Cause I'm Leavin', On a Jet Plane...They Don't Really Call Them Jet Planes Anymore, John Denver

Fortunately for some, unfortunately for others, this will not be my last post. I let my time here catch up on me, so I still have a few trips to write about. Instead, since I'm leaving for home tomorrow I thought I would write some brief, (I know! It'll be miraculous if I can keep it short), final comments about my time here in Ireland. I just want to apologize in advance if this post doesn't make much sense. I'm writing this at the same time that I'm cleaning out the fridge, throwing t-shirts into my luggage, and mopping the floors.

If I could compare the two images of myself the day before leaving for Ireland and today, they would look pretty similar. Complete exhaustion is the general theme. I might have even been wearing this same shirt now that I think about it...But things have changed though. I've had so many experiences now that I could only dream about before. After this, I doubt that my life will be the same.

So tired. Can't wait to sleep on the plane. Unless they have good movies. Dangit.
Photo courtesy of Molly.

I just want to reiterate how fortunate I am to have this opportunity, and how thankful I am for this. I realize that very few people get the chance to visit or live in another country, and I am one of the blessed few.

The family being a bunch of sexy beasts at the Cliffs of Moher.

I have been bitten. No, not by a vampire or a mosquito, but by the travel bug. My interest in seeing as much as I can has been greatly heightened because of this experience. I long to be a part of cultures that I currently know nothing about. I encourage as many people as possible to go out and take part in a world that is foreign to them. You will soon come to see how much you have in common with people who you once thought were completely different.

The Donut Man, providing me with delicious, half-cooked donuts for my entire stay.
Photo courtesy of Cayla.

I also want to mention the people that I have met in my time here. Without them, I don't know if this trip would have amounted to much of anything. Although trips are often based on sites or destinations, it is the connections between people that really make the experience.  It was really difficult to say goodbye to many of them, because I'm not sure when I'll see them again, but I am so grateful for the experiences that they have given me. I owe so much to them.

Oregon's a far drive, but not too far for Cayla!
Photo courtesy of Cayla. 

Alternative method of the Sleeper Hold.
Photo courtesy of Molly.

The bunch of weirdos that I meshed perfectly with.
Photo courtesy of Cayla.

Needless to say, I am leaving Ireland with a very heavy heart. But, this is life, so we can do nothing but move forward onto the next adventure. I'm sure there will be many more to come.

This picture doesn't have anything to do with anything. I just thought it was funny.
Photo courtesy of Rachel.

Ok, that's enough sentimentality for one post...

Bun(doran) in the Sun(doran)

I'm going to skip over a couple things that were very fun, but I have chosen not to write about. Instead each activity will get one, and I mean only one!, picture.

Connemara tour with API: Witnessing an Irish stereotype.

Oughterard: Failing to commandeer a boat, but still having to go to the bathroom, Monica and Lauren were forced to pee on the edges of this person's lovely driveway.

St. Patrick's Day & 21st Birthday: What happens on St. Patrick's Day and my 21st birthday in Ireland stays in Ireland.
Photo courtesy of Rachel.

If you are really keen on hearing about one of those, feel free to ask me, but if it's about the last one I'm probably going to need you to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Now, onto my 21st birthday adventure! In the U.S., turning 21 is a huge deal, and surprisingly, turning 21 here is important too. My Irish roommate, Shauna, told me that birthdays divisible by 3 are always exciting. I don't know, man, I'm just going to go with it. Anyway, I wanted to do something special for this one. My friend Monica and I have been talking ever since seeing the mini cliffs in the Burren about going cliff jumping, and what better time than when I was itching for an adrenaline-inducing activity?

Monica found a place that specialized in outdoor water activities that was also linked up to a hostel, and so, the day of my birthday, all a little "worn out" from the night before, we headed to Bundoran, Donegal. The day got off to a later start than we expected because of weird bus schedules, so after a long ride we found our hostel, but then immediately had to suit up because the tide was going out.

I had never put on a wetsuit before, so that was an extreme adventure in itself. By the time it was finally on I was completely exhausted, and Cayla, who was just observing for the day, was exhausted from laughing at us. Once we were ready, we piled into their waterproof van covered in sand, and made our way to the cliffs.

Up to this point everything had happened so fast I wasn't really able to think until I hit the water, then things started to clear up pretty quickly. The first jump was just a practice jump to make sure we had the technique right, and I felt like the water wasn't that cold. This attitude quickly changed. It eventually got to the point where it felt like Mr. Freeze was in my frontal lobe and The Hulk was grabbing my lungs. Cayla probably thought I was so disgusting with my snot flying everywhere, but honestly, I couldn't feel my face, so I don't think that's my fault completely.

I found cliff jumping to be super exhilarating. When I would watch a video of it, it never seems like you're in the air for that long, but when you're actually doing it, it feels like eternity. Some of the higher jumps I had to take a deep, reassuring breath before stepping off, but I did them all, so I'm proud of myself. I got a little worried with a couple of the jumps because I would hit the floor of the ocean, but for the next jump I would just tell the instructor guy and he would adjust the way I would jump out. I'm really glad that I did it, but I think if I was to cliff jump again, it would be somewhere warm that doesn't require a wetsuit.

This probably wouldn't fly for safety standards in the U.S....God Bless Ireland!

Everyone, please bow your heads in prayer.

We weren't actually cliff jumping, we were practicing our levitating.

That glow is smugness from jumping off of tall crap.

Subconsciously, we all want to be superheroes. My superhero name would be Un-Leish-ed.

After we were turned away from one restaurant, (probably for being too good-looking), we ended up at this place Stake's, which, in a surprising twist, had no steaks on their menu. They did have a good amount of wooden poles on the menu now that I think about it. After a long day, it was great to get a hot meal in our bellies, even if it meant being subject to criticism due to the fact it was Ireland's Mother's Day, and we were 3 girls out to dinner, mother's nowhere to be found. As a side note, I love Mother's Day in Ireland because it means hundreds of cards covered with "Mum, You're The Best" or "I Love You, Mummy!"

You know a meal is good when you get your own personal gravy boat.

I know I was really excited about the Crown Bar in the last post, but I think I found one of the coolest bars in the world. The people at the hostel told us about this pub that was ranked as one of the best pints of Guinness in Ireland. The pub was called Brennan's.

Brennan's has the best pint of Guinness in the Ireland.

Ireland has the best pint of Guinness in the world.

Herego, Brennan's has the best pint of Guinness in the world. 

I drank the best pint of Guinness on Earth. This wasn't the coolest part of the pub, though.  It's non-descript front did not tell of the treasures that lay within. It was owned and worked solely by two little old ladies who were probably in their late 70's or 80's, so they are probably the two most awesome people in the world besides Dame Maggie Smith. You have not lived until you are served at a pub by someone who probably remembers the Hindenburg disaster firsthand. The decor of the pub was interesting. Obviously there was the bar with the stools, but then for the other seating in the main room it was just wooden benches around the walls. There was also an attached room that looked like a grandparent's living room/mud room from the 70s, plastic covered couches and all. The other thing about the pub is that you're not going to get rowdy. You are literally not allowed to curse or talk loudly, otherwise you get a strict talking-to by one of the ladies. I wish old ladies in the U.S. had enough spunk to open fantastic pubs.

Facade: Strictly business. Inside: Party all the time.

Irish Fact: It takes 4 pints of Guinness to truly enjoy Guinness. Note: It has not yet been determined if Irish facts are actual facts.

We were all pretty pooped after that, so we headed back to hostel and our Beatles themed room, binged on an entire pan of brownies filled with chocolate biscuits and Cadbury chocolate that Monica had made for me (amazeballs!), and then hit the sack.

The next day was a lot more laid back. We just spent the day walking around Bundoran. It's a really beautiful town and countryside. The town is great for water sports and outdoorsy activities. As we were walking along the dunes of the beach we even spotted a group of horse riders making their way through the sand.

We didn't try to tackle those mountains.

The cliffs we jumped off the day before. Don't worry, there was more water down there the previous day.

The rock bridge collapsed 5 seconds after I got off. Just kidding! It was 10.

Yeah, didn't walk all those dunes. Wayyyyy too lazy.

Riding away into the sunset...

Bundoran is a lovely town, but there isn't a whole lot to it unless you have some sort of activity planned for the day. The last couple hours we spent in this cafe where I ate a whole stack of pancakes with cinnamon apples and cream even though I just ate fish and chips at another restaurant. The place had books and magazines to keep us busy, but I think at various points we all took brief naps. Don't judge! The seats were very comfortable. We went back to the hostel to get our bags, and even after the cafe we still had time to kill, so some of the workers for the Adventure Center invited us to watch TV, where I discovered a newfound love: the 1960s TV show "Batman" with Adam West. I think this is from the movie, but it's the same amount of cheese, so enjoy:

"Bon Voyage, Pussy"

Treat Yo'Self to Northern Ireland

I have officially turned in my last final paper, so I am free for the rest of the semester! That being said, I am going to try my best to catch up on writing in this blog. Clearly I still haven't picked up the pace because I wrote that sentence a week and a half ago. 

Many weeks ago, we planned a trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland. Our trip got off to a bit of a wonky start, though. My roommate, Lauren, and I were sitting on the bus, ready to head to Dublin to then catch a train to Belfast. We noticed that the others that were coming with us still hadn't arrived, so we gave them a ring. The Alexander Graham Bell kind, not the jewelry kind. It turned out we had scheduled different bus times, so Lauren and I were going to have some time to kill in Dublin. Once our other friends arrived we went to the train station to buy our tickets. When we tried to buy them there we found out that they were three times the price that they were online, but being the savvy travelers we are, and also the fact that we encountered a super nice train worker, we skipped on over to the bus station, figuratively, and hopped on a cheaper bus, fairly literally.

We got into Belfast pretty late, and headed straight to our hostel to check in. The hostel used to be a linen factory, so it kind of had a factory feel to it, (if you know what that is). We were all starving at that point, and the guy working at the front desk suggested a cheap place that was "across the street from the gay club around the corner." You would think that finding a gay club in the middle of a completely desolate and silent area would be fairly straightforward, like finding a needle in a needlestack, if you will, but we failed. Because of this, I have a confession to make: I, Alicia Eissler, had to break my personal study abroad rule and eat at McDonald's. In my defense, we only had two options, KFC or McDonald's, so I think we chose the lesser of two evils.

That's right, if I had chosen KFC I could have been eating a sandwich that has fried chicken patties as buns. McDonald's was the healthy choice.
Photo courtesy of http://www.kfc.com/doubledown/.

We got an early start the next day for the optimal touring experience. We first headed to the shipyards. The Titanic was built in Belfast, so there is a big tourist draw for that reason to go see that area. At the time that we were there, the Titanic museum was still being constructed, but it was almost done, so we could basically see what it was going to look like when finished. Since I am not an architecture or modern art aficionado, I can't say anything for sure about the building, but to my untrained eyes it appeared that the building is supposed to be an iceberg. I can just picture that meeting now...

-Hmmm, well, I don't know if we have the space, width-wise, to create a building that looks like the ship.
-Well, what else could we make the building in the shape of?
-We could definitely fit a museum and thousands of guests into the ego of the man who claimed that the Titanic was unsinkable.
-I don't know what an ego looks like, though...By George, I've got it! We can just make the building into the thing that sank the ship and was the initial cause for the deaths of more than 1,500 people.
-What a great and tasteful idea!

I swear it totes looks like an iceberg.

Next, we caved to our stomach's cravings and went to St. George's Market. A little background first. Cayla and I are big fans of one of the greatest shows on television, "Parks and Recreation." If you aren't watching this show, get on it because about 72% of the pop culture references I make are to this show. Two of the characters in the show have a day called Treat Yo'self. The general premise and ensuing hilarity can be viewed in these two clips:

Treat Yo'Self 2011

Cashmere-Velvet Candycane

Now, every time anyone expresses any indecision about purchasing something, it's always, "Treat yo'self!" Belfast was a veritable goldmine for treat yo'self-like statements, including one from a bakery at this indoor market that sported "Indulge Yourself" on their sign. From that statement alone, we knew we had to be a part of this great pastry legacy, and so we purchased a half dozen of their wares to share between 4 of us.

Cayla repping for "Indulge Yo'Self!"

Enjoy Yo'Self!

We took them to this lovely park and botanical garden at Queen's University to chow down. They weren't exclusively muffins, but nothing with that amount of of sugar and icing could be considered anything less than a cupcake, thus the Frankenstein-esque creature of the cupuffin was born. My favorite part of eating them, other than the nomming part, was the looks of pure bitterness thrown our way by the passing joggers. It made the cupuffins all the sweeter.

Queen's University: I actually liked it better than Trinity. You still ma gurl, though, Trinity!

The mutated X-Men of the pastry world.

Wow, Cayla, calm yourself there. You are getting a little too much enjoyment out of that cupuffin.

After enjoying the rare sun for awhile, we went to the Ulster Museum, which is sort a bunch of odd collections thrown into one museum ranging from science-y stuff on the Ice Age, to mummies, to modern art. They did have an informative exhibit on what they term "The Troubles," or what we would know as the societal problems that plagued Northern Ireland from the 1960s until fairly recently, but more on that later. I also was really digging the children's sections of the museum where it's interactive. This love probably blossomed from my many visits to the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. One of the weirder things about one of these sections was that the museum provided binoculars supposedly to "birdwatch," but the area where you were supposed to birdwatch was facing directly into a bunch of houses. Well done, creepers.

"It looks like Mrs. Johnson is with the Milkman again." "You don't say!"

I've never been so afraid of an animal that is dead and stuffed. That thing is a wildebeest.

Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise, hoop skirts are ALWAYS a good idea.
Photo courtesy of Molly.

I have no idea why women stopped wearing corsets regularly. It's like wearing a tight, restrictive cloud around your torso...
Photo courtesy of Cayla.

I think the taxidermists in Northern Ireland must be pretty rich purely off of the amount they must get from the Ulster Museum.

A trip to Northern Ireland is not complete without a trip to the Peace Murals. Belfast even has a special company of taxis that can take you and explain a bit about the murals, but we didn't take one. Instead, we just checked them out ourselves. The murals have a large range of topics, but they are all under the theme of bettering our world and living in a peaceful society. There are a ton of them, but here are some of my favorites.

Ha, fat Obama. In this mural he clearly hasn't been partaking in the First Lady's initiative.

The people in Belfast were some of the nicest people I have ever met. Generally, people in Ireland are friendly, but the people of Belfast were something else. There were a few occasions when someone noticed I was a tourist and stopped to talk to me. One time when we were looking at a church a boy's choir director came out and started talking to us. All of a sudden he just invited all of us to come listen to the boys practice in the school across the way. They treated us like guests of honor, and it was a wonderful performance. I imagine that the people of Northern Ireland do not see as many tourists because people are still uncertain about it, so when tourists are around they make a big effort to be welcoming. They are trying to revolutionize their tourist trade because that has the potential to bring in a lot of income to a country that has been hard hit by the recession.

When I told my mom that I was going to Northern Ireland the first thing she asked was, "Is that safe?" It seemed to me that Northern Ireland is really trying to shed the images commonly associated of car bombs, the IRA, and that ilk. It's not that they are attempting to cover up their past, but rather embrace it as a part of their history that has created who they are now, and then move on to highlight everything else that Northern Ireland has to offer. And they have a lot to offer, so if you are considering a trip to Ireland, please don't skip Northern Ireland over!

I don't mean to say that everything is roses in Northern Ireland, either. After all, it wasn't that long ago that the Troubles were happening, so people are still bitter. As we were walking through one of the more dilapidated areas of the city we came across a mural that was a very clear declaration of where that neighborhood stood. The choir teacher confessed to us in a half-joking, half-serious way that he was a Protestant working for a Catholic church, so he had to keep that from the parents of the children he worked with. Our bus was also pulled over and they checked everyone's IDs.

That night we went to The Crown Bar for food in the restaurant upstairs and downstairs to the pub after. It was one of the coolest pubs I have ever been in, or I ever will be in. Sure, it did kind of have weird golden lighting probably due to the slightly gaudy golden features that kind of made things seem a bit dreamlike, but other than that it was so neat. The dinner was excellent. I thought I was getting some sort of Guinness Stew, but then it came out in pie form, but this only augmented its deliciousity...Whatever, Shakespeare made up words all the time. Examples: puking, obscene, hot-blooded, etc. Once we were done dinner, it was down into the pub. In the pub were these little rooms that I believe were called snugs. Basically, they were these half-walled booth-lined cubbies with a table that you could go into with your buds to escape creepers and weirdos, or just for a private hangout with your friends, I suppose. I just thought it was a neat concept, so I was super stoked when we managed to snag a snug. It felt very like a VIP room, which I'm sure will be a recurrent locale in my promising future.

The Crown Bar is a big advocate for the color gold.

Pure deliciousity.

I'm sorry, Cayla. I haven't posted the most flattering pictures of you in this post...

I like this picture because my pose reminds me of how a mafia boss would probably sit as his cronies and snitches come to tell him information.
Photo courtesy of Cayla.

The next day we had a tour booked to show us some of the other highlights of Northern Ireland. I'm going to skip over a castle and jump right to the Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge. It's a pretty fun little bridge. You get to have a little adrenaline kick by crossing this wobbly bridge, and the best part is that if you hated it the first time, you absolutely have to cross it a second time because there is no way to get back, minus being airlifted.

"How come every time you come around my Carrick-A-Rede, Carrick-A-Rede Bridge wanna go down?" I see why Fergie stuck with the London Bridge.

The person in yellow broke down midway across the bridge.

The bridge itself wasn't high enough for me to start crying hysterically, but it was pretty high. Things got a little nerve-wracking when the wind started up quite a bit when Molly and I stepped on. Cayla had gone first and was followed by Lauren, and they were already on the other side because Lauren is scared of heights and basically forced Cayla to sprint across, so they were over faster than Aqua's music career. Molly and I took our time crossing because we wanted pictures of each other on the bridge. This turned out to not be such a great idea because I became so frightened, not for my personal safety, but for the safety of my camera. For that reason, I had a death grip on it, including the button that takes the pictures, which led me to take a whole set of photos strictly of my feet.

If you move your head up and down quickly it's like a flipbook of me walking. I'm going to take your nodding as agreement.

Crossing this bridge wasn't the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom crocodile scene I thought it would be.
Photo courtesy of Rachel.

Screw the "Don't look down" advice! I do what I want!
Photo courtesy of Molly.

We stopped for lunch at Old Bushmill's Whiskey Distillery. You've got to give props to this distillery since they have been open for more than 400 years. They have been serving customers and alcoholics for longer than the United States has been a country! The fumes at the distillery were so strong that I think I still may be drunk, and I din't evn drin anyfing.

I'm surprised that the smell isn't visible.

I don't know for sure if you readers are Johnny Cash fans...Actually, let's be honest, everyone in the creation of man is a Johnny Cash fan. Anyway, one of his lesser known songs, "Forty Shades of Green," was actually inspired by the landscape that we were driving through in Northern Ireland. It was easy to see why, too. I almost felt compelled to compose a song based on the beauty that we were driving through, but I have no idea how to do that, so I refrained (music pun!). Listen to this gem as you check out the pictures. It really adds to the ambiance I'm trying to create.

Giant's Causeway was our last stop on the tour. There are two explanations for the creation of the Causeway. The first is that patterns formed in the lava created by an ancient volcanic eruption caused the rock to form hexagonal shapes. Since that doesn't seem likely, I choose to believe the second explanation, which is the story of the giant Finn McCool, and it goes a little something like this:

Finn often had troubles with the giant across the way in Scotland, so he built the Causeway in an effort to go over and fight him. When Finn finally saw the enormous size of the Scottish giant, he ran back to his wife in Ireland scared for his life. It was then that he saw that the Scottish giant was making use of the Causeway and coming over to fight him. To hide from the other giant, Finn jumped into a cradle and had his wife disguise him as their baby son. When the Scottish giant saw the size of the "baby" he could only wonder how massive the father was, and so he fled back to Scotland in terror destroying the Causeway as he went, which is why only a small piece remains.

Giant's Causeway is a bit difficult to describe because I feel like most people have never seen anything like it-- I most certainly hadn't. If you can imagine a flat piece of honeycomb, and then you pick one of hexagons to pull upwards. That hexagon is loosely attached to the ones around it, so it pulls them up as well, so it creates a little hill almost. Do that a couple dozen times, and instead of delicious honeycomb it is not tasty rock, I'm assuming, and you have Giant's Causeway. I was a little disappointed because the day wasn't nice enough to be able to see Scotland, and potentially the Scottish giant, but you get past it because that's just the way that Ireland is. It was a terrific and otherworldly location, and I'm definitely glad I got to see it.

I liked climbing on the rocks because I felt like a mountain goat.

It just makes you want some Honeycomb cereal, doesn't it?

And then we traveled through the Land of the Honeycomb to reach the River of Hot Fudge before we finally made it to the Gumdrop Valley!

And that pretty much completed the trip, but I just thought I would end it on this picture, purely because I love puns.

Lock and Key, oh, you slay me!