Dublin Theatre Festival

Almost every year since 1967 The city of Dublin Ireland has celebrated the Dublin Theatre Festival. It brings together artists and filmmakers from everywhere to celebrate in an 18 day festival. "The spirit of the festival lies in the people who engage with us as dedicated friends or curious spectators, and we welcome and value the participation of all our artists, audiences and guests." Theatre Festival Website

Liam, Shane, Molly, Justine, and Anna at Gaiety Theatre

Performances take place in different venues all over the city throughout the festival. Champlan Study abroad program had a small group of students attend Wunderkammer on Friday evening at Gaiety Theatre. Described as "a sexy new cocktail of circus and burlesque, full of energy, passion and emotion" the students anxiously awaited to see what the show would bring.

We got to Gaiety theatre, in my mind I thought wow what a gorgeous theatre. After finding our seats, getting comfortable and chatting a little, the six of us sat back as the lights went down. The show started off with six standing lights upstage, one woman facing away from us upstage right, and another woman facing away from the audience downstage left. The downstage woman proceeded to lift a hula hoop up to her hand (which was above her head) with nothing but her toe. She did a whole routine with a hula hoop to a classical music song. Immediately I was impressed and knew we were in for an amazing show.

The acrobats truly knew how to entertain a crowd. Each song brought on a new act and a different skill. From a pole to walk up and swing on, a hula hoop extravaganza (over 16 hula hoops on one person), and even an acrobat swing. The muscles and skills these seven performers had were so incredible they made everything they did look effortless. Hanging on a pole with nothing but a flex of their toes, one person laying on the floor and as someone stands on their feet they lift them up into the air just by standing up themselves, one person holding two people up on their shoulders, then later having two people hanging off of them as well, even just swinging one person around from person to person by their arms and legs, or jump roping a person rather than a rope.

It wasn't just a performance it was a beautiful form of art, the way the actor's moved their bodies, and how each movement was precise, even just a twitch of a finger, the choreography was beautiful and so thoughtful it is easy to see why this show is part of the Theatre Festival.

By the end of the show all seven performers were doing something different on stage and every way you looked your eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Student Shane Connor's said the show was "stunning, sexy and succulent!" Liam Callaghan called it "spectacular!" and Anna Forsythe said "it was very entertaining and a great friday night!"

It was truly an amazing show and words just can't do it justice. I highly suggest everyone see it before it is too late.

North South East West

So by now I have lived in the East of Ireland, traveled to the West for a weekend, visited the North for a day, and so of course it was time to go South. I have relatives in Rosscarbery so I was trying to arrange with friends a weekend down in Cork, one day in Blarney and one day In Rosscarbery. The trouble with Rosscarbery is getting there. There is no public transportation from Cork to Rosscarbery (an hour away) and their are no cheap hostels, b&b's or hotels. It was agreed that we should scrap the idea of going to Rosscarbery this weekend-we would roadtrip their another day (with an Irish person driving obviously).  So instead we made plans to go just to Blarney for the day.

We boarded our bus to Cork at 8:30am from Busaras which is down behind the Customs House on the North side, although it was early it was nice seeing the city just waking up. After buying the wrong ticket, we then got reimbursed and got the correct ticket within three minutes (A+ for only getting about five hours of sleep). Now growing up we used to take long car rides, in grade school we used to take somewhat long bus rides, and when I travel home from Burlington I take those 5 hour bus rides, this bus to Cork was a three hour ride but let me tell you it was the longest three hours in the world.

Nicole on the stairs

Finally we got there, got our tickets for another bus ride to Blarney, and sat down to wait. We snacked on the food we had brought with us, and looked out the windows of the bus station. I have to say I was not impressed with the city center of Cork. I felt as if I was in a very dirty Dublin. We then boarded the public bus to Blarney for another half hour but soon we had made it. We entered the grounds, and went straight towards the castle deciding to suffer the long line now and walk the trails later. Honestly the line was too long, it moved frequently and before long I found myself on the spiral stairs up the turret freaking out, but happy that the line was moving. (The stairs were bad because they kept getting thinner and the walls got more narrower).  

After a much awaited adventure the four of us girls kissed the Blarney Stone. I know they say the locals pee on it, and I know they say that it is one of the biggest tourist traps in the world but I don't really care, I came all the way to Ireland I was going to kiss the stone. I did not however buy the expensive photo of me kissing the stone-so there!

After leaving the castle we decided to walk around on the trails. We saw the fern garden with the waterfall, some caves to explore, the lake, another castle, a farm, so many bulls, and some gorgeous landscapes. It was such a fun time.

Olivia, Nicole and Laura in the cave

Just walking down the trail

The Lake

Castle or house?

We then made our way back to town, got some snacks at the store, and waited for the bus. 

Now we had gotten picked up at the bus station to get to Blarney so I guess we just assumed that we would be getting dropped off there. The bus went back to the city center but went to the shopping center and we of course being nervous naive girls didn't get off, we just waited to get to the station. Then the bus started to head away from town again, before we got so far away we didn't know where we were, we got off the bus. Now I know this was probably not the best idea but we did it, and got back to the station with no problems at all.

We then only had to wait a short time to board our bus yet again back to Dublin. The first hour the four of us looked at all our pictures, and chatted, the next two I watched a movie while the other studied and did a little bit of napping.

It was such a long day, but it was so much fun. When you are in a different country with good friends I don't see how you cannot have a good time!

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P.S. If you ever want to hear other stories about other students study abroad pages check out the Champlain College Study Abroad Program's Blog or my friend Tori's blog, both are sure to have some good stories, and better written ones than mine!

Culture Night

Friday night in Dublin was culture night, this is a night when so many museums and galleries, and theaters open their doors and allow the public to come in to exhibits for free. Just one big art fest that occurs all over Ireland.


A group of us got out booklet with all the different events occurring around the city and planned out the venues we most wanted to see.  We picked about ten different venues all around each other, planned our route and set to the streets. Immediately we noticed the long lines everywhere, and got worried.




Our first stop was the Book of Kells and The Great Library at Trinity because normally to get into these two places is ten euro so we thought why not save that money. It was interesting to see the Book of Kells and the other important books at the exhibit as well. It was fabulous to be able to see the Great Library and all the gorgeous books it holds. It was even better to be listening to three harpists play while looking around the Library.

Photo Credit: Olivia

Our next stop was The Doorway Gallery for their edible art exhibits. We waited in line for about a half hour but right next to the line was an outdoor performance. Just an open mic space for people to tell stories and perform anything they would like. It made waiting in a line a lot more interesting and entertaining. The way the phrased the exhibit in the booklet made it seem as if you could walk into the gallery and start eating, but it wasn't like that at all. It was a lot of different artworks made from edible items. So a wall of spray painted bananas, or a bouquet of chocolate covered strawberries.  What most of us liked was a room in the basement where the walls were filled with paintings of a teacup cake (literally a cake made up of teacups. All the paintings were from different perspectives and I believe from different artists though so they were beautiful to look at.

We then headed to The Freemason's exhibit but the line was far too long to wait in, so we made our way to Dublin Castle. We saw different exhibits that normally aren't open including the old castle, the interior of the new castle, and the holding cells or Dark side of Dublin Castle. We also got to listen to performers in the Castle Courtyard (violinists).

Dublin Castle

Performance

After a fun filled night of culture us four girls headed to a local pub we have been wanting to try. We have constantly walked by The Merchant's Arch and heard great music pouring out onto the street and keep saying we should try that pub sometime, so friday night we finally decided to try it. We walked in, were able to grab a seat, and then the band started up. Just three guys in the front of the pub next to the bar playing to their heart's content. They played things from The Lumineers, Mumford and Son's and even did a great version of Wagon Wheel. I kept saying the perfect end to that night would be for the band to play Galway Girl, but I was too chicken to ask the band when the asked for requests.

As we were sitting there moving to the music after having finished our drinks, we looked at the time and thought we should leave in a  few minutes. The band asked for requests again and all my friends just stared at me but I was still too chicken but then the band said "Yeah we are going to play Galway Girl after the next one." It couldn't have been better!  They actually played the song I wanted to hear and it was fabulous. Great end to a great day!

Marble Arch Caves

The abroad program offers an Earth Science Class that about 30 out of 43 of us are taking. I am not taking the class but I was lucky enough to join in on their field trip this past friday to the Marble Arch Caves in Northern Ireland.

It was so much fun and even more fun for me to be able to run around in a cave and take pictures. Lots of pictures! It was fun for me to practice lot light photos again as well.

Heading down into the cave

It was a lot of fun to just jump on a bus on friday and travel to a different country. I just wish it hadn't been a three hour bus ride there and back, and the tour hadn't been so short.

West Ire 3: Connemara. Cong, and a bus ride home.

After another good nights rest at the hostel (Snoozles) and another filling breakfast we all piled back on the bus again and made our way one hour and a half into the Connemara mountains. The only downer about today was the weather was true Irish, raining buckets, and windl as can be.  The mountains were absolutely amazing as well. We went to Joyce Country Sheepdogs so met Joe who has dedicated his life to training sheepdogs.

All of us really enjoyed the spectacular view and watching the sheepdogs herd some goats and sheep, but I think we all really just liked getting our dog fix with the sheepdog puppies. the sun even came out briefly and the wind died down so we could enjoy the dogs. I came very close to bringing one home with me, because they were so gosh darn cute but we aren't allowed to have pets in the apartment, and it would be very hard to explain a dog to customs, and my family. But really parents I think we should get a boarder collie for our next dog!

The view from the sheepdog farm

Joe was very nice and interestingly enough when making the movie "Marley and Me' Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson came to Ireland and actually met Joe and his dogs, and used his sheep from one scene in the movie. Joe is very proud of meeting Jennifer Aniston and shows of the pictures quite fondly.

After getting on the bus again we made our way down the mountains again into a small village of Cong for lunch. Delicious vegetable soup and Chicken Panini from The Crow's Nest but now the weekend had come to an end and it was time to get back on the bus for the last three to three and a half hour bus ride.

I had an amazing weekend and saw so many things. Thank you so much to Stephen, Adam and Lilly who organized this whole weekend, and made it a truly amazing adventure for the end of our first month in Ireland!

West Ire 2: Inis Oirr, Cliffs of Moher, Galway

Another early start Saturday morning. After a hostel breakfast we all piled onto the bus to bring us down to the docks. We waited for about ten minutes or so then boarded a small boat that would take us to Inis Oirr, one of the Aran Islands. We lucked out and had amazing weather the whole day through yet again.

The Aran Islands are three islands located at the mouth of the Galway Bayoff. The largest island: Inishmore is also referred to as Aranmore. The second-largest is Inishmaan and the smallest and most Eastern is Inis Oirr, or Inisheer in English. Our head RA Adam Clark is actually from Inishmore and we would have visited his island but the ferry is just too long for us. Heading over to the island felt just like going to the Vineyard for the day only going to a much smaller island, on a much smaller boat, and taking a shorter time to get there.

Everyone told us the best thing to do was to rent a bike for ten euro and ride around the island. See the shipwreck, the castle, the lighthouse, and just have fun. We also lucked out because their was an inter-island Gaelic Football tournament and Adam would be in it so when we found ourselves just hanging around waiting fro the boat at the end of the day, we could catch part of a game.

So I like most of the others rented a bike and made my way around the island. I joined a group of people and together we went to a graveyard with a sunken church, a castle you could actually climb around in and then made our way to the other side of the island. It was such an amazing day biking around  on these dirt roads, in between farms, and stone walls, looking out at the ocean, seeing the lighthouse, and the water just twinkling around us in the sunlight. We made our way to the end of the road and walked out on the rocks as far as we could to enjoy the water splashing up on the rocks. One of my classmates wanted to pull a little mermaid letting the water splash onto him as it crashed onto a rock but he thought it might be smarter to do it standing up, and my golly it was a wonderful thing to get a picture of.

looking up out of the sunken church

former castle

The farms on the island

National Geographic Status

Shane and the water

Cow and a lighthouse

Head RA Adam playing Gaelic Football

Upon reaching the castle again on the way back we stopped at the cute little cafe for lunch. I had the best two glasses of milk, that I swear came from a cow just up the road, and friends of mine said they had amazing lunches as well. The woman running the places was so kind, and we were all very impressed that she literally makes everything herself from scratch. We then made our way back across the island, got an ice cream, returned our bikes, caught about 15 minutes of Adam's game and then it was time again to catch the boat back to Doolin.

The boat ride back by far was way better, and not just because I was at the very bow, the waves were slightly bigger, or that a group us broke out into "I'll Make A Man Out of You' from Mulan, no it was the Cliffs again. We got to go up pretty much right to the bottom of the Cliffs of Moher and really take in their beauty once again.

I had stated in past posts about how one scene from Game of Thrones was shot here, but I was mistaken that scene is somewhere we will be visiting in Northern Ireland in three weeks. The Cliffs of Moher though was where a scene from Harry Potter was shot and I can understand why. The way the water breaks along the cliffs, the shades of the water, and just their sheer magnificence, I don't know how you could not want to shoot a movie scene there.

I probably could have stayed on that boat next to the cliffs for hour instead of just minutes, but alas we had to get back to shore and back on the bus and make our way to Galway.

I have always loved the idea of Galway, partly from the PS I Love You movie, partly from the song Galway Girl, and from the fact that people were comparing it to Burlington: a small college town, not really a city. When we got there I really liked how modern our Hostel was (Snoozles Hostel) and I was looking forward to checking out some of the places on the map we were given. A group of girls and I made our way to GBC Galway's famous cafe for affordable eating that was opened in the 50's. Then continued on to the pedestrian road, and looked into many closed shop stores. We had dinner outside (just like on Church Street) at Fat Freddy's, all of us getting quite Italianesque food-again sorry mom. We then decided to check out Taffes Bar because we were told it was a very authentic Pub with traditional Irish Music. We found the place to be nice, but we felt very young for the place, way too crowded and the music wasn't too great-just three guys playing a violin, flute, guitars and singing. We decided to find another pub and by golly we did.

We were walking by An Pucan when we heard the Wagon Wheel song being played, we decided it was fate and we had to go inside. An Pucan was much more our taste, many friendly people sitting around talking, dancing to the 6 piece band, and just more open space. The band was great and even though they played more American music, it was just so much better being sung with Irish accents. I don't think I will ever hear Elvis or the Dixie Chicks sung better. Anyway after about six songs or so we left because we knew we had another early start the next day and should probably get some sleep.

I was really looking forward to Galway but I wasn't too impressed with it (I didn't take any pictures there...). I would like to go back on day and actually experience the town when it is active, see the shops, more people during the day, and what else there is to do, see the water more even. I am able to catch a bus to Galway for ten euro and I may find myself doing that one weekend just to get a full Galway experience. For now though I am enjoying Dublin.

West Ire 1: Dublin, Athlone, The Burren, Poulnabrone Dolmen, Lisdoonvarna, Cliffs of Moher, and Doolin

Western Ireland field trip. Champlain College study abroad program runs two field trips for the students each semester, one to Western Ireland, and one to Northern Ireland. This past weekend was the first one to the West.

Friday morning 43 of us collegiates piled into a very nice leather interior coach bus with a wonderful driver named Frankie and started our weekend journey. We left Dublin around 8:30 am and made our first pit stop in Athlone. We all stocked up on some snacks from the gas station, chips from McDonalds, and said goodbye to the last ATM we would see until Galway. We piled back on the coach and continued on to the Burren.

After seeing so many rolling green hills, and more cows than I  thought there ever was, we made our way into the Burren. The Burren no longer is an area of rolling green hills, it is all rock. Some hills make up the Burren but there is not much green to be seen.

Just before the hilltop there is a church we stopped at just to see the architecture and the graves. Really cool place thriving with history and an even cooler place to take pictures.

The ceiling or top of the Church

Grave through a grave

The roomates Ellen, Anna, and Tara

The Burren is a world acclaimed geographic site due to the limestone rocks and the tombs.The whole area is valleys and mountains that are covered in limestone rocks. The interesting part about limestone is that the water goes all the way through the limestone and follows underground waterways instead of an above ground runoff.

At what is called Poulnabrone Dolmen is a stretch of limestone rocks, sunken tombs, and freestanding tombs. It is a really neat place to walk around. A large group of us had a fun time being children again and played the lava game, where anything green was lava and so we could only step on the rocks. It was also just a nice educational place to get off the bus, stretch our legs, and be kids again. After a few students had their names created in old latin scripture on a pieces of handmade metal from the wizard there, we got back on the bus and headed for Lisdoonvarna.

In the month of September in Lisdoonvarna takes place Europe's largest singles fest. So each year the staff of Champlain like to see how many marriage invitations the group can get. Oh, did I mention this singles festival is usually for those above the age of 50 and 60....but the staff also encourages everyone to go into the pubs and watch and join some of the group dancing that happens, dance with people, or even make someone's day asking them to dance. I didn't get to explore the town too much because I was doing some RA duties and helping to buy lunch for the next two days, but it just looked like a cute place and one I would like to walk through again.

After getting back on the bus yet again we had a short 30-45 minute ride to the Cliffs of Moher. We were given about an hour to explore and my goodness it was so not enough time.  The cliffs are beautiful and while I was scared out of my mind, I could not stop taking it all in. To my left was rolling hills and fields with cow and sheep leading down to a seaside town. To my right was a 600 foot drop down into the Atlantic Ocean. Absolutely amazing views, and breathtaking drops that I was very careful to avoid.

Stunning

The narrow path with tow very different sides

Breathtaking

Gorgeous

looking below

Again we got back on the bus for a quick hour trip to Doolin. We arrived in this small town that literally just smelled of sheep and cow, and were told to meet at 7pm for dinner.

We had just under three hours to explore this hole in the wall. I made my way to The Sweater Shop, in hopes of getting my mother the perfect sweater for christmas, my own sweater, and a blanket to keep me warm.




After getting all three items I made my way towards the bottom of the cliffs and just couldn't believe the view.
 

Before I knew it, it was dinner time, so we all made our way to McDermott's. Sorry mom but I got Chicken Goujons again, but I heard the beef stew was very good, don't worry though I got some Irish Cider to be more Irish. Some of the girls and I went out again after dinner to Fitz's Pub and got to hear some traditional Irish Music and drink some house specials beers on tap. (I had the Dooliner, an Irish Red Beer). We turned in early that night because it had been a long day and we knew that we had to be up early again tomorrow for another adventure of a day.

The two Hostels in Doolin everyone stayed at

I stayed in this building!