So Rich goes to school in the most beautiful seaside town....it's not fair. This puts Queens to shame. His residence faces out to the sea, and before that a graveyard and the ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral, it's stunning. On the train ride here I passed by two castles...I love this country.
Exploring today- St. Andrews golf course, the church ruins, and the town.

SCOT LAAAAND

Here in Glasgow now. Staying with Siobhan, a friend from high school who is at teacher's college here. Glasgow, despite its flaws (very high crime rate, rundown buildings nearby) has absolutely the most beautiful architecture! The buildings around town are incredible. Siobhan took me on one of the Hop On Hop Off city bus tours which was a great way to get the whole city in in one afternoon.
One of her flatmates made us a traditional Scottish dinner--steak pie and mash. So tasty.
Then we hit up some pubs/bars. Love the Scottish accents...maybe more than Irish.
Off to meet Richie today!
x

The gate to Bono's house. This is all you can see from the road, which was too bad. The town, Dalkey, is absolutely gorgeous, with beautiful houses on the hillside looking out to the sea. The singer Enya has a CASTLE that she lives in here. It's incredible. Van Morrison is just up the street too. You can't really see it with this picture, but U2 lyrics are inscribed on the gates, it's really cool.

Our glorious view...it really doesn't get better than this. Rainbows, rainstorms, and green as far as the eye can see.

Our plane. Rachel's dad flew over to Galway to pick us up. Amazing.

The incredible view from outside Rachel's cottage...the sea is in the distance. Rachel made us a lovely roast dinner, and these guys decided to come visit while we were eating. They just strolled by the front  yard, so I came out to say hello. Haha

Beautiful landscapes

One of the many wild animals we met along the way...

I thought this was ridiculous. The roads are insanely narrow, with constant winds and turns, yet the speed limit is 80km/h....crazy Irish.

Making our way back to the cottage, there was a pretty stream and some rapids that went through the village. The cutest old Irish lady picked us up shortly after this. She was the craziest driver though, Rachel made me sit in the front seat with her. I could barely understand a word she was saying...just a lot of smiles, nods, and laughs. I'm surprised we survived this drive. Haha

My first Irish stew...so tasty!

Tiny seaside village of Clifden. We hitchhiked here from Rachel's cottage...

Haunted cottage

An old abandoned cottage we explored...we made up spooky stories about it, scaring ourselves of course. Turns out it had to do with the Potato Famine...pretty neat.

Irish Countryside

We found a castle on our walk ... no big dee

Photos

This is the Irish Football Match. As I said before, it's like a mix of rugby, soccer, and volleyball.

Good Craic

If any of you eventually make it over to Ireland in your lifetime, you absolutely cannot leave the island without visiting Clifden and Galway. The West of Ireland is truly where postcards are made.
I kid you not, it is one of the most beautiful and majestic places on earth. With rolling hills, green as can be, and wild sheep, cows and horses peppering the landscape, you can't go wrong.

We started out in the city center of Galway. Now, Galway is very similar to Kingston and London in that it is a University town. And it was graduation week.... Haha
Rachel and I stayed with one of her friends that is going to school there, in a very, very tiny apartment. It was a night full of riding in rickshaws and jampacked bars, kids spilling into the streets, and late night chipper...good craic. (Irish word basically meaning good times)
The next morning we got up bright and early to catch our bus to Clifden, a small seaside town near Rachel's granny's house where we were going to stay for the next two nights. As much as I had wanted to nap on the bus, I absolutely could not. Not with the unbelievable scenery that was passing by outside of my window. The town of Clifden was small and very Irish, and apparently it has a very large summer crowd. There was an abundance of shops and pubs, with a few cafes here and there as well.
We hired a taxi to take us the fifteen minute drive out to Rachel's cottage. The small house had incredible views, looking over the sea, surrounded by more beautiful scenery, and more wild cows and horses haha...they were everywhere. The gates at the front of the cottages are shut tight in order to keep the cows from wandering in for a snack and leaving behind some not so friendly gifts.
We relaxed, ate delicious food (Rach cooked us a roast, and I finally had some yummy Irish lamb stew, so good!) and went for walks. In order to get back into the village of Clifden, we had to hitch hike. Mom before you freak out, this was the most friendly and quiet place ever. Balleyconnelly, the name of the small town where her cottage is, has one store, a post office, and of course a pub. But that's it.
So we had to hitch rides in to town and back from a couple of different people, all extremely friendly, and very Irish. I had to strain to hear and understand them...Rachel barely could haha.
So on one of our walks, we were just chatting along when all of a sudden I look up and a CASTLE is just chilling there on one of the hills. A CASTLE!!! It was spectacular. I took loads of pictures, and we began to imagine the story behind the abandoned building. Finding out that the owner of the castle is crazy, and strongly dislikes visitors (he's been known to chase them out with a gun) we only admired from afar. Next castle I find, I'm going in.

To get back from Galway to Dublin, we didn't feel like taking the bus...so we  had Rachel's dad FLY HIS PLANE TO PICK US UP. NO.BIG.DEAL. It was unreal, the best way to see the country. He flew in his small four seater plane to the airport, and collected us. It was the best way to end the trip. We saw rainbows and rainstorms from the sky...incredible.

Now I'm with Laura Boyd again. I go back and forth between the girls as if they're my divorced parents haha. I love it. Today I'm going to see Bono's house and hope that he decides to go for a walk or something so I can catch a glimpse of the small Irish rockstar. I'll let you know how it goes.

xx

Galway Girls

Here we are sitting all bundled up by a fire in Rachel's cottage by the sea. This is the most beautiful place in Ireland. Every a window I look out of is a postcard. This could be the backdrop for a scene from PS I Love You ladies. (I can't let Rach see that, Irish people hate when we reference that movie haha)We are going for a walk soon to frolic with wild cows and sheep. Photos to come!!!

Here we go...

"Well, your adventure begins..." said Bonnie as we landed. She was the lovely lady I sat next to on my six hour plane ride from Toronto to Dublin. I think this was the moment when I fully realized that I was beginning this crazy adventure. Bonnie and her husband Jeff were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary with a trip to Ireland and Scotland....adorable.

Exiting through customs (I had been really nervous going up to the window, not knowing Rachel's home address of where I was staying...the man asked me two questions, and then sent me on my way. That's Ireland for ya.)
Rachel Rock was waiting to collect me, in her pyjamas. Typical.
We then met up with the lovely Laura Boyd for lunch, and reminisced over paninis and salads, not very Irish, but satisfying. It was great to be with the Irish lasses again!
Refusing to let me get over my jetlag, Rachel had her girls over to the apartment that night. We partied in true Irish fashion into the wee hours of the night...Welcome to Ireland.

Sunday I joined up with Laura's friends (she had to work) and went to my first Irish football match. (Only played in Ireland--think rugby, soccer, and volleyball all mixed together.) It was such a cool experience, very Irish! Laura introduced me that night to chipper (also very Irish, take-out food) which was a tasty treat. After watching X Factor (the whole country is obsessed) we went to Cuala, which is basically the clubhouse/pub for the football team that we had watched earlier that day. It was located in a town called Dalkey. Bono and Van Morrison's homes are also both located in Dalkey...let the stalking begin.
The pub was probably my favorite experience yet. I shared pints with the most Irish men you could ever meet. All in the best of moods (despite their loss) singing and dancing all night long. (Again into the wee hours.) They all made fun of my accent, since I was of course the only foreigner there, and proceeded to make me say things like "out" and "about" repeatedly throughout the night.
I also had the absolute pleasure of meeting the Irish version of The Situation. I kid you not, this is NOT A JOKE. It was fantastic. The most entertaining guy I have ever met. It was grand.
At one point too the bartender, Rob, challenged me to a pint pouring contest. I gladly jumped behind the bar (think Cuba guys) and poured a Heineken... Did a pretty good job too...

Today I went to Rachel's hometown, Draghada, to meet the fam and see her house. It was a picturesque little place, about half an hour from Dublin. It was really nice to see where little Rachie came from, and to see her family again!

Tomorrow we are off to Galway! We're there for a night, then we're going to Rachel's cottage about an hour from the city. Should be beautiful! There until Friday or Saturday... Updates to come...

xx

NEW BLOG

Hey guys,

Really sorry, but I cannot for the life of me remember my old gmail address...haha whoops. So I had to create another blog. Please keep checking this one, I won't be updating the old one!