vikings' heads were bigger than mine.

This is where I did my cooking.

And this was my bed :D

My name in Viking language apparently. It's pronounced Arrow, weird line, two diagonal T's, M, R. And that's how you say my name!

Just my philanthropy work transcending time.

Later we ate at a chipper (fish n' chips restaurant), strolled through the parks, took a nap in the park, then went on back to the house enjoy and Irish dinner and get to bed for even more adventure the next day.

Of course we couldn't leave the park without a little fountain modeling first.   

And sunbathing of course, during the rare moments that the sun does shine in Europe.

The next day was much more action packed as we woke up early to catch a tour bus that took us all through Dublin and then some. The pinnacle of this tour was getting to see Powerscourt Estate! Although this place was merely an estate it had the grandeur of a castle. It was also the sight where various movies, shows, and music videos were filmed including The Count of Monte Cristo, Braveheart, and Excalibur. All three girls that I was travelling with decided it was the place where they were gonna get married. "Typical!" I said. But then I saw it for myself and nearly felt the same way. Let's see if you do.

The majestic path.

This is how I pictured Ireland.

This is where the wedding line will be placed :D

And what estate is complete without naked sculptures?

Beauty meets beauty :D

And finding what looks like the Lost Boys hideout is always a plus.

Now after travelling through even more of the city, visiting dozens of little shops and what not we eventually made it back to the house so we could watch Tangled with Aisling because she committed the unpardonable sin of having not seen it yet. And well, that's how we ended our stay with Joe, Aisling, and all of Dublin. It was sweet and completely alcohol free!

Two thumbs up for Tangled!

The whole crew on our last night in Dublin.

CORK

As quickly as the sun went down it came up all the same the next morning. So we packed our bags and set off to travel through the countryside and meet up with the celebrated city of Cork. While Dublin is the New York of Ireland, Cork would be its Boston. Just saturated with history and all the authenticity you would hope to find in Ireland just as Boston is full of that for America. Again travel week seemed more like travel minute as time flew by being able to spend only one real day before having to leave. But the adventures start with the Bed and Breakfast. I was working on trying to get a video of a tour of the bed and breakfast that I made, but it's not loading properly. So you'll just have to use your imagination. But I do have some pictures of course!

What manner of key is this? Never in my 22 years of life have I ever actually used key like this for a real purpose. But like I said; authenticity thrives in Cork! 

Now just a quick story that totally freaked the girls out when we first got to Cork. Once we had settled into our rooms one of the girls looked out the window and saw a woman getting mugged on the street with the thief running off with her purse.

After the incident, the lady on the far left (the victim) is calling the police.

Oh boy, even though it didn't really startle me it definitely was not the best first impression that the girls had of Cork. But what can I say? Crime in the city will always exist.

So the next day came and it was finally time for me to visit an Irish castle. This castle is known as Blarney Castle and was very old, and very noble, and very ancient, and very old, and very European, and very old, and very important, and blah blah blah. Basically what you want in a castle. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Typical rustic castle setting. Just what I paid for :) 

Me scaling the castle....obviously.

Green beauty. 

Within the castle we found many ancient gargoyle statues, like this one here. 

Reaching the top and just hanging around...

...when suddenly! Wild Blarney Stone appears!
Behold, legend has been foretold of the Blarney Stone; that whosoever shall caress the stone with their lips shall gain the gift of eloquence. Being able to sooth-say and outwit any foe shall be their power to possess.
Think it worked??

But later we strolled through the gardens,

took a nap on an elephant tree,

and conquered another ancient structure. All in a day's work. 

Eventually the Royal Army did retake everything and we became prisoners of the Empire. Christie obviously enjoyed it.

  

After Christie and I escaped from the prison soon our day, and our Ireland trip, came winding down. But our last stop before sailing back to the mother-land was visiting a local cathedral in Cork named St. Ann Shandon's Church. Now while I have had more than my fair share of cathedrals in Europe this one was much different because we were given the privilege of ringing the cathedral bells! Behold it;

Entrance to the church required a dancing/posing ritual, of which we were completely prepared.

My work and glory. And yes, the hearing protection was necessary. In fact, in the true story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame Quasimodo was actually def his whole life because of his job of ringing the bells everyday. But I guess it did give him super strength. Hmm, which one would you rather have then?

Playing favorites such as Amazing Grace and Happy Birthday are all just part of the job.

Fun fact: Contemplating life it a lot easier a top a cathedral overlooking the Irish landscape.

After one last Irish supper at local pub did the crew and I set out to leave back to England. I really couldn't have asked for a more fulfilling time in Ireland with only the few short days we had there. The one thing that I hope to take from my experience there is just to know that it doesn't matter where you're from or what you believe, but that we are all trying to find our freakin' place in this freakin' world. Irish people are no different and neither am I. Is my place in Europe? Well, at least for now the answer is yes.  

Funny thing, going back to England felt strangely like going home. Even though London is even further from my home in the states I definitely felt as though I just got off vacation and now had to settle back into "normal" life of occasionally going to class and doing homework, seeing all the wonderful sights of England, and don't forget going to 4-5 professional shows every single week. Yep, that's the normal life for me right now. But don't get me wrong, I really will be looking forward to going back after England to my actual home; that's right, New York City! Can't wait to be home. :) 

  

Anyway, another week is brewing up faster than an Irish Guinness Brewery. And I'm praying you know just how much that is saying something. And on that note of Irish beer let me send you off with the last lines of that Irish drinking song (Warning; Irish drinking songs have no shame. Be prepared for that);

"Ask a Hennesy,

Tennesy, Morrison,

Shaughnessy, Reardon, 

and Rooney

They'll tell you the same!

McNulty, Mulrooney,

And Connor and Clooney

All feel the same mixture

Of pride and of shame!

Oh, we Irish lads are all infirm

And our moods infect us like a germ

Cause we're all the spawn of pickled sperm!

(And we don't tan well either)

FROM A DRUNKEN IRISH DAD!

Somehow soberly,

                         -Lancaster Spear