I'm settling into a nice little routine here in Cork and I am starting to feel comfortable with my surroundings. I'm used to my schedule, I don't get lost in the city as often and I am slowly learning how to cook. (I made chicken quesadillas last week. They completely fell apart, but my chicken cheese goo-mush gave me hope for my culinary future.) The more I think about it, however, the more I realize that I shouldn't be getting too comfortable here. Much of my time abroad will be spent away from Cork. Even though I will be away until late May, I have very little class after March 20 (which marks the start of a month long spring break, followed by a week of class, followed by a week off to study for finals, followed by a three-week final exam period when I'll only have a few exams). That is a whole lot of free time that I hope to spend traveling, so I met with a friend last night and we created a tentative travel schedule through Spring Break.
Jan. 25: Fota Wildlife Reserve in Fota, Ireland
Jan. 26: Cobh, Ireland
Feb. 7-Feb. 10: Galway, Ireland
Feb. 15: Jameson Distillery
Feb. 16: Daytrip to see caves (or cliffs? I'm not sure.) arranged by Arcadia
Feb. 22-Feb. 24: Belfast, Northern Ireland, arranged by Arcadia
Feb. 28-March 2: Scotland
March 25-March 28: France
March 28-April 2: Spain
April 6-April 9: Germany
April 9-April 14: Italy
TBD: Weekend in London (depends on when I can get some football tickets)
TBD: Weekend in Amsterdam
This is very tentative, so if anyone has any suggestions please comment (as far as what cities to visit, what to see and do, general traveling advice, etc). Hooray for bargain airlines and their ridiculously cheap flights!
Oh, and don't worry Mom, I'll be sure to budget my time and get my work done on time.
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And now, for your viewing pleasure, some photos:
Dublin
Exploring the parks
Typical street in Dublin
Tribute to the great Irish poet, Oscar Wilde
A typical cathedral
A jail (aka gaol) in Dublin. During the Potato Famine, people would purposely commit crimes just because they knew they would at least be fed in jail. More to come on this in a future entry.
Cork
Home sweet home
Beamish Beer Factory, aka my neighbor to the left
Neighbor to the right
Shots of the city and the River Lee
Over the past several weeks, I have mastered the art of the microwave/George Foreman Grill.
Blarney Castle
nice
If you ever go to Blarney Castle, make sure to check out all the walking trails and parks.
Representing Bucknell as I kiss the Blarney Stone.
Fota Wildlife Reserve
Not exactly very "Irish", but nonetheless a very cool park where animals roam around freely
Look at that how good looking that thing is! And check out the peacock standing in front of him! LOLzers
Some kind of monkey (forgive my lack of animal knowledge).
Bison!
Giraffe
Zebra (with a nice backdrop)
Some kind of giant guinea pig?
Hanging out with the kangaroos
Whoa, that's enough pictures for now. As you can tell, I've been visiting some great places and plan on visiting many more in the coming months.
Comments (3)
Great site David.. Sounds like you're really enjoying your stay in Ireland and learning at the same time. Enjoy!!
Posted by Felice Nadel | February 1, 2008 7:16 PM
Posted on February 1, 2008 19:16
I think I will regularly read this blog now. And your in Ireland sounds absolutely ridiculously fun. I'm jealous. Keep up the good work and have a Guiness for me...
-Reilly
Posted by Matt Reilly | February 9, 2008 10:10 PM
Posted on February 9, 2008 22:10
Even though you didn't go to Australia, you still managed to find the kangaroos.
Posted by Keri Reiter '01 | February 15, 2008 3:31 PM
Posted on February 15, 2008 15:31