Mid-Term in the Mediterranean

Wow what a week! This will be kind of a unique update as I am covering 7 days, 3 countries, and a cruise in one blog. In order to avoid being long winded.. I will write a brief paragraph concerning each city I visited, a paragraph on the cruise ship, and one describing our return travel day (I'm glad that day is over). I'll start with Barcelona, the port city that our cruise departed from...

Barcelona was very urban and fairly cheap. It was fairly warm when we got off the plane f

rom Dublin, and stayed in the mid 70's for whole time that we were there. Our hostel was nice, and once we got settled in we grabbed some Sangria (so tasty) and went to a local Kebap place for some sandwiches. The next day, before getting on the boat, we took a quick tour through the city, seeing La Iglesia de La Sagrada Familia (The Church of the Holy Family). While visiting the church there was some sort of celebration which included 4 "pyramids of people" stacking themselves to look like the church... I'm not really sure what it was supposed to mean but it was really impressive (see pictures). The beaches along Barcelona were beautiful as well..

From Barcelona, we mounted our cruise ship and had a day at sea. The cruise was fine- it had free food (with free 5-Star restaurants on the ship), pools, spas, giant chess, shuffleboard (I am undefeated at this game), a sports court, a climbing wall, and a full theatre with performances every night. It was all grand, but I immediately realized one thing about my traveling preference: I like it raw. I would much

rather be in a sub-par hostel, long train rides, and just out and about rather than on a ship, as I feel as if this is the best way to be submerged into the culture. The ship was great, however, for seeing lots of places in a small amount of time, and was fantastic for traveling purposes. All in all, I'm glad I did the cruise. I gained a bit of awareness for each place we visited, and now I know where I would like to go back to.

Malta was a unique trip, as it is an Island that isn't incredibly accessible as a traveler. We visited two fantastic churches in Malta, one being Saint John's Co-Cathedral, which had some incredible works by Caravaggio. The other church, Saint Paul's Shipwreck Church, claimed to have a part of Saint Paul's wristbone. It was a beautiful day as well, and the views from the coastline were fantastic.

The day in Napoli (Naples) was another beautiful day with sunny, blue skies. While in Napoli, we took a tour (mistakenly) through the italian ghetto in effort to get to the top of the city (Napoli lies on a hillside). After quite a few interesting scenes and places, we made it to the top of the city which had a fantastic view. While on the top of the city, we toured a small park ("Floridiana Villa") and had perhaps the greatest dessert in the world- gelato. I had a limon-strawberry flavored gelato, and it was quite literally the greatest sweet I have ever had in my life. Afterwards, we made our way back down, visiting an incredible Castel dell'Ovo (seaside fort) and a great open

square with a Romanesque church called Basilica San Francesco di Paola.

Rome wasn't built in a day, so I didn't get to see all of Rome in a day either. I did, however, get to see a lot, and I'm fortunate to have visited there. It rained all day in Rome, but that didn't stop us from seeing a lot. Our first stop was the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Next was the Spanish Steps (outside of the Spanish Embassy) and Trevi Fountain (I threw my coin in... backwards of course). Lastly was the Vatican (my personal favorite). The Basilica was naturally incredible and breathtaking, and I couldn't imagine visiting Rome without seeing the Vatican. We were able to climb to the top of the Basilica and see a great view on top of the dome. It was absolutely crazy seeing all the places where St. Peter and other countless popes were buried. I want to go back and visit multiple times; it feels like I could have spent a week just visiting the Vatican. I was also able to run through the Vatican Museum just to see the Sistine Chapel, which was completely worth it. The Sistine Chapel has to be the best work of art in the world... I am convinced of it.

Even though it took a while to get to Firenze from Llvorno (our port city) and it was raining and dreary, I liked Firenze (Florence) the best. The street layout was unique, and it seemed to me to be the epitome of an italian city. We saw many statues there (including Statue of David), visited San Lorenzo, crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), went through plenty of markets, walked along the River Arno and had pizza and gelato. There was a garden that I

wanted to go to, but we didn't have enough time. If I visit Italy again, I want to go back to Firenze.

Our last stop, Cannes, France, was a great note to end on. The weather was once again sunny and warm. After touring a museum, John and I walked around downtown Cannes, where we discovered a big food market and quite a few Art festivals. For those of you around the cities, Cannes was like Excelsior meets Beverly Hills. Lots of money, fancy cars, boats, beautiful beaches, little shops, and plenty of artists trying to sell their artwork. I loved the environment. I spent the last of my hours there swimming in the Mediterranean and sunbathing on the warm sands... probably the last time I'll do that in 2009!

Cannes marked our last excursion. That night we prepared for a big travel day on Sunday... we didn't know what was in store...

We all woke up at 4:30a.m. to ensure that we would make our flight out of Girona. Unfortunately (even though we were docked), the cruise security did not let us off the boat till 6:00a.m. and we were unable to make our flight (50 euro gone). We ended up booking a 5:25p.m. flight to Belfast. We traveled to the Barcelona airport, waited for 5 hours, and finally got on the plane. From Belfast we discovered that we could not make a direct trip to Galway. Instead, we took a bus to Dublin, and from Dublin to Galway (this would be like traveling first to Green Bay, and then to Chicago from the Twin Cities). All in all, we arrived back at the PLH at 4:00a.m. It was one hell of a day, but I am happy that we all arrived back here in one piece.

I hope you enjoyed this quick reflection on my long break.. if you have any other questions about my experiences in these places just e-mail me. I just didn't want to make an entry too long to read! This weekend I will be returning to Belfast with all of my classmates, and we will all explore Northern Ireland together. Pictures for this past weekend will be up soon! I have to charge my camera battery quick before I am able to put them up. Until next time..

mahalo

Thomas

Foggy trip to Cliffs- Last Blog Before Fall Break!

Hey all!

This will be my last blog until a week from this Sunday, when I return back to the PLH. During that time, I will be visiting the following places in the Mediterranean:

Departure Port	Date	Arrival Time	Departure Time
Barcelona	10-18-2009	--	07:00 PM
At Sea	10-19-2009	--	--
Valletta	10-20-2009	08:00 AM	03:00 PM
Naples/pompeii	10-21-2009	08:00 AM	07:00 PM
Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy	10-22-2009	07:00 AM	07:00 PM
Livorno	10-23-2009	07:00 AM	07:00 PM
Cannes	10-24-2009	07:00 AM	03:00 PM
Barcelona	10-25-2009	05:00 AM	--

I will be taking lots of pictures, eating lots of food, and soaking up the sun! Can't wait... it should be a fantastic time.

Anyway, I will resume with a update from Wednesday. I had literature class in which we completed Synge's Playboy of the Western World and discussed none other than James Joyce. I got the honor of reading some of Finnegans Wake (which, might I add, is impossible). We were assigned "Dubliners" over break- I'm looking forward to that read.

After class, I was lucky enough to go for a run and... swim! It was 70 degrees and sunny. Absolutely gorgeous weather... we were so lucky. I spent the rest of the day in my swimsuit by the beach... it was incredible. We came back and watched Ireland play in a World Cup Qualifier and drank in the pub with JP- an all-around fantastic day.

Today we took a trip over to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. We were absolutely pumped, but unfortunately when we got there it was 5% visibility (foggest day ever). I am convinced that I will go back sometime (Mom and Dad..??!!) but it was a damn shame that we went all the way out there and saw very little. I did get to find a 4-Leaf clover (see picture) so hopefully that will bring us further luck!

That's about it! Tomorrow I'm going to help JP around the Hotel, perhaps take a run and cook up some hearty soup. Saturday, I catch a bus at 1:00p.m. to Dublin, and begin my exciting Fall Break. I'm pumped...

Until next time... mahalo

Thomas

Dublin Ramblin'

Back again! I hear that you Minnesotans are getting some snow these days. For the first time since being here, I think Ireland is much warmer than Minnesota right now. It's sunny out, and pretty much a perfect fall day. The days will, however, get much shorter here soon. Until then I will have to soak up the warmth and enjoy myself. Anyway... on to the update!

The Vikes game lasted till 4pm here (GO FAVRE!) so it was fairly difficult to get up in the morning for Ethics Seminar. We discussed our excursions as a whole, received some assignments which would enable some further reflection

on our experiences. The remaining of Tuesday was left to homework, laundry, and (I think?) the Twins game.. just another relaxing day in Ireland.

Wednesday morning, we further discussed some Frank O'Connor short stories and began The Playboy of the Western World. We are 'performing' the play in class... I play Michael Flaherty.

Afterwards, we had a family meeting to discuss our plans for Dublin. After finishing all classes and meetings, John Murray and I decided to help JP to sweep/paint new parking lot lines for the Park Lodge Hotel. We worked for 4 hours, and were rewarded with a nice meal and free drinks in the pub that night. It was fun to work with JP. He had a lot of the same music/movie tastes as me. He also mentioned that we were REALLY lucky to have gone to Skellig Michael, as he had visited Portmagee 4 times just to get onto Skellig Michael and has yet to get onto the island. He offered us pot-roast with scallop potatoes (delicious). Everyone went to the pub that night and watched the twins game.. a great all-around group time.

Thursday was another early morning, as we were all on the bus and ready to go a little after 8:00 a.m. After riding the bus for a while... I did notice that I unfortunately forgot my camera (don't worry, I will be receiving photos that I took with others), so I will have some photos up

later today or tomorrow. Our first stop was at Clanmacnoise, a monastic site that is stationed on the River Shannon and is close to four different counties in Ireland. The site included a few ancient high crosses, 8 old, old churches, and a wonderful view of the Shannon. The visit was nice. John Murray and I took a walk out to a nun's church (about 10 minutes away from the site) after the tour and sat atop an arch and marveled at the green landscape. The sun shone brightly and definitely made the visit worthwhile.

After the Clanmacnoise trip, we proceeded to Dublin. Our new bus-driver/tour-guide, Michael, was very knowledgeable of the area and it was helpful for him to take a tour around Dublin. Before setting off for the hostel, Michael took us to the site of the Papal visit in Phoenix Park. Here a cross was erected in honor of the late Pope John Paul II. The green grass expanded for meters and meters: it was the kind of park that would be perfect for flying a kite, throwing/kicing a football around... pretty much anything that requires a HUGE wide open field of grass.

We finally arrived at the hostel in the evening. I took some time to go out and get some food to cook up for dinner (had burgers for the first time this trip!). That night we explored the Temple Bar area. I visited a place called "The Porterhouse" which had pretty much every beer of the world. Afterwards, I went across the street to a place that was playing reggae music. It was a fantastic night!

On Friday morning, we were all up and on the bus at 9:00a.m. We took a trip to a place called Newgrange, which an ancient burial structure that is older than both the Great Pyramids and Stonehenge. The structure was huge, and the giant stones used to make it were from all different parts of Ireland. This structure had to have taken a lifetime or MORE to make, and it make the experience absolutely incredible. The opening of Newgrange is positioned correctly so that annually, on the winter solstice at dawn, the sun shines brightly, lighting up the whole inside of the tomb. on the tour, there was a simulation of the lighting.. it was mind-blowing.

After Newgrange, we returned to Dublin. Some of us were dropped off at the Guinness Storehouse, yet, having already been there, I choose to go to the National Gallery instead. I saw great paintings by Jack Yeats, Caravaggio ("The Taking of Christ"), and even one piece by Picasso. My favorite piece was The Opening of the Sixth Seal. I visited the Gallery twice (once Friday, once Saturday), and enjoyed every minute of it.

After the Gallery, the guys I was with decided to go back to the hostel. I wanted to keep on walking around, so I took a tour down O'Connell Street. I stepped inside a sports shop and found the greatest buy I have ever laid my eyes upon- a thick, white Celtic zip-up sporting

jacket for 20 EURO, marked down from 65 Euro! The store said that the jacket wouldn't sell because it was too big. It fit me just fine... so I bought it! I also picked up food for my buddies and myself, and made my way back to the hostel.

That night, I ended up getting into a Rhythm & Blues Club for half-price (I haggled with the bouncer), and enjoyed some fantastic music with my friends from the study abroad group. Great night!

For the whole of Saturday we were left to our own devices. I hung out with Kyle.. and we had a very successful day. We saw several churches (St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church), went to the National Gallery, the National Museum (where we saw bog bodies from ancient times) and Trinty College. At Trinity College, we snuck into the Book of Kels (saved 8 Euro) and even watched an intense Rugby game on the school's pitch. After all of this, we took a walk down O'Connell Street and went through a little food market before returning home.

After eating a nice dinner, all of us went over to a play that had been set up by Dr. Davis at the Abbey Theatre. The play was, to put it lightly, very bizarre. I was glad to get to the pub next door afterwards and watch the last 5 minutes of the big football match between Italy and Ireland (which ended up being a tie, and most of the action was in the last 5 minutes!). That night, John, Kyle and I found "The Legends" and made requests all night to a pair of talented musicians. The guitar/fiddle combo was surprisingly great, and it ended up being a laid-back yet fun night.

The next morning I made it over to Mass at a franciscan church a block away from the hostel. After Mass, we all loaded into the bus and made our way over to Kilmainham Jail. While I wasn't absolutely pumped to go to Kilmainham (for the simple fact that I had already been there), I actually got a lot more out of the visit than I thought I would. After actually reading up on Irish History, the visit was much more "close to home" than my first visit. Not only that, but it helped that I was already familiar with the structure. I was glad to have taken the tour again.

I ended the rest of Sunday by sitting on a bus back to the PLH, shopping at TESCO for food, and completing as much homework as I possibly could.

Yesterday it was fairly difficult to get up after a late of studying. In history we discussed the Great Famine (or "Great Hunger"), and how it is argued that death from this famine was caused by the British. It was an interesting class; I had never known in-depth the story of the famine, so it was a very enlightening class indeed. Irish Catholicism covered what we had

visited in Dublin, and we also made presentations with pictures, videos, etc about some of our favorite parts about our visit. Last night I was up late (again) completing homework for Dr. Davis's Class (once that is corrected I will be happy to post it somehow on the blog).

This morning, we reviewed our Dublin experience (both written and verbally). I actually discussed Kilmainham as the most significant visit to my understanding of Ireland, as I believed that it encompassed the Irish Nation's story: a story of incarceration and redemption, all for freedom. Afterwards, I sat in on another class (that I'm not even a part of) and watched a great, bizzare film called The Butcher Boy. It was quite strange but good, and had that strange humor that is often found in British/Irish films.

That's about it for now! I'll try to get this weekend's pics up soon.. and I'm going to try and blog before I leave for fall break (which, for me, starts this Saturday). After that, it'll be off to the Mediterranean! Until next time...

mahalo

Thomas

Southwest Coast Expedition: Dingle, Portmagee, Kilarney

Another week! I'm back to record my experiences. Let it begin!

Tuesday night turned out to be a night in Galway, where I visited the 'Hole in the Wall Bar' to watch the Liverpool Football game. Some less-than-sober fans were singing football rousers, and Kyle, John, and myself were thoroughly amused for a good two hours. We made our way over to Moore's Pub afterwards, where I participated in some traditional Irish dancing.

On Wednesday, we discussed poems and short stories in Gerard O'Brien's class. I was especially entertained by Frank O'Connor's 'My Oedipus Complex' and 'The First Confession,' where O'Connor narrates a young man's perspective of the world in a very particular, Twain-esque sort of way. After class, the rest of the day and night belonged to laundry, homework, and preparing for our long excursion the next day.

On Thursday at 8:00 a.m., everyone was on the bus and ready to take off for the southwestern coast of Ireland. On the way, we crossed the river Shannon with our bus on a ferry. Many of my fellow classmates had never been on a ferry before, and therefore very amused. The ferry was reminiscent of the ferry that I used to take from Galveston to Bolivar Peninsula in Texas when visiting my family.. I enjoyed the flashback.

After a few hours, our bus was finally driving through Dingle. Another reminiscent experience

occurred as we entered Dingle because we passed the hotel that I stayed at with my family 2.5 years ago! Dingle looked exactly the same... just as I had left it. While we didn't stop in Dingle, we did take a trip down Slea Head Drive, the scenic drive that passes the Blasket Islands. As we drove, we passed the ancient stone forts that my family and I had visited

before, and even stopped along the road by similar places that I had been. Slea Head was beautiful, and I was very glad to visit it again.

We finished at Slea Head and Dingle and headed straight to Portmagee, where we would be staying the night. We arrived at Portmagee at around 6:00 p.m. After a small walk, we discovered 2 very small pubs and a small grocery store (that was about it). I returned back to Portmagee Hostel (which was actually VERY nice) and made some soup. That night I got the opportunity to talk with 2 middle-aged italian men who were staying in Portmagee. For that weekend. After talking to them for a bit about Italy and the fine points of interest (I talked to them about my cruise), they asked, "Have you been out to see the Skelligs?" I told them that I hadn't, and asked them what the Skelligs were. Both gentlemen laughed, saying that they had come all the way from Italy just to go out and experience the Skelligs (small Islands off of Portmagee), especially Skellig Michael, the island that 18th century monks inhabited. It was

apparently one of the foremost Christian landmarks in all of Europe, and was even on the 20 cent Euro coin. After looking at our expedition agenda, I was disappointed to see that the Skelligs were not on our agenda. I was convinced that I would come back to see the Skelligs someday...

On Saturday morning, all of us met in a gym by the Town hall to sit in on a photography seminar put on by Dr. Davis's cousin, Ingrid. It was a moderately interesting session, but I only gained so much knowledge because I have worked with photography before (Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, CVS Pharmacy). We broke for lunch, which was supplied by the program. It was a delicious meal of fish and chips. John and I dined in fine fashion, taking any food that the girls didn't eat. After a full stomach, we were sent out to take some fine pictures.

As John, Kyle, and I were flashing photos, another Italian man approached us and asked us if we were interested in going to the Skelligs. He explained that he and his wife had come to visit and see the Skelligs, yet they needed more passengers otherwise the captain could not afford the trip. We asked him how much the ride would cost, which turned out to be 30 Euro. We said that we would settle for 20 Euro. He went and haggled with the captain, who agreed on the price. After returning and telling us that 20 Euro would be find, we sought out Dr. Davis to see if we could skip the afternoon photography session to explore the Skelligs. The catch was, however, that the boat would only hold 12 people (not everyone in our class would be able to go). Dr. Davis agreed that it was a special opportunity, and allowed us to leave and told us to take as many people as we saw around us as possible. We gathered a group of 8-9 people, and headed toward the dock.

We were welcomed warmly by the Italian man, John, and his wife, and the captain of the boat, Michael. As we commenced our expedition, I talked with Michael. He was a cheery, fun man with a very thick irish accent (very hard to understand). He was a citizen of Portmagee and had been taking folks to "the Skelligs" for 7 years. He was a typical Irishman: friendly, full of knowledge, and certainly opinionated.

The ride took about an hour. It was kind of wet and sometimes rough (the skiff that we were on wasn't the biggest boat) but nonetheless worth it. As we approached the mysterious, ominous island, the beauty of the place become more and more apparent. As we landed we knew already that our 20 Euro was well worth it. As we arrived, the clouds parted and, as if by some miracle, the sun shone brightly upon Skellig Michael. We were informed that we were the only people on the island, so we needed to be careful and stick together.

The path to the top was safe for the most part, but some places were quite treacherous. The stairs were made of stone and were placed way back in the 18th Century. Despite being on an Island that is constantly exposed to harsh sea weather, the constructions of the island are some of the most well-preserved monuments in Europe. The top of Skellig Michael was adorned by a stone-hut (called "clochans") village. It was honestly like the monks had just picked up and left- so incredibly well-preserved and ancient. I would venture to say that this experience was probably the event that made my trip to Ireland. It is without a doubt my favorite part so far.. a VERY unforgettable experience.. I feel terrible that the rest of my classmates couldn't make it, but I know that I definitely do not regret going. I would have rather had a few of us experience the Skelligs than none of us experience them at all.

On the way back we passed another Skellig. This Island was uninhabitable by humans, as it was just a huge rock, but it was covered by 17,000 seagulls (called garrats SP?). I have never seen so many birds in my life. It was quite picturesque (see photo). On the way back, Michael had me drive the boat and taught me how to make the ride the least bumpy as possible. While I was talking to him, he asked, "Would you like some fish?" As we were exploring the island, he had been fishing for mackerel. He caught a bunch of fish, and offered us 10 fish (one for each of us) for free! So, as I drove the boat, he showed the others how to clean mackerel and cut all the fish into fillets for us. As we drove back, we spotted numerous rainbows (it had been raining on and off). In short, the ride back was fantastic. It was surreal, and all of us kept on looking each other in disbelief. It honestly was one of the best experiences of my life.

As we dismounted the boat back at Portmagee, we all cheered and hugged each other. John honestly got off the boat and yelled "Hoorah! Hoorah!" and got to knees in praise. It was hilarious, but it truly was a fantastic time. We returned to the hostel and cooked up the fish together. We received many dirty looks from our fellow students, which was unfortunate. We tried to repair sour moods by offering the fish that we cooked. After dinner, I took a walk with Patrick McLoone and Matt over to a Gaelic Football pitch. A town team was practicing, and we enjoyed wine while observing the practice. Afterwards, we moved over to the local pub for irish dancing and fellowship.. another fine time.

We woke up on Saturday morning and left for Killarney. Along the way, we stopped at a few picturesque places along the road. Prior to arriving at Killarney, we visited the Muckross House. It was an 18th century mansion that once housed Queen Victoria and Prince Albert for a few days, among other famous politicians, leaders, etc. It was a interesting house, and the "backyard" was even better. After Muckross, we arrived at Killarney at 'Neptune' Hostel. It was a fairly nice hostel. We cooked up a nice meal (pita pizzas) and went out to the pubs and clubs of the area. It was, of course, another great time.

Sunday morning I woke up at 7:15 a.m. to go to Mass. The church was beautiful and mass was very short (30 minutes). After mass, we reconvened at Neptune's and took off with the bus. On the way home we stopped at the Kerry County Museum in Tralee (fairly interesting, fulfilling stop). Prior to returning to PLH, we stopped at TESCO and shopped for food. Finally, we returned at around 6 p.m., to start LOADS of homework (especially for history).

Today in history, we discussed Oliver Cromwell and why the Irish hate him so much. We also discussed a speech made by Douglas Hyde in 1986 about the necessity to "De-Anglicanize" Ireland, and bring back the Gaelic culture. Would Hyde be happy? I think so... yes and no. The revival of the Gaelic language is on the rise, and I feel as if there is a certain appreciation for old Irish culture. In Irish Catholicism, we watched a movie about Pope John Paul's visit to Ireland in the 1980's. Now, I'm about to go on a bike ride with John into Spiddal. Tonight's meal will probably be some nice pasta... and tonight.. at 12:00 a.m. (our time), I will be watching the Minnesota Vikings take on the Green Bay Packers! I can't wait. Until next time...

mahalo

thomas