~January 28, 2017~

Once realizing that it was going to be a BEAUTIFUL day in Cork County, Lily and I decided to make a trip to Blackrock, County Cork. Blackrock is a small village about 15 minutes outside of the city. There, there is a 5 mile walking loop that is deemed one of the best places in Cork to walk/run/bike. So naturally, with the beautiful weather, we decided to get some exercise and then eat brunch at Blackrock castle at the end of the walk. The walk was around a bay, with paved paths and natural countryside scenery. The path was relatively busy, most likely because everyone had the same idea we did. We had calculated that the walk would take approximately 2 hours, however after the 2 hour mark hit, we started to wonder what the deal was. We kept following the path, but there were a few instances where we would have turn or walk along a road until the path resumed. We figured it was fine though, because we were following the other runners and walkers.

Then, all of the sudden, the path ended. We had walked for 2.5 hours or 8 miles….we were so confused. We plugged our location into maps, and we were on the complete other side from where we started. Since it was a path around the bay, there was no way to get to a road to hail a taxi or catch a bus. Our only option was to turn around and walk back the way we came. So of course we walked an additional 8 miles back. However, we did make a new friend on the way back though (aka the horse).

We finally made it back to the starting point, and our legs were KILLING us. We were tired and hadn’t eaten all day (we 100% missed brunch since it was now 4:00PM), so we made our way back to Cork City. We decided that our 16mile walk gave us the free pass to eat as many calories as we want, so we ate at the Coqbull burger joint, where we devoured our food. Then we went to the store and bought plants to brighten up our apartment.  After, we went home and made cookies for cookie ice cream sandwiches. We were in disbelief of our day, but our adventure definitely made for a good story.

~January 27th, 2017~

After deciding to spend this weekend at home, we decided to spend the Friday visiting all of the sights right in our backyard in Cork City! We started the day with brunch (of course) at the #1 brunch spot in Cork, Liberty Grill. It was DELICIOUS. Then we walked across the river to the Shandon Bells & Tower. This is a bell tower of a Catholic church. The steeple of the church has four clocks on it, but each clock displays a slightly different time, which gave it the nickname “The Four Faced Liar.” We made the trek to the top of the tower. On the way up, you were able to ring the bells, and then farther up, see the bells themselves. It was very cool. Then once arriving at the top, you were able to see all of Cork City. Definitely worth it to climb that many steps to see that view. After, we walked through some unfamiliar parts of town and found several hidden gems of Cork throughout. Then of course, we finished the day at one of the popular bars amongst students at UCC, The Old Oak.

~January 21st and 22nd, 2017 ~

This weekend, we took a two day trip to Galway City, Ireland. This city is only a few hours away by train and is a small college town in County Galway. We arrived early on Saturday morning (after catching a 6:00am bus), and spent the afternoon walking around the city and seeing a few sights. The city itself is smaller than Cork and has an artsy feel to it! Here, we tried our first Irish coffee (whiskey and coffee), and we were not exactly fans. We visited a few cathedrals, the Spanish Arches, and enjoyed a few shops.  That night we went out to a few pubs for a pint. There were many street performers and live music in the pubs, so the city was filled with music. We were loving it.

Then on Sunday, we took a tour bus for the day through the country side to get to the Cliffs of Moher. These cliffs are arguably the most beautiful site in Ireland. They are naturally formed cliffs on the sea that are MASSIVE. After seeing them in person, I can agree that they are 100% one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It is crazy there, because there are no railings or walls to keep visitors from the edge. You can get as close to the edge as you please, however, I kept my distance, because I was not trying to end up in the sea. This trip to the Ciffs of Moher was unbelievable. I would highly recommend making the trip to them if you are visiting Ireland. They will take your breath away. After the bus returned to Galway, we made a mad dash to the train station to catch our train back to Cork. It was a great first weekend trip of the semester.

~January 15th, 2017~

Trip to Kinsale, Country Cork. Kinsale is a coastal town that is that is just a 50 minute train ride from Cork City. We walked around town, visited Charles Fort, and finished the day off at one of the oldest pubs in Ireland. A perfect day trip.

~January 14th, 2017~

Today the Butler Bulldogs played their big rival, Xavier, at home. Another Butler student and I were bummed not to be in Hinkle Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon. However, after a little online research and recommendations from a friend, we found a sports bar in Cork that sometimes streams American sports. We knew it was a long shot, but after putting my Butler t-shirt, a group of us went over to the Woodshed Baa & Grill to see if they would be able to play the Butler/Xavier game. When we arrived, there were tons of TV’s that were all playing football (aka soccer) and rugby games. We waited until one of the games ended and asked if they would be able to play the game. They said they would “look into it,” but ten minutes went by and I decided to inquire again. When I asked for the Butler game, the guy went “OH! This whole time I was looking for the Bucknell game.” So within a few minutes they were able to put on the game. We were ecstatic! The video quality was questionable, but anything was better than nothing. We all ordered beers and cheered on the dawgs who managed a clutch win over Xavier! 🙂 Nothing like being 4,000 miles away and still getting to see the Dawgs win!

~January 12/13th,  2017~

Thursday is my first say on campus as a visiting student!! We have our orientation from 9:00am-12:00pm on both Thursday and Friday. We were in a huge lecture hall, with almost 200 people in it. It was somewhat scary, but also comforting to know that I was surrounded by students who were in the same boat as me. During the orientation, we learned about the University College Cork, living in Ireland, how to get registered with the country, and so on and so forth. I was able to take down a lot of useful information. After orientation, I went to lunch with a few new friends that I had made earlier that morning. It was fun to get to know new people and hear about what brought them to Cork, in addition to what they are hoping to accomplish during their semester in Ireland.

On Thursday night, I went out to dinner with Dad at the Franciscan Well Brewery. This is a local micro-brewery that is very popular amongst the locals. They of course had their signature beers, but also fire oven pizza, which was right up our alley! Then after dinner, I met up with a few of my roommates and new friends for a drink at one of the local pubs.

Orientation the next day was very much the same as the day before, lot of information of how to adjust to life in Ireland. After orientation, I went to lunch with friends again, and then walked around the city center to waste time before we had to go pick up our UCC ID’s. We then made a collective trip to the grocery store and learned to navigate the foreign brands and names together. It was a fun day.

That night, I met up with Dad for his final night in Cork. He was leaving Saturday morning, so we met on campus for a coffee, then moved to a pub for a pint, and then a restaurant for some dinner. We had such a great time reflecting on the trip and reliving the memories we had made. I couldn’t help but get emotional a few times, because the thought of him leaving made everything very real and definite. Once he leaves, it will no longer feel like a week long vacation; I am here for the almost five months. It is exciting, but also a little scary. However, it was so helpful to have him come here with me. I don’t know what I would have done without him. After dinner, he walked me back to my apartment, and we said our goodbyes (me emotional again). We had the best week, and I couldn’t be more thankful for him and overjoyed with the memories we made together. I’m going to miss having him here. But it’s not goodbye, it’s just see you later.

~January 11th,  2017~

Wednesday was my last free day before orientation began! So in the hopes of getting me fully prepared for the start of school, Dad and I decided to head to campus to get our bearings and make sure all my paperwork/documentations were in order. We took a stroll through campus and found all of my classrooms, which will be such a blessing come next week. Most of the classrooms were big lecture halls, which will be an adjustment for me coming from Butler, where my biggest class size is 25. I am so excited, because I actually have a class on the main quad, which is the most famous and oldest building on campus (or the “pretty building” as I call it). Legend has it that if you walk on the grass of the quad, you will fail all of your exams!! This was because UCC used to be a medical school, and they would post the exam grades on one side of the building. If you did poorly on your exams, you would have to walk across the grass to the other side of the building to convince the president not to kick you out, and that is how the superstition was born. You bet that I’ll be steering clear of any and all grass this semester 🙂 This main quad building is the same building that is in the picture on the homepage of the blog.

After a few other stops on campus, we decided to head to the well known “English Market,” which is a massive market in the center of Cork City. I think I have found my heaven on earth. I cannot get over THE FOOD! There was everything from fresh meats, to fine cheeses, recently baked bread, homemade pastries, and daily caught fish, and the list could go on and on. I am making myself hungry just thinking about it. We just moseyed around the market and looked at all the stands, then after looking at all the food, we stoped for lunch at the cafe in the market. All the cafe’s ingredients were from the market itself, and it was delicious to say the least!

After we finally dragged ourselves out of the market, we went back to the hotel, because we had reservations for a traditional Irish afternoon tea. This was a very cool experience. We started with champaign and a macaroon, and made our tea selection. We both chose black tea. Then they brought our the treats! Everything from finger sandwiches, to sweet breads and scones, and to finally pastries and straight up desserts. There was so much food! However, after we had eaten as much as possible, we were able to package the rest up to eat later. This was a lovely experience to just be able to sit for a couple of hours and enjoy a few treats and great company.

After a fun day of food (I wish every day could be this centered around food), I went back to my apartment for my first night there! I got to meet all of my roommates and get a good nights sleep before orientation in the morning.

~January 10th, 2017~

After a few days of finding our way around the city, my dad and I decided to spend our free day by doing a little sightseeing around Cork County. Our first stop was the famous Blarney Castle! It is the off season for tourists right now in Ireland, so we almost had the whole grounds to ourselves. This made it absolutely breathtaking. After walking the grounds and taking in the beautiful landscape, we made began the journey through the castle itself. We had to hike up the billion stairs to reach the Blarney Stone at the top. The Blarney Stone was brought back to Ireland from the Crusades, and hidden by building it into the wall of Blarney Castle. Legend has it, that if you kiss the block of limestone while visiting Blarney Castle, you are bestowed with the gift of eloquence and gab. Needless to say, we both took the plunge by hanging upside down to kiss it. (Pictures below).

After departing from Blarney, we headed to Cobh, County Cork, a coastal town along the Atlantic Ocean. This was just a quick stop to see the sea and take in the cute town. While in Cobh, we learned that the famous ship, the Titanic, had its final docking point here in Cobh, before setting sail on its fateful journey. In addition, there was a museum dedicated to the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island on their journey to America. Annie Moore was immigrating from Cork at the age of fifteen in 1892.

Following seeing the coast of Cobh, we drove through the countryside to see the Cliffs of Ballycotton. Ballycotton was a small fishing village that was farther down the coast that was home to a few beautiful cliffs with the ocean below. We were able to walk up to the highest point of the village for the best view of the coastline.

Our last stop on our sightseeing adventure was my dad’s favorite, the Jameson Irish Whiskey Distillery. Despite not being an avid whiskey fan, this tour was AWESOME! The Jameson distillery is located in Middleton, County Cork and is the only place in the world that Jameson Irish Whiskey is made. Before the tour, we had a quick lunch at the Jameson restaurant, and we both had seafood chowder, which we found is made with seafood all caught at Ballycotton, which we just were! It was delicious of course and filled us up before our walk around the Jameson property. The tour took us through the history and distilling process of Jameson Irish Whiskey. It was fascinating to learn about the detailed process of whiskey making in Ireland that has remained the same for over 200 years. We even got to see a mini distillery, that was just recently opened, where they test new ideas and recipes. The last stop on the Jameson experience was the bar (of course). Here, they gave us the option have having a glass of Jameson straight up or a Jameson and ginger ale with fresh lime. There was no way that I was going to try to drink whiskey straight up, so I had the Jameson & Ginger and of course my dad was cool and had just the plain Jameson. Then the tour guide had us sample 3 whiskeys (watered down, thank goodness). It was an American whiskey, Scottish whiskey, and of course Jameson. Naturally the Jameson was the smoothest, then the Scottish, and coming in last place the American whisky (which I’m pretty sure was Jack Daniels).

That concluded our day of sightseeing, but the drive home allowed us to see a lot of the country side. It was a wonderful day and definitely one of my favorites so far.

~January 9th, 2o17~

With a night’s sleep finally under our belt, we began our first full day in Cork! We woke up around 7:00AM and had a breakfast of buttermilk pancakes with berries and cream in the hotel restaurant. We found that the pancakes over here are more true to the “cake side” of things and were very dense (still just as delicious though!). After breakfast, we sat in local coffee shop across the street until we were able to check in/move in to the apartment that I’ll be living in this semester. It was such a relief to finally get to see inside the building and see my room! There are four individual rooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a living space. I will have four other roommates. None of the roommates had arrived yet, so it was nice to be able to spread out while unpacking. I have my own room, which is going to be a huge bonus. My window faces a parking garage, but I’d rather have a non-scenic view, than have to share a space with another person, like some of the other rooms in my apartment.

We spent the morning and afternoon unpacking and doing a little decorating. The room itself was relatively spacious, but pretty bare, with just a bed, desk, and closet. However, after putting everything away, making the bed, and hanging a few pictures, it started to look a little more home-y (check out the before and after pictures below). Then, after lunch we stopped by a few shops, comparable to a city version to K-Mart and TJ Maxx (called TK Maxx over here, which we laughed at). There, we got things like bed pillows, hangers, and cleaning supplies. These trips took longer than in the states, because all of the brands are completely different. There are a few brands that I recognized from home sprinkled around, but the majority of them were totally novel for us. On our walk back, we also found a great, inexpensive grocery store close by my apartment that will be perfect for me to shop at.

After we were able to completely unpack and settle in, we went to a highly recommended restaurant, called Market Lane, who’s entire menu is sourced locally from Cork/Ireland. We decided to have a pint at the bar first around 5:00PM, and then have dinner. They had an early evening special that was 3 courses for 23 euros, which was a fantastic deal (after asking a waitress, we realized that lunch time in Ireland is typically from 1:00-2:00PM and dinner is from 6:00PM-8:00PM, which is later than we are used to). We each had an appetizer, Dad – calamari with lemon ketchup and me – french onion soup. Then for the entree, per the waiter’s suggestion, Dad had “ham hock” which is a massive amount slow cooked ham, and I had “gamekeeper’s pie” which was pieces of pheasant, venison, and ox cheek in a red wine gravy, topped with beats, carrots, and a potato bake. For dessert, we both had a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream with fresh black berry compote and crushed meringue. We were both stuffed to max, but after walking 7 miles that day, we decided to justify our overeating.  🙂  Although it was only our 3rd meal in Cork and 1st traditional Irish meal, we both decided that it was the best meal thus far. It was magical and definitely could be considered our first Craic experience.

It was a fantastic, wonderful first full day abroad!

~January 7th/8th, 2o17~

Ah! The day is finally here when I start my adventure to Cork! Thankful that my dad is making the trip over with me to help me settle in. He is a seasoned traveler, so having his help throughout this process is a life saver. I’m pretty sure I would still be lost in O’Hare right now if it weren’t for him. After several dreaded goodbyes and maybe some tears, we were off!  We arrived at the airport early and flew out of Chicago around 5:10PM. The flight seemed like a blink of an eye thanks to a few good movies and a “good night’s sleep” (aka about hour and a half nap in hopes to beat jet lag). We toasted to safe travels and made it to London safe and sound. We arrived around 6:15AM London time, which is 12:15AM home time (stay tuned for the crash). After making it through security and customs we settled down for a much needed cup of coffee. Glad we encountered no issues, because then we were able to relax and have some down time during our 3 hour layover. We then made the hour long flight from London to Cork! Cork is a perfect location to study abroad, because there is a new airport right in the city, despite being a town of only 100,000 people. We arrived around 11:00AM Irish time, however we were still on Illinois time. In the hope of resetting of internal clocks, we tried to stay awake, which made for about 30 hrs with no sleep. To not fall asleep by noon, we walked the city and survey the University College Cork campus. BEAUTIFUL is all I can say for what we saw this day. Despite the thick layer of gray clouds up above, all the nature in sight was the most vibrant green color. We capped off the day with sampling an Irish favorite, a pint of Guinness at a local pub. Then we promptly passed out at exactly 9:00PM.