hello again!

sorry for the lack of updates, but there is almost no way to be online here! i'm at an internet cafe right now. if you're ready, i'll start off with...

day four;
bernadette and i began our day with croissants and tea at johnny and maggie's house. they are worth mentioning because if you haven't tried them with strawberry jam, you need to. we went to glendalough, which is the valley of the two lakes. it's basically this place where people settled early in ireland. it was a good amount of walking, too. as we followed the path around the mountains and by the lake, we were lucky enough to take in the beauty of our surroundings. and we were also lucky enough to hear an amusing story about nancy and dolphin petting. after glendalough we headed to powerscourt so that we could get something to eat. we had a great view there too. there seem to be an awful lot of those here. we then headed to galway. we took the scenic route there :] we tried to catch a parade that was being put on in the city center, but bernadette and i were a little slow with the coors light we had. since we didin't catch the parade, we decided to hit up a pub. we had a couple drinks at the front door and then headed home in a taxi.

some things worth mentioning;
-taxi drivers here are insane. more so than in chicago.
-i love guinness.
-the townhouse creaks at night and it is creepy.

day five;
when we recovered from the night before, johnny showed bernadette and i around galway. we saw eyre square, the spanish arch, and shop street. after this we went to get some food at a crepe place. bernadette and i had crepes with eggs, cheese, sausage and bacon. yum. once we had done this and walked around a good bit more. next we drove to maigh cuilignn and i saw rose cottage for the first time since i was a baby. johnny didn't have the keys, so i was only able to see the outside. on the way home we drove by galway bay. we could smell the ocean. well, johnny and bernadette could smell it. i wasn't as fortunate. johnny headed home and bernadette and i relaxed for the rest of the night. actually falling asleep at nine.

some things worth mentioning;
-relish that tastes like ketchup is yummy.
-dancers, artists, singers, and people doing things i can't even describe who perform on the streets of galway are fascinating.
-i can imagine how rose cottage once was.
-practically every landscape i see here is breathtaking.

day six;
bernadette and i woke up, both a little lost. she made breakfast and we tried to figure out what we were going to do for the day. we topped up at the convenient store down the street, and then walked into the city centre. it was one of the first times that bernadette hasn't been cold since we got here. it was really sunny and nice in the city center. we wanted ice cream so we went to supermac's, which is this really awesome fast food place. after this it was back to the townhouse, where we busied ourselves with laundry. okay, bernadette mostly did laundry. earlier in the week we had been told that niamh was going to come hang out with us, so we waited for her at the townhouse. bernadette cooked us a makeshift dinner with the things we had in the house. then she did my hair and makeup :D niamh, breeda, and eva came down to the townhouse and niamh took us out "pub crawling". we started at mcswaggin, then headed to the kings head, stopped by the front door and the quays (which were both too crowded) and settled on buskers. we proceeded from busker's down to supermac's. that was a good idea. eating taco fries twice in a day, however, was not. we almost died on the ride home several times (taxi's). and then niamh and i stayed up till about four chatting.

some things worth mentioning;
-bernadette didn't know my mom's name is actually mary and it just FREAKED her out.
-baby guinness = *thumbs up*.
-taco fries. hell yes.
-supermac's is addictive.
-spasian? heh. drunk people.
-niamh's phone had a close call, but it's okay now, if not a little gross.

day seven;
bernadette and i were up again sometime in the afternoon and we ate breakfast (made by bernadette, again :]) and got ready for the day. we headed down to NUIG to find out about college in galway. we basically found out that it's not looking too good for the whole going to college in galway thing. but oh well :/ can anyone say postgrad program? at this point niamh dropped bernadette, eva, and i off at a restaurant called the spud house. mmmm. baked potato filled with meatsauce and cheese. when niamh picked us up we found out that she had gotten tickets for us to see harry potter. since we had a bit of time before the movie started we picked breeda up and headed back to rose cottage. i finally got to see the inside of it. which... that's all i really have to say about that. after this we had to head in to the cinema so that we could watch harry potter. which was okay, but slightly disappointing for a fan of the books. after the movie we all went home and niamh, bernadette, and i stayed up for a bit talking about college stuff.

some things worth mentioning;
-lemon fanta is interesting.
-they kinda messed up the harry potter series.
-i was wrong for doubting bernadette on the whole popcorn/penut m&ms combo.

day eight;
niamh started the day off by taking eva, bernadette, and i down to the aillwee cave. that was a pretty weird experience. it was surprisingly fun to hear about how the cave was discovered and how bears used to hibernate there. at one point they turned the lights off and it was dark enough that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. they said if you stayed like that for more than half an hour, you would start hallucinating. i wonder if the people working at the caves ever tested this out. after our cave adventure, we drove through the burren, which is a landscape made up of mostly limestone. there are only a couple places like it in the world, and there are plants that only grow there. we stopped at fitzpatrick's bar because we were starving, and then we headed out to the cliffs of moher. where i almost fell off of them. just kidding, except not really. we were trying to get up to a certain spot where we weren't supposed to go even though people were going there anyway, and it was super muddy and slippery. so we decided to take the 8509348053840953809458304958309 stairs instead. the stairs were worth it though. the view was... i don't really have any words for it. we got a couple pictures though. we headed back home, picked up some drinks, and spent the rest of the night playing cards. good times.

some things worth mentioning;
-i am not liking the ketchup here. it reminds me of baby food.
-there weren't really that many stairs, but i was exaggerating.
-bernadette says if they built that many stairs we could probably walk to the moon. we probably could.
-ginny? i'm an idiot sometimes.
-BS.

day nine;
we woke up and the weather was going crazy once again. it was sunny, then it rained, then it was nice again. niamh dropped bernadette and i off at supermac's. see? it is addictive. once we had something to eat we went home and my mom called us. we had a lot to talk about in the slightly short conversation we had. after i got off the phone bernadette kicked my butt in rummy. when everything was set we headed into the city center to see the macnas parade. i thought it was pretty neat, but apparently it's usually much better than it was yesterday. after the parade we walked to a bar and johnny, niamh, and i had drinks. unfortunately bernadette is sick :[ and then when we got home she dropped the digital camera we were carrying in the taxi we took. yesterday was not very fun for her. johnny, niamh, and i stayed up for a bit and they tried to help me plan the free time bernadette and i have while we're here.

some things worth mentioning;
-i miss you guys in chicago so much.
-bernadette misses mommy and jenya.
-i don't know why so many of my things worth mentioning are about food.

i'll update again soon. cause writing all of that was kind of tiring. love you guys!

-arielle.

hello!

it was suggested to me that a blog should be started in order to track the adventures bernadette and i have while we're out here in ireland and other parts of europe. i've been taking notes and bernadette has been keeping a journal type thing so that we don't forget what's been happening. so i shall fill you in on what's been going on so far...

day one;
we arrived in dublin at nine in the morning and we were really excited to get off of that plane. i didn't sleep during the plane ride at all, unfortunately. bernadette kind of did. it was alright. it was a loooooonnnngggg plane ride, but it definitely could have been worse. breeda, bernard, eva, and helen met us at the airport. we took a bus to athlone with breeda and eva. taking the bus was weird. i lost track of the number of times that i thought i was going to die. but then i stopped looking out the front window, and everything was okay again. it's been raining almost constantly since we got here, but i don't mind. it's pretty amazing anyway. it's refreshing to be in a completely different atmosphere like this one. the houses, roads, and sidewalks are all so different from chicago. we pretty much chilled at breeda's house the first day, trying really really hard not to fall asleep until late so we didn't mess up our sleep schedule too bad. we ended up going to bed at midnight and then waking up at two in the afternoon the next day. we ate pizza (decent, but i am from chicago) and went to bed.

some things worth mentioning:
-the sky seems different for some reason.
-jet lag blows.
-i wish i could use my twitter
-i am completely lost without my phone! it's quite sad.
-signs are in gaelic :]
-oreos are called "chocolate flvored sandwich buscuits" instead of cookies.

day two;
after we woke up at two in the afternoon johnny and maggie came over and johnny took us down to clonmacnoise, which is where mulkerrins originated. it was some crazy stuff. i don't know how to explain the craziness. we went to johnny and maggie's house in dublin. i saw lots of cows on the way. my mom said i would see lots of sheep, but i haven't seen any yet. go figure. after we got to dublin we went with johnny to a cafe and listened to a band playing on the street. it was pretty cool. we had some hot chocolate and tea. then we came back home and watched tv until everyone eventually headed off to bed.

some things worth mentioning;
-people are so much more laid back here.
-my moms family is being absolutely WONDERFUL to bernadette and i.
-johnny is a walking encyclopedia.
-irish slang is pretty amusing.

day three;
bernadette and i woke up around one in the afternoon. it was still raining out. i guess we didn't bring the sunshine with us :[ that's okay though, cause nancy said she would. johnny took us out to try and go through a tour at a castle and at a science museum but they were both closed because we got up so late! (oops) we actually set an alarm for tomorrow. after we couldn't get into a couple tours we ended up going to the chester beatty library. it wasn't so much a library as a "place where this rich dude put artifacts he collected.", as johnny told us. they had a lot of information about religions there, and it was funny seeing so many of the things i had learned about islam, buddhism, and hinduism in worlds religions class last year. we stopped at a cafe again to get some snacks and then we visited trinity college. it has an INCREDIBLE campus. my jaw was on the sidewalk as i walked in. after trinity we wandered around in waterstones bookstore for a bit as we waited out some rain that had started when we were walking. johnny, bernadette, and i met maggie after work to have dinner at bewleys. i had a glass of wine with my pasta, which was rather interesting. maggie went home and jonny, bernadette, and i went to see bruno at a cinema. it was kind of uncomfortable, but amusing. now i'm sitting in johnny and maggie's living room. it's almost two in the morning, so i should be going to bed. i thought if i didn't start this now i most likely never would, though.

some things worth mentioning;
-even though i'm having a fantastic time i am reminded of chicago people and i do miss you guys!
-...that's pretty much it. lol.

i have to go to bed, but i love you guys!

-arielle.