Teary Eyed Goodbyes, The Last Blog

I’m sitting on the bus from O’hare airport to Rockford where my cousin Jaime is picking me up. Everything feels so surreal and almost completely foreign. That is very hard to believe considering I’m now home and no longer in the UK. My journey home started at 4:30 AM UK time or 10:30 PM Iowa time. The adventure started long before that though. Thursday night, we had a going away dinner and pub crawl for those of us from the program that were still in Bangor. Tecwyn treated us to a wonderful dinner and then of course we headed to Paddy’s for one last thirsty Thursday. We had the first of many teary eyed goodbyes that night starting with Sally who was one of the OP instructors.

The next morning (Friday) we had to have all of our boxes packed up and ready to be stored for the summer. This was also our last opportunity to say goodbye to Tecwyn and that was when it really hit me. Saying goodbye to Tecwyn meant that this all was really coming to an end. The rest of the day was filled with goodbyes to some of my flat mates that were moving out, packing up the remainder of my things and cleaning my room. Everyone decided that we should stay up all night that night because we would be heading to the Manchester airport at 4:30 in the morning. So, we all just spent our last few hours together. We played cards for hours on end and we also took one last trip to Roman Camp to do some star gazing. We had to wait until it was good and dark to star gaze, which believe it or not, was well after 11 before it was completely dark out! We continued to play cards and just enjoy our last little bit of time together until about 4 when we called it quits. We were shortly all in tears as we loaded our luggage into the back of the bus that was picking us up. This would be the last time we would all be together in Bangor. Lydia and Rachel were not going on the bus with us and it was very hard to say goodbye. Pretty much everyone was in tears by the time we loaded the bus.

Our drive to Manchester was very bittersweet. We got to watch a beautiful sunrise as we looked across the sea for the last time. I soaked in as much of the beautiful surroundings as I could; it was just so sad knowing the next time I woke up it wouldn’t be surrounded by the beautiful Snowdonia Mountains. When we arrived at the airport we had to do another round of goodbyes because Sheilagh, Jake and Melissa were flying out of a different terminal than we were, so once again I ended up in tears. I knew I would see Jake again but it was very hard saying goodbye to Melissa who is from Texas and Sheilagh who is from Minnesota. All these wonderful people were my family for the last 5 and ½ months and I just didn’t want it to be over and I sure didn’t want to say goodbye.

Once we were finally at our part of the airport we all unloaded our stuff and headed for the check in counter. We were plenty early because it wasn’t even 6:30 and out plane didn’t leave until 10:40. Better to be safe than sorry. I had a little trouble checking in because I think the lady that waited on me was in a bad mood. I had never had any troubles in the past and no one else had any problems either but the lady didn’t want to allow me to use my backpack at my personal item. She said it was too big for a personal item but I had always used it that way in the past and everyone else was doing the same thing as me. I had a smaller bag that was just small enough to be considered a carry on which she also had a problem with. She made me put it in the box to make sure it was the right size. I knew it was because before I left I purposely got a smaller one to make sure it was the acceptable size. She told me I needed to take stuff out of my backpack and put it in my checked bag but that bag was pretty much ready to burst and it was barely under the weight limit. I really didn’t see what the big problem was but I did what I was told and she eventually gave in. We were all also interrogated pretty heavily about what types of things we had in our bags (such as electronics) and where we bought everything, and who packed out bags, and where the bags had been. I felt like I had done something wrong but I guess I passed because I got through. Next, we went through security which was a little different from any other time I had gone through security. I was most surprised that I didn’t have t take my shoes off. By the time we all got through security we still had a 3 hour wait before we could even get to our gate. Once they finally called our gate we headed through one last security stop and of course, lucky me, I got picked to be randomly searched. This involved a lady frisking me and then searching every single little nook and cranny of my 2 bags, oh, and I had to take off my shoes. I felt bad when she was checking my back pack because it had like 500 zippers on it. It took about 10 minutes for her to get through everything so by the time she was done it was time to board the plane.

By this time I had been awake for 26 hours and counting so I was starting to feel a little out of it. I kept telling myself that I should have slept the night before because I’m no good at sleeping while sitting up and it was bound to be a miserable flight if I was awake the whole 8 and ½ hours. As the plane took off I couldn’t fight back the tears at all. It was really happening, we were really leaving. I was so happy to be going home but I was also so sad to be leaving such a wonderful place behind. I did manage to doze off a little bit, but of course and soon as I feel asleep they were serving our food. I was lucky enough to be able to sit next to Riley and she was out cold. I jabbed and poked and yelled her name but I got no response out of her, wish I could sleep like that. After the food I think I managed to fall asleep for about 20 minutes but other than that I was awake the whole time on the plane. I enjoyed the in flight movie and I did some reading so the time passed rather quickly. Before I knew it, the captain (who happened to be the first female captain I have ever had on a flight) was announcing we would be shortly arriving in Chicago where the temp would be 89^o. Yeah I didn’t miss the heat and humidity associated with the Midwest summers.

Once we landed I expected it to take hours to get through boarder control and customs but it only took about 15 minutes! At boarder control I just handed the guy my passport and he stamped it and didn’t say anything to me at all. At customs, they didn’t even look in my bags or ask me any questions. They just took the claims sheet I filled out and I was on my way. So, by this point everyone else had to give their checked bags back to be loaded on their next plane while I headed off to find my shuttle. Yet another round of teary eyed goodbyes, at least these were the last goodbyes; the next tears would be teary eyed hellos. Everyone that I said goodbye to at this point was from Iowa so there is a good chance I will run into them all again someday.

As I sit on the shuttle to Rockford texting my friends, it’s really hitting me that I’m home. It sure didn’t feel like I was gone for 5 and ½ months; it feels more like a couple of weeks. It also feels really weird to be driving on the right side of the road. I think the culture shock of coming home is going to be worse than when I went over to the UK. I have already noticed how lazy and demanding the “Americans” can be. I got on the bus and the driver asked who hadn’t purchased their tickets yet and a few people said they had not. He told them where the ticket counter was and that they should go get the tickets. They were like “is this guy for real? Or is he kidding?” Needless to say they had to get off the bus to get their tickets. In the UK, from what I noticed, no one would have made a fuss about that, they would have done what they needed to do and just got on with it. Hopefully the shock won’t be too bad since I will be too busy to think about it.

………………………………

So fast forward a few hours and I’m home in Balltown! After waiting for what felt like forever for Jaime to come get me in Rockford I finally made it. Because I was able to get on an earlier shuttle, I beat my ride to Rockford. I couldn’t believe how hot it was, but after all, it is June in the Midwest. I wasn’t conditioned to this humidity and it can go away anytime. But anyways, it was so amazing seeing Gram and Jaime and Briella for the first time. I’m so lucky to have such a great family. Miss Briella played hard to get and acted all shy at first. Eventually, she warmed up and decided to be silly the rest of the way home. When I got to Gram’s, my best friend Ashley was able to stop in and it was so great to see her too!

After being awake for an unmentionable amount of hours I still had more to do. I had a wedding in Bunie to go to so I cleaned myself up and headed out. I made dad come get me once I got to Balltown because I was so tired I didn’t want to drive anymore. I was so excited that driving all came back to me. It felt weird to be driving on the right side of the street and to have the steering wheel on the left side of the car. The few times that I was in a car in Wales, I sat in the front seat and it always felt so weird not having the steering wheel in front of me. Everything came back to me and it felt amazing to be behind the wheel but I was happy to give it up so I didn’t pass out behind the wheel. It was so surreal being at the wedding and seeing everyone. It was hard to believe that just a few short hours before that I was in a whole different country. I enjoyed a few beers with friends but I tell ya what, it felt so amazing to lay my head on my pillow in my own bed!

Sitting here at the dining room table just doesn’t feel real. I can’t believe such an amazing part of my life is over but that means it is time to start a new adventure. Thank you to all of you that followed my blog. I can’t wait to see you all and tell you all the adventures in person.

Lots of Love,

~Amy

One Last Adventure

I keep saying how sad I am that I didn't travel all over Europe this semester but I really did enjoy my three visits to London. If I didn't have a great family at home and a bunch of wonderful friends I could totally leave my life behind and settle into the great city. I would more or less say I'm a country girl at heart but there is just something about London that makes me so happy. I love the buzz of the city and there is always something exciting going on. If you end up being bored in London, then you are not trying at all to have any fun. If I would have studied in London this semester I would have been out of money in a month, I guarantee it! I could easily spend the rest of my life's savings going to the shows in London alone! Overall, going to London three times was worth not traveling around the rest of Europe, guess I will just have to come back sometime in the future and see what I all missed!

Monday morning started out at 5 AM and not because I wanted to. I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep because I was so excited. Around 6 I finally rolled out of bed and decided to get ready for the day. By 7:30 I was showered and fed and all ready to walk out the door. We were almost to the train station when I realized I forgot my iPod so I ran all the way back to the room to get it. Traveling is never fun without music so I thought it was worth going back for. By the time I started walking back to the station, Riley was on her way back up because she forgot her concert tickets. Good thing we left early. I waited for Riley and once she caught up to me we decided to run just in case the train was early. Good thing we did because by the time we got to the platform the train was just about ready to pull away. I was exhausted by the time we got on the train because it is just so much fun running up and down hills at 7:30 in the morning with a huge back pack. Oh well, we made it. Funny part was, Riley and I are usually waiting for Sheilagh and she was the one that had it all together that morning. The remainder of the trip everything that would go wrong we referred to as riding the "struggle bus" haha!

The rest of the travels to London were pretty uneventful. It rained the whole way there so we decided instead of walking to our hostel we would jump on the underground. There is something beautifully awful that I love about the underground. The people are packed into these tiny little trains that go through little tubs at 90 miles an hour, just crazy, but I love it. We also had to rework our route because one of the lines was closed that we wanted to take. Everything in London is currently under construction because they are revamping everything for the Olympics in 2012. Once at our hostel we were told we were too early to check in so we ate our lunch, put our back packs in the luggage storage and headed out to explore. The day cleared up petty nice so the walk was enjoyable. We decided we wanted to go inside of Westminster Abbey so thats where we headed. Westminster is the most glamorous abbey I have been in this semester and it is very sad that there were no pictures allowed. There were hundreds of tombs of kings and queens and other famous people in the Abbey. I thought the coolest one was Charles Darwin. After the Abbey we still had plenty of time before Wicked started and the weather was kind of turning ugly so we headed for a pub. We had a round in the bar area and then eventually moved upstairs for some grub. I even managed to snatch my guiness glass before we left.Wicked was so amazing yet again! I love it more and more every time I see it. If I had the opportunity to I would see it everyday. I hope they make it into a movie some day!

The next day started with a trip to Wimbledon. Riley and Sheilagh are both big fans of tennis so they really enjoyed themselves. I also enjoyed myself but I'm not really into tennis. It was a nice long ride on the District line of the underground that we took all the way to the end. Then we enjoyed a nice long walk to the stadium. It was really a beautiful area and the stadium was cool to see from the outside. After our walk around the stadium we enjoyed a nice cup of coffee and then headed back into the heart of London. We were still plenty early for Phantom of the Opera that we would be seeing that afternoon so we decided to walk around the National Gallery in the meantime. Our friend Tiia who is from Finland and was also studying in the Bangor program this semester was also in London and met up with us at that point. The National Gallery was pretty cool and the best part was seeing one of Van Gogh's original paintings. Once it was 2:30 it was show time for Phantom! It was so amazing!!! The things they did with the stage just blew my mind and the acting and singing was perfect. I feel so lucky to have been able to see one of the greatest shows of all time. The show has been running at the Her Majesty the Queen Theatre for the past 25 years. I thought Wicked was amazing but Phantom left me speechless. I love both shows so much, I can't even decide which one I liked better. After the show we decided to do the south side of the river walk like we had done the first time we were in London. Sheilagh had not done the walk before and neither had Tiia. It was a beautiful night and we all really enjoyed ourselves. Sheilagh and I broke down and spent the 18 pounds to ride the London Eye which was spectacular. The Eye is basically this huge ferris wheel and you can see the entirety of the city. The best part of it was seeing Parliament from above.

The next day after checking out of the hostel we headed to Abbey Road to see the Beatles' studio and to walk across the street just like on their album cover. We ended up completely missing the studio the first time and by the time we walked the entire length of Abbey Road we broke down and called one of the girls back in Bangor to ask exactly where it was located. She said it was right at the beginning so we turned around and walked back. When we got to the start of the road we easily saw why we missed it the first time around. The studio was under construction and the outside was completely surrounded by blue scaffolding. Oh well! It was also easy to miss the cross walk because there were tons of them and they all looked exactly the same. After that wild goose chase we headed for another one. We went to King's Cross Station to try and find platform 9 and 3/4 from the Harry Potter books. King's Cross station was also under some major construction so we never actually found it. We were going to ask for directions to it but we were all getting tired of searching. We weren't far from Euston station so we walked there and waited for our train. The ride home was full of cards and we very uneventful. It is sad to think we won't be traveling by train anymore. I love the train system and it's too bad there isn't one in the states.

The next time I blog it will be the last time. Today is my last in Wales and in just a few short hours I will be heading to the airport. I will say it again but it is very hard to believe it's time to go home already. The last couple of days have been full of bittersweet memories and goodbyes. It is so hard to say goodbye to all the wonderful people I have met this semester but hopefully we can all cross paths again someday. I have had a wonderful family of friends here in Wales and i'm going to miss them all so much.

Until next time...

~Amy

Final Exams

On Thursday I had my first and last exam of the semester. If I was at home I would have been studying all semester to prepare myself for my finals but this semester I didn't do any actual studying until 2 days before my final. I have throughly enjoyed a stress free semester but it is going to suck getting back into the swing of things next semester. If I was at home I also would have had 5 final exams, but I wasn't at home and I'm ok with that. The exam was for ecology and evolution, a class I will never ever use again. Because I will never use this information again it made it even harder to motivate myself to study. I love biology; human biology that is. I could really care less about natural biology. It's not that I don't care about the environment I just don't care about learning about it, and that is exactly what ecology is all about it. It is all about nature and how and why it works the way it does, and evolution, well I will see that all again next year.

All semester I kept telling myself I should start studying but there was something about the laid back feel of the classes that stopped my motivation. Before I knew it, it was two days before my final and I still hadn't started studying. So, on Tuesday I packed my stuff up and headed for the library determined to make myself study. I did manage to go over all 35 front and back pages of my notes and go over my online tests. Another thing that made it hard to study was the amount of information that we had gotten over the course of the semester. We had so many notes and the test was only 40 multiple choice questions. It is hard to study so much information when the questions would be so pin point. So off and on (and more off than on) for the next two days I tried to keep going over my notes to prepare me for something impossible.

As I was walking with my flatmate to the exam we were discussing what it would be like. I said I hoped that there would be at least one question about Darwin because I was sure I could get something about Darwin correct. And to my luck the first question was about Darwin, but guess what I wasn't sure about the answer. Of course the question would be one I didn't know. I was debating over 2 of the choices and picked one but than changed my mind. When you aren't sure on an answer you should always go with your gut, but of course I didn't. When I came back after the test I looked it up and realized my first pick was the correct one. Oh well! The rest of the exam was about like the first question. I was able to narrow most questions down to 2 choices and I had a few that I was sure on. The test was graded on a negative score meaning you get +5 for correct answers and -1 for incorrect answers and there was always a choice of "I don't know" which I chose quite often. It would have been nice to not have negative points because then I could have made a few blind guesses. Oh well, I'm going to hope for the best. I should have had a passing grade going into the test so hopefully I got enough points to get me to a decent grade. I won't find out my grades until the middle of July so i'm going to forget about it for now.

Hard to believe I will be going home a week from tomorrow. This next week should be fun and I'm going to make the  most of it. Today, we went to Chester and it was a lot of fun. Hopefully there will be a lot of celebrating between now and next Saturday because I am completely done with everything and I want to enjoy the freedom!

Until next time...

~Amy

Nothing too exciting

Well, I don't have anything too exciting to report. I'm down to the last 2 weeks here and I'm just lying low, trying to save what little money I have left so I'm not completely broke when I get home. I have all of my papers and journals written with just one exam to study for. My exam is Thursday so I think I will start studying tomorrow. On Wednesday we walked to the botanical gardens in search of a ship wreck and a waterfall. We wandered around but never found them. It was beautiful so no big deal. Thursday I worked on my paper all day. It shouldn't have taken all day but I got it done none the less. Friday, we drove around with Hannah's flatmate who is from around here. She has a car and was willing to drive us around so we took her up on the offer. It was nice just driving around with friends just hanging out. We revisited a few places on Angelsey and we jammed out to a bunch of music over and over. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed myself. Friday, we ventured to Llandudno Junction for another movie. We went to see the new Pirates movie and we almost didn't get it. The place was packed because it was opening weekend. I love Johnny Depp so it doesn't matter if he makes a crap movie or a great movie, I will love it either way. The movie wasn't his best but I still loved it. After we returned we had a bit of a going away/birthday party. It was the soccer boys' last night here before they headed back home so we had to have a party. One of them was celebrating their birthday so we had to help him out with the celebrations. It was a fun night and its sad to see them go. Crazy how fast our time here has gone but I'm about ready to come home. Today, is a sappy movie day. I watched The Last Song earlier which was actually really good. Now I'm watching Charlie St. Cloud. Any more recommendations?

Until next time...

~Amy

Penrhyn Castle

Sunday was our last field trip of the semester; so sad to think it was the last. Seems like we just got here and it seems like it was just yesterday we walked into our first castle. It's amazing how many castles we have seen this semester; before coming here I didn't even know there were this many castles out there. Sunday's castle was not like a castle at all except for the look on the outside. The inside was like a ginormous mansion. Everything about the inside was glamorous and extravagant. We couldn't take any pictures on the inside so there is nothing for me to show off. I could go on and on about the detail but that would get boring. We also toured the gardens which were beautiful. I have pictures on facebook posted of many tropical plants that grow there. Because the gardens are so sheltered they have swampy aspects and are perfect for growing tropical plants. There were plants with leafs that were bigger than my whole body, quite crazy! The whole time we were walking around it was raining so that kind of put a damper on the beauty. It also took away from the view, which I'm told is quite spectacular.

Now that the semester is coming to an end, I'm just working on wrapping everything up. I have one final on the 26th that I'm having a really  hard time motivating myself to study for. I haven't had to study all semester so why start now? Hopefully I can make myself study so send some motivation my way! I just finished up the last of my journals for Tecwyn's class so the only bit of writing I have left is my "What is Welshness" paper. Can't believe I will be back home in less than 3 weeks! 

Until next time...

~Amy

Sad to see it end...

Wednesday morning was different from any other Wednesday morning I have had since I have been here. Normally we head out for OP on Thursdays but this week we were in for a treat and headed out on Wednesday instead. The weather wasn't great come Wednesday morning but it soon cleared up and it was sure to be a beautiful day. We were all in suspense if we were going to get to go sailing because it was the only activity we hadn't done yet but we soon found out it just wasn't going to work. That ended up being ok. I wasn't overly excited to go sailing anyways. What I really wanted to do was give surfing a second try and that was exactly what we got to do, but I will get to that eventually. So this was our last outing for OP and it also included an overnight camping trip. We were in no hurry for the day because we had no deadline, we literally had all day. So instead of doing just surfing we decided to play monkey again, but before we did that we got to say hi to Tuesday's group. They had camped out the night before and were just returning shortly after we arrived at the center. They looked a little worse for the wear, but that happens after a full day of surfing and then a night of sleeping on the ground. They said they had a ton of fun surfing and camping was fun too. They left the tents up so at least we wouldn't have to do that part, everything would be ready for us when we got there.

I just missed!

So, back to the monkey part. If you remember, the very first OP day we played around in the trees on the high and low ropes courses and we did the trapeze jump. There was another "activity" in the trees that we didn't have time to do that day so we decided to give it a try. It is called Jacob's Ladder and it is basically a huge ladder made out of logs and wires. Each log consistently gets further from the next one as you travel higher and high with the first two being about 3 feet apart. You work in teams of three, with 3 people climbing and 3 people on the ground belaying the climbers. I wasn't too crazy about giving it a try but I wasn't going to pass it up either, so we clipped in and headed toward the sky. The couple of logs were easy and we were able to get up independently of each other. By about the third one we had to start working out a plan of action to get to the next. We helped Melissa get up first and then I went up second, Melissa helping from above and Lauren helping from below. Melissa and I then pulled Lauren up. This worked well for one or two logs but eventually the logs got too far apart for this method to work. Lauren is very monkey like and was able to help herself up more than I was able to so it ended up working just fine. We helped Melissa get up and then I would go and then Lauren would grab on with her arms and then legs and we would help pull her up as much as possible. Eventually I just got too exhausted and too scared to go any higher. We were only 2 from the top but I couldn't possibly get any higher. It was terrifying being up there balancing on logs. I knew that if I fell I would be just fine because I was attached to the rope but the terror overcame me. I couldn't go on, but I was ok with that, I climbed really high and gave it my all. After everyone had there go on the ladder we decided to give the trapeze jump another try. I was so close to getting it the last time and I was pretty determined to get it this time. I guess I needed a little more determination or a little less fear. I think, if it is possible, I have developed a fear of heights these past 11 activities. I remember coming into the high ropes course at the beginning of the semester fearless and now I get scared on every heights activity. By the time I climbed to the little platform I had a hard time letting go of the tree and edging myself to the end. I eventually talked myself into and jumped. I touched the trapeze again but not enough to grab it. It wasn’t being on the platform that got me worked up, it was the getting there. If I could avoid the climbing part I think I would be fine.

That ended up being the end of the high ropes course. We took forever on the ladder so we decided to get into the wet suits and head for the sea. As always, it was great fun getting into the wet suits; that is one thing I won’t miss about OP. We got everything packed up for surfing and for camping and headed out. The first beach we stopped at didn’t have good waves so we continued down the road to the next one. Llion told us the waves at that beach were as good as they were going to get so we headed out. The waves were bigger and coming in faster than the first time we surfed and I was ok with that. It was also about 50 degrees warmer and the water felt much better too. It was actually rather refreshing in the water. I was so excited, there was nothing that was going to bring me down this time. Since we already knew what we were doing we just jumped right in. More or less we just kind of ended up playing around in the waves. The guys had really good luck with standing up early. Some of the waves were perfect but I never seemed to be on my board at the right time. It was ok I was having a great time just playing in the water either way. I did manage to ride a few waves in on my stomach and I even got to my keens a few times. My arms were just exhausted from the morning’s activity and from all the paddling. The key to surfing is to paddle before the wave gets to you so every time one is close you have to paddle paddle paddle! After doing that a few times, and finally catching a wave, I wouldn’t have enough strength to push myself up onto the board. But I sure had fun trying! I gave it my all and I will have to give it a go the next time I have the opportunity to do so!

For the last time, we got to change in the parking lot and thankfully there were showers at the campsite. At least we didn’t have to stay full of salt and sand over night. It was nice having the camp site set up for us when we got there. All we had to do was put our sleeping bags in the tent and start the grills. We lit the coals, showered and then started all the yummy food. On Tuesday, Riley and I bought supplies for the night and we were 100% sure no one would go hungry! We had a feast including homemade chocolate chunk cookies, hot dogs, hamburgers and enough potatoes to feed an army. I cut up potatoes for an hour the night before just to make sure we would have enough. We took turns grilling and eventually, just like I suspected, everyone was stuffed. There was plenty of food to go around. The best part about the campsite was the fact that it was just a short walk away from a cute little pub. What more could you ask for? A day of surfing, grilling and then a pub to relax in. It was bound to be a great night! We had a couple of rounds and then headed back to the camp site for s’mores, ghost stories and games. It was a great night of bonding with the group. I was so exhausted after the day’s activities that I thought I would fall fast asleep but it didn’t work out quite as planned. It took me forever to fall asleep, probably because I’m spoiled and I don’t like to sleep on the ground. Oh well, it was worth it after the awesome day we had!

The next morning we were cooked out of our tents around 8; the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day! We packed up and headed home. We cleaned up and put everything away and then reminisced about the whole semester. It is really crazy how fast it went by. It feels like just yesterday we were putting on the purple suits for the first time! OP was on of the greatest opportunities I have had since I’ve been here! I can’t wait to try all of these activities again someday!

Until next time…

~Amy

Last Norman Castle and the Welsh Mountain Zoo

It's hard to believe that I have been here for 4 months already and I have less than a month left before it is time to head back to Iowa. It seems like just yesterday I was scared out of my mind walking off that plane in Manchester. It also seems like just yesterday when we headed to our first of many castles. The first castle we visited was Caenarfon and it was absolutely breathtaking. We do have one field trip left next week, and it does involve a castle, but not a Norman castle; it's a modern castle (but I will talk about that after I visit it). Anyways, I have visited more castles than most native Welsh people ever have or will visit in just one semester.

The last Norman castle we visited this semester was also the one that was closest to us. On Sunday we visited the town of Conway that has one of the most beautiful castles out there. The town also has one of the only still intact medieval town walls. We started our tour of the city by walking almost completely around the town walls. It was super cool towering over the city on the walls. You could see for miles in every direction from every point of the wall; great line of defense back in the day. Once we arrived at the castle there was plenty of exploring to be done. We went in search of the well and the dungeon that Tecwyn told us were must sees. Having a well inside the castle walls was also a great line of defense and was also quite uncommon for that time in history. Having a water source inside the castle would allow the people inside it to hold out longer against attackers. The well had to be quite deep to be reliable so that was cool to see. It took us awhile to actually find the dungeon but in the mean time we climbed the towers and walked the walls. From the towers the castle on the inside was amazing. All of the other castles we have been too have just been wide open for the most part on the inisde, but no this one. This one had all sorts of chambers and sections; very unique! Once we found the dungeon it was easy to see why it would be feared. Once in it, there was really no way out. The only way in was through a trap door, so you didn't want to be someone who wound up in there because there was no way you were getting out.

After Conway we headed to Colwyn Bay to visit the Welsh Mountain Zoo. I haven't been to a zoo in many years so this was quite the treat. There is something about being at a zoo that makes me feel like a kid. Of course the Welsh Mountain Zoo was no San Diego Zoo or any other major city zoo, but it was still pretty cool. When we first pulled in the first animal we saw off the right left was a big old brown bear. I'm sure they strategically placed the bear right at the entrance to get everyone excited, and hey it worked! Some of my other favorite attractions had to be the reptile house, the sea lions and top of the list would have to bee the tigers. We even got to see a bird show that included a penguin march. After the bird show there was a sea lion training but we had to leave, I was super sad. One of the best parts about zoos are their play grounds. We got to mess around on the slides and the tire swings and the obstacle courses.

So this week I'm working on a lab report and some journals. Other than that all I have is a final on the 26th. So from here on out I should be able to take it easy... haha hard to take it any easier than I already have these past few months, but I will try ;o)

Until next time...

~Amy

Sea-Level Traversing

On Thursday, for outdoor pursuits, we went sea-level traversing. I have been looking forward to going sea-leveling for most of the semester. We only had two activities left to choose from, so we knew that we would either be sailing or sea-leveling. Since Llion didn't have a helper for the day, that meant we would be sea-leveling and I was ok with that.

Once again we got to gear up in the good old wet suits. They are just so much fun to put on but oh so helpful in keep us nice and warm in the freezing cold water. We headed to the cliffs called the Range that are near Holyhead. It was a rainy crappy day so it didn't really matter that we would be playing near the sea; we were gonna get wet anyways. The trick was not falling on your butt while walking on the wet grass. The cliffs that we were traversing on were perfect. It was like climbing on huge flat rocks piled one on top of another. There were tons of hand and foot holds. And for those of you who may be shady on what traversing is, it is basically just climbing sideways. We were climbing right at sea level and the water wasn't exactly calm. The waves were constantly crashing against the rocks, which made it a little nerve racking at times. A few times we even had to cross rocks that would be completely covered when the waves crashed in. This caused us to time our moves quite carefully. Sometimes the waves would crash up higher than we were tall. It was pretty terrifying when we first got started but we eventually got used to it.

Another thing we had to do while traversing was Tyrolean Traverse, which is traversing across on a rope. There was a gully that we had to get past that we could traverse across so Llion rigged a rope from one side to the other. He first had to do his spider monkey thing and jump across by timing the waves just right. Basically when he was done rigging the rope it looked like we would have to tight rope across. In reality, we hooked ourselves to the rope by the karabiner on our harnesses and then we crossed our legs over the rope and then pulled ourselves across with our arms. It was super intimidating because even having the water 6 feet above the water, once all your weight was on it, you sunk down a bit and the waves were crashing, so you were sure to end up getting wet. Needless to say I was a little scared when it was my turn to go, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. The hardest part was when you got to the other side and you had to drop yourself down from the rope and then climb up while still being attached to the rope.


The whole day was a lot of fun. We even came to a cave at one point that we got to go into. We didn't get to explore much, it wouldn't have been that fun since we didn't have any lights, but it was still fun. The last challenge for the day was when we got to jump in and swim across a little gully. It was only a little scary because there were jelly fish in the water where we were jumping. They were tiny but i'm sure their bite was worse than their bark. It was ok, they didn't really come near us when we were swimming. It was funny when I jumped because my wellies (aka my boots) started to come off when I tried to swim across. So it looked like I was really struggling but in reality I was trying really hard to swim without kicking my legs. And then I had to fight with the waves. As soon as I would get a grip on the rock to pull myself out, a wave would come and pull me back in. It was rather comical but I eventually pulled myself out of the water. Surprisingly it wasn't as cold as I expected it to be. It was rather refreshing and pretty well enjoyable.

Next week, we are doing an overnight camping adventure. The last activity we have to do is sailing, but if the weather doesn't cooperate then our second choice is surfing again. And if that doesn't work out we may do some sea-leveling again. Either way, that night we are camping and we are told there is a pub down the road, so if nothing else works out we can always go pubbing as Llion said :o)

Until next time...

~Amy

His adventure makes mine look like a day in the park!

So as many of you know a friend of mine from back home has been backpacking across Europe for the past 6 weeks. Frank Sigwarth is a friend I grew up with and I feel so fortunate that he made time to stop in and see me here in Bangor. He arrived here on Tuesday and then headed for Ireland on Thursday morning. As we wandered around Bangor on Tuesday afternoon he told me the stories of where he had all been and I was just in awe. He started his journey 6 weeks ago in Spain. The story of his first night in Spain was pretty exciting and scary at the same time. Just the fact that he has been traveling by himself the whole time, to me is just crazy, I wish I was brave enough to just head out with a backpack for 7 weeks. He also told me stories of the other places he went like Paris, all over Italy, Germany, Amsterdam, Oxford and more. I was wondering why he would even think of stopping in a small no name place like Bangor. I guess it was just nice to see a familier face... and we did manage to have some fun!

So Tuesday we wandered around Bangor. I showed him all of the things that makes Bangor great! We started by walking past Hogwarts (aka the main arts building). He had just come from Oxford and said it felt very Oxfordy.... I believe that is where the inspiration came from! Then we went up to Roman Camp and as many times as I've been up there, I think it was the best view ever. He was really in for a treat! After that we had to go walk down the pier, too bad the shop wasn't open for scones!  Oh well, at least we enjoyed the beautiful weather! After that we headed to Yates for some delicious food! Riley met us down there since we eventually had to go to Tecwyn's class anyways. Normally, Tecwyn's class is on Monday nights but because this Monday was a public holiday, he had to move it to Tuesday. Bad timing but it worked out. Frank stayed at the pub while we went to class. After class we met him at Yellow Pub because on Tuesday nights, the special is pound a pint! Can't get much better than that AND the soccor match between Barcelona and Madrid was on so we enjoyed watching that. Eventually, we headed up the hill to Patty's! Just like Yellow, Patty's has drink specials on Tuesday nights! We all had a really good time giving Frank and great Bangor welcome and I think he enjoyed himself too! Bangor may not be as amazing as some of the other big Cities he visited but we gave it our best!

Wednesday morning I had a field trip, so Frank got to sleep off the night before while I played in the woodland. It was a really pointless field trip where we had to classify the vegetation at the Treborth Botanical gardens. No one really knew what they were doing so we basically made stuff up! I did get to work with some cool people and the gardens were really beautiful, but that was about the only cool thing about it! After I got back to Bangor Frank and I had a quick lunch and then headed to Caenarfon for the afternoon. We played around in the castle for a couple of hours and I actually got to see everything the castle had to offer for the first time out of the 3 times I had been there. After returning to Bangor we took a nap and then headed out for Fish and Chips! The rest of the night we just kind of took it easy and enjoyed a film and cards. Nice and easy night compared to the night before!

The next morning Frank headed to Dublin for the last leg of his amazing journey while I headed out to Outdoor Pursuits. I had a great time with Frank and I'm glad he found time to stop in!

Until next time...

~Amy

That's what Royalty is made of!

Words cannot quite describe the events of the royal wedding but I will do my best to describe my experiences in London. Lets start from the beginning. We arrived back in Bangor from Dublin a little after 5 on Thursday afternoon. That gave me just enough time to unpack, repack, take a shower and head out. The train ride was uneventful and all went as planned for the most part. We didn't miss our connecting train which is always good but it was running behind because it got behind a sleeper train, so we didn't end up getting into Euston until after 2AM. The minute we stepped off the train you could just tell there was something in the air in London. There were 2 police officers just outside the train and the people were just humming. I had my tourist map from the first time I went to London and Sheilagh printed off some walking directions. I have a fairly good sense of directions so we were in pretty good shape. As we wandered closer and closer to where the action would be taking place the people just kept getting more and more. They were everywhere and it was 2 in the morning. I couldn't believe the amount of people. As we got closer to Trafalgar Square there were Union Jack flags flying in abundance. The town was decorated to the 9s.

Once we found Trafalgar Square it was smooth sailing. We walked down The Mall which was the main road where the procession would travel from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey and back again. We didn't care all that much where we ended up sitting for the night and as we walked down The Mall the people and tents just kept growing. The people and tents were everywhere lining both sides of the street. We kept making our way towards the palace and eventually came to a section right in front of the left side of the palace. We knew this would be prime real estate when it came time for the kiss from the balcony so we called it good enough. We never dreamed we would find a place that close to the palace that late in the game but we did. I had brought a blanket with so we laid it out and decided to try and catch some shut eye. That was easier said than done. We had been traveling since 10 that morning from Ireland so we should have been tired but the air was just buzzing with excitement from everyone. We sat there and talked for awhile about how surreal it all was and just enjoyed the crowed. Most people were sleeping but there was a constan flow of people into the area. After a quick bathroom break at 4:30 I think we fell asleep for a few minutes.

By 5AM everyone was starting to stir. The sun was just starting to make an appearance as most of the tents and lawn chairs were put away for the day. We slowly but surely inched our way closer and closer to the barricades as people packed their stuff up. We ended up being about 5 people away from the barricades... I never in a million years would have thought we would have ended up that close when there were that many people there before us. That spot ended up being our spot for the next 8 or 9 hours. There were a couple of groups in front of us that hadn't taken down their tents but eventually were asked by the police to pack up their stuff. So we eventually got a little closer. We were all packed in like sardines with no room to move. By about 8 I decided I needed to use the toilets so I, as politely as I could, pushed my way back through the crowed. They were much more willing to let me out than they were letting me come back in. I had to stand in line for 20 minutes just to use a port-o-potty that had no TP... that was fun. I was going to go look for a coffee shop but I decided against it since then I would have to pee again. Instead I pushed my way back through the crowed to Sheilagh who was holding down our blanket. We would take turns sitting down for a few minutes at a time because there was really no room to sit but it was very hard to stand for that long. We mingled with the people standing around us and everyone was really nice for the most part. Then there were some people who just absolutely "knew it all" about the royal family and what was going down that day. They were the ones that got annoying after awhile. The British pride was everywhere to be seen. Most people had flags, some had their faces painted and some were dressed from head to toe in the Union Jack flag. It was a pretty cool site to see.

The Queen

The Bridesmaids

From about 9AM on there was movement around the palace. Guards started doing their thing and royal looking cars were moving around. Nothing really big happened until about 10:40 when the Queen left the palace for Westminster. It was one of the coolest feelings watching the crowed erupt as her car pulled out of the palace. She had on yellow that could be spotted a mile away. Even though we were on the other side of Queen Victoria Memorial we could see her through the car windows quite clearly. Before that we knew Prince William had left for Westminster because of the uproar down the street. He left from a different spot and he was actually the only one that didn't go past us. Along with the Queen we saw Cate's parents in the own car, we saw Prince Charles and Camilla come from the palace. We also so Cate's sister with the miniature bridesmaids and at about 10:52 we even saw Cate pass right in front of us! The people who knew the area that were sitting around us said her hotel was in the area and she would have to pass by to get to Westminster, so we knew she was coming. I dropped the ball when it came to a picture of her. I got the before and after shot but I missed the money shot, but it will forever be ingrained in my memory. Probably the coolest thing that happened the whole day. She was so close I could make out ever facial feature, absolutely amazing!

The newlyweds

Cate's sister and Bridemaids

The service was broadcasted so we heard the vows and eventually everyone made their way back to the palace. Seeing Prince William and the new Princess Cate in the fairytale carriage was also one of the greatest experiences of the journey. They were right there in front of us and they were so happy. It made it feel so much better because you could just feel how happy they were. The smiles on their faces were just priceless. After everyone, and I mean everyone, was back in the palace the crowed was allowed to walk up to the palace. All of the guests where brought back to the palace via buses and cars, it was very cool. The crowed was brought forward from the end of The Mall and they were walked their by a wall of police. This was to keep the crowed from getting too crazy and it was amazing to see. It also kind of sucked that the people who probably gathered in at the last second got to pile into the area closest to the palace while we had to stay further back. We still had a great place and got to see everything so I can't really complain. Like clockwork the newlyweds and the rest of the family came out on the balcony right at 1:25 like scheduled. I think they even managed to steal 3 kisses. The crowed was in an uproar and everyone was so happy. I was so glad I could share this amazing day with the millions of other people in London.

The crowed being ushered in

The happy family

After it was all said and done we slowly made our way away from the palace. There was only one way we were allowed to go and we eventually ended up down by Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster. I can't imagine what it was like down in that area for the wedding because there is nowhere to go. The people where everywhere, we just couldn't escape them. Eventually, once we got past Trafalgar Square we found a cute little pub where we sat and relaxed and enjoyed some food. We got to see the whole event over and over on TV and it was so surreal seeing it happen on TV. They were such a cute couple, perfect for each other. I hope they live long and happy lives together and again I'm so glad I had the opportunity to share this special day with them! We eventually made our way back to Euston station, avoiding the underground at all costs. If it was as crazy in the underground as it was on the streets there was so way we were going anywhere near it, even if it was faster. We tried to get on an earlier train home but because we bought te cheapest tickets ever, we had to stay with the trains we paid for. Our train didn't leave until 11:30 that night with a 4 hour lay over in Woverhampton. I did manage to sleep for a few minutes off and on but I was so paranoid we would miss our stop, I tried to stay awake. Once in Woverhampton I found a spot on the floor of the lounge and made myself as comphy as I could. I used my blanket that had seen better days as a pillow and caught a few shut eyes. Again i was paranoid that we would miss our 5:48 departure for Bangor so I still didn't get much sleep. Once on our last train home I was able to sleep a little bit better. After Sheilagh and I arrived back in Bangor we talked about how surreal the whole experience was. We were actually in London for the biggest wedding of our life time. So hard to believe, we were so lucky! This was by far the best experience, as exhausting as it was, of my study abroad experience so far! I'm so lucky!

Until next time...

~Amy

Holy sh*t that's AMAZING!

So just a quick reference to the title of this blog before I really get into it. It is in reference to the cliffs in on the west coast of Ireland. They are so amazing; pictures don't do them justice and there just aren't words that describe them just right. But anyways, back to the beginning. On Monday (the 25th) We packed up our stuff in Dublin. It was sad to go, Dublin was such an amazing city! We had to be out of our rooms by 10 but we weren't leaving until 12 so we had a bit of time to waste. After another amazing breakfast a few of us headed out into the city one last time. We wandered around for awhile playing the "nose goes" game. Eventually we ended up at  coffee shop where we shared OP stories and spring break adventures. It was a lot of fun and a great way to spend our last morning in Dublin. At noon we loaded the bus and headed West.

After arriving in Galway we went over a list or "rules" for the hostel. We were staying in a very very nice hostel that was very strict. They had a kitchen we could use at our own leisure but we had to follow rules to a T. There was absolutely no drinking allowed, no one was allowed in the kitchen from 10-12 in the morning and then from midnight to 7:30, we had to quite at all times in the bed room and blah blah blah. I guess they wanted to keep it nice. So we tried our best to follow the rules.

After we got all settled in we went for a short walk around the city. We went through a beautiful catholic cathedral  It is nice for a change to be somewhere where the primary region is that of my own. When I grew up EVERYONE I knew was catholic so being somewhere where no one is catholic is still hard to grip sometimes. The cathedral was so beautiful and huge, I really enjoyed it. After the cathedral we headed down to the bay. Galway used to be a big fishing community so the bay area is really developed and really beautiful. At this point Tecwyn did his normal thing and ditched us expecting us to be able to make our way back to the hostel on our own. We headed up a very touristy street with tons of shopping ad eating places. Eventually we did manage to make our way back. We decided to take advantage of the kitchen and cooked... if you can call it cooking. We ended up with a huge box of chicken nuggets and salad for dinner. It was cheap and it was delicious! That night Sheilagh and I decided we wanted to explore the pub life so we headed out. We found a cute little pub called Taffee's that had live Irish music wafting out of the front door. We decided to give it a try. There was a cute little band playing right in the front. I got myself a delicious pint of Guiness and Sheilagh went with the cider. Eventually the music ended and we were able to snag some stools at the bar. This is where we stayed parked for the next few hours. We met some cool people and were in awe of the bar tenders and how they were able to serve a million people without losing it. Eventually more live music started that was really enjoyable. After spending way too much money (because the drinks were super expensive) we called it a night and stumbled back to the hostel.

The next day we headed to the Aran islands for a bike tour of the island. It took an hour bus ride to get to a place where we could hop the ferry and another 45 minute ride to the island. The boat ride was pretty tipsy, at times I thought we were going in. The Aran islands are a very remote place and it was kind of like going back in time. We got our bikes and we headed off.Our goal for the day was to get to Dun Aengus which are cliffs that are over 300 feet high. They were very very intimidating! We were told the best way to approach them was on your stomach so you don't get dizzy and fall off. That was exactly what we did and it was one of the scariest things I have ever experienced. The vertigo was so intense, just looking over the edge I thought I was going to fall. I did get the courage for like 2 seconds to hang my legs over the edge but I couldn't get myself to look over very far in that position. Some people were crazy and set of this little rock that was sticking off the edge. It looked like it was going to break off and crumble down the cliff, but they all managed to stay alive. After the cliffs we wandered around on the bikes for awhile. We came to a beach where we took our shoes off and put our toes in. The water was freeing but so beautiful. It was also the strangest beach I have ever seen. It had the softest grey sand that looked just like cat litter. After that we made our way to another part of the coast where we could see some seals playing around in the water. We were hoping they would come beach themselves but they stayed out in the water. After arriving back in Galway we decided we were too lazy to cook so we went out to eat. We ended up in an amazing pub where everyone enjoyed some of the best food we have had since beig abroad. I had chicken pot pie and then a caramel/chocolate cheesecake for dessert. By the time we were done eating I was so full I thought I would need to be rolled home. It was soooooo good!

The next day (Wed the 27th) our destination was the cliffs of Moher. This cliffs are probably the most iconic tourist stop in Ireland. No one travels on the west coast of Ireland without stopping at these cliffs. They were over twice as tall as the ones on the Aran islands but they were all fenced off. Apparently they are also a place where suicide is very popular so they had to fence them all off... well almost all of them. There was a spot where we could climb through the fence and walk to a place where we could really enjoy the cliffs. Of course we had to bend the rules a bit, but we were just doing what everyone else was doing. I thought the cliffs from the day before were intense but these left me speechless. I was so scared and I was walking around with people who were fearless. Grant even posed for a picture with one foot on the edge of the cliff and the other one raised over the edge looking like he was walking right off. I couldn't even watch it was so scary. We did a few jumping pictures that turned out really cool. Some people were jumping right on the edge making it look like they were jumping right off but I stayed far enough back that there was no way I had any chance of going over. Quite intense! Another cool fact about the cliffs of Moher, the cave scene in the latest Harry Potter movie was actually filmed at the cliffs! Pretty cool! After an intense day at the cliffs we needed a nice relaxing night. A bunch of us cooked together and then headed back down to the bay to watch the sun set. It was absolutely breath taking. I am a little jaded after living in Florida and seeing 500 million sun sets they just don't trip my trigger like most. But this one was pretty cool just because we were in Ireland.

Today we are heading back to Bangor and then as most of you know a few of us are heading to the big wedding. It is going to be crazy beautiful and the next time I really get to sleep will be in about 48 hours from now. I cringe to think that I won't have a bed for the next two nights but it will be sooo worth it. It is an opportunity of a lifetime that I'm glad is not passing me by. I think the hum of the city is going to be just amazing. After we get back to Bangor I will have some catching up on school work to do. And then on Tuesday and Wednesday and good friend from home, who has been backpacking all over Europe, is coming to visit me! I'm super excited to see him so hopefully I can get everything done before he gets here. So I will try to do my best but it might be awhile before I get a chance to post another blog. Look for me on TV, I have a shirt that says "Marry me instead" that I am wearing to the wedding. I will wave!

Until next time...

~Amy

The Rocky Road to Dublin!

So on Saturday we spent the morning crossing the Irish Sea from Hollyhead to Dublin. It was a fairly uneventful trip but the ferry was pretty cool. I had never been on a ferry before so it absolutely amazed me that you could put that many cars on a boat and it would still float across the water. It moved super fast too! We made it across in just under 2 hours. On the inside it was extremely crowded and we were lucky to get a seat. I passed the time with my kindle and my iPod because there were about 500 screaming kids on the ferry with us. I love kids but these kids were just completely out of control! We even ventured out onto the deck to take a peak at the fast approaching Ireland. The deck was so windy I ended up with more of an afro than I already have! Ireland looked beautiful from the boat, I couldn't wait to step foot on land and enjoy it for all of its beauty. Once we made land we had to board a city bus to take us semi close to our hostel. I think they jammed about 500 people on the double decker bus because there was no room to move with all of us AND our luggage. A short ride later and we were smack dab in the middle of Dublin. The hostel we stayed in was pretty sweet! There were 6 of us girls staying together in a room with 8 beds (all to ourselves). We had our own bath room and shower in the room so we also didnt have to share that with anyone else.

Entrance to Trinity College

After we got all settled in we headed out into the city with Tecwyn for a walking tour. We went through the city center which was super cool and we walked down O'Donnell street which is a very touristy street. Our walking tour ended at Trinity College which is a very iconic college of Dublin. At the college is the Book of Kells exhibition which was also very unique. The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript of the 4 gospels written in 800AD in Latin. The exhibition ended in the Great Library which holds thousands of books, none of which date later than 1700. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. 

At that point, Tecwyn did his normal thing of ditching us. He likes to lead us into the middle of a strange town and then just leave us there for us to find our own way back. I think he has it in for us... haha! Anyways, we were on our own for the rest of the afternoon and night so a few of us decided to just walk around and explore the city. We ended up in the Temple Bar area which is a bunch of local pubs and resaturates, most of which have live music. There are also a bunch of souvenir shops and other shops; very easy to waste an afternoon in this part of town. We checked out a few of the souvenir shops and then ended up in this cute little pub that had amazing food and even better live music. We enjoyed the food upstairs with the music playing below us. This one man band did covers of everything from Bon Jovi to Van Morrison and so much more. The place was packed of people having a grand old time and it was only like 6 in the afternoon! We enjoyed our 5 euro drinks (SUPER EXPENSIVE!!! that would be like $8) and then headed back to the hostel. We debated whether we wanted to go out to another pub for live traditional Irish music or if we just wanted to stay in. We ended up going to get a few drinks to have at the hostel and we watched Aladdin. While watching Aladdin we turned it into a drinking game where you had to drink every time the words Genie, Lamp, Wish, Prince or Princess was said. It was super fun!

On Sunday our plan was to go to the 8:30 Easter mass at a beautiful cathedral just down the street. Tecwyn told us the mass was at 8:30 but when we got there we saw the gates were padlocked shut and the mass wasn't until 10. We were all pretty bummed since we all got up extra early to make it to mass before the events for the day started. Oh well! After we started walking back to the hostel we heard a marching band playing down the street so we went to check it out. There was going to be a parade later in the day in honor of the Irish revolts against the British on Easter; this eventually led to Ireland's independence from the rest of the UK. 

Once our day officially started we did another walking tour of the city. We went through Trinity College again and we also went through some beautiful parks and learned all sorts of informational stuff! We saw the Irish Parliament building and a couple of Protestant cathedrals including St. Patrick's. The walking tour ended with the Guiness Factory tour. I had never had Guinees before coming to the UK and I wasn't huge on it the first time I had it but I didn't give up. If you have never had or seen this beer before, it is very unique. This beer is thick and creamy and black! I can't describe exactly what it tastes like; you just have to try it for yourself. The more I drink it the more I love it. I thought it was good over in the UK and then yesterday I had one in Ireland. It was so fresh and so delicious I thought it couldn't get any better, I was wrong. At the end of the brewery tour you got a pint of Guiness fresh from the brewery. It was so amazing! It was well worth the 11 euro :o) The tour itself wasn't that cool because you didn't get to see any of the actual working factory; everything you got to see was made especially just for the tour. None the less it was still interesting to learn about how it all works. The brewery is way out in the middle of nowhere and of course Tecwyn did his usual thing of stranding us. We did what we thought best and that was take a horse and buggy ride back into the Temple Bar area, again well worth the 20 euro we split between the 4 of us. 

Because we missed church that morning we decided we would go to the 6:30 mass. We still had a couple of hours to spare so we came back and took a nap. The mass was your typical catholic service and the church itself was very beautiful. It was a similar set up to the one we went to in Scotland but it wasn't as elaborately decorated. After mass I called home to Gram's. Everyone was there to celebrate Easter and I got to talk to most everyone. It was nice to talk to some of the kids and Gram. She still thinks it is amazing how I can call home from Ireland via my computer. She doesn't really get it but its ok. Since we didn't hit up the traditional Irish music the night before we decided to hit it up that night. Around 9 we made our was to The Celt. We sandwiched ourselves into a few chairs on the side of the "stage" and waited for the band to start. They were pretty awesome and a few people even did some Irish dancing. You could tell it was a pub that was mostly visited by the locals. They were all having a great time and we didn't want to invest too much money into the drinks so we only stayed for a few songs. 

Tomorrow (Monday) we head to the west coast of Ireland to Galway. I'm really excited to see more of the country side and especially the cliffs. The city has been beautiful but I know Ireland has more to offer than just the city!

Until next time...

~Amy