Skittles and Looney Tunes

Here I am waiting for 3:30am to come around. We have to catch the Airport Hopper at 4am for our flight at 6:25am. I am now starting the 12 day adventure in Scotland and Britain! I am going to have so much fun! We are going to be serious backpackers. We have so much stuff we want to take but then you have to remember about the stuff you are going to bring back, so we packed an extra duffle. I am so pumped! I am packing granola bars, skittles and these amazing cookies that are so addicting!

I was sick since last thursday, I still sort of am but I am getting better. Anyway being sick always drags me down and I always manage to get sicker than the person I caught it from. ALWAYS! It's a nightmare. Anyway I missed a class this Tues that I knew was going on, I thought it was the first one of the class. (remember my classes [modules] start at weird times) As it turns out there was two lectures on Monday and one on Tues and then I assumed one on Wednesday because it was written on my timetable. So I showed up today and it was a completely different class. I was so confused. I looked on the door and it even sad the class was held there. Then I looked on Moodle (our assignment and class site) for the HW and lecture notes since I couldn't find the class. This class is supposed to be 3 weeks, 4 hours a day Mon-Wed, 6 Lectures, 3 Studio sessions, and 2 assignments that are done in groups of 3. SOOO needless to say I was way behind, confused and in a class that I am not really interested in.

I came to National University of Ireland Maynooth because I was hoping for Design Architectural or Drafting of some sort but that didn't happen. There 'Design Innovation' Program is Product Design. Little bit of a let down. I knew I could do it because creative thinking and design are similar. I also knew I could do the 3 year classes. The one thing I was not expecting was the weird schedule and impossibility of finding the lectures! Plus I am an International student for 1 semester in their 3rd year Product Design, they were not expecting a lot out of me. Kinda makes we want to do really well. Anyway I talked to the professor and International Office and they both advised I should transfer. So I am now going to be taking 2 more History/Early Irish modules. I know I will be able to catch up while I am in Scotland because it will be reading and essay writing. Easy to do on 5 hr train rides.

So today coming out of my sickness and messed up sleep schedule I dreamed of the Looney Tunes! Naturally I watched Space Jam as I was getting ready for the day. Then I downloaded the Looney Tunes App on Windows 8 that has alllll the episodes! Kinda made my day. I got my nails redone all Halloweeny  and did all my laundry to pack. I had to run all over campus to get the laundry coins and print boarding passes. Did you know it is €3.20 to get ONE coin for laundry, and you have to have one for wash and one for dry. LAME! EXPENSIVE!

Here I am at the end of my story and watching Looney Tunes waiting to walk to the Bus Stop to get this party STARTED! Remember I am going with my roommate Virginia and friend Lauren. We might end up getting sick of each other. :) maybe we'll see. I will be posting a lot of pictures and possibly updating the Blog. I won't be taking my laptop, I don't want it to be stolen. I'll write as soon as I get back on Nov 4th!

Cheers from Ireland!!

Trip to the UK

Next Thursday a couple of friends and I are going on a 12 day trip! We are traveling across the UK! Starting in Birmingham > Nottingham > London > Briton Beach > Stonehenge > 221B Baker St > Glasgow > Edinburgh > Inverness > Loch Ness > Isle of Skye > fly out of Edinburgh.

It is going to be so much fun! I am having a lot of fun here! Getting HW done on time. Going to class and also enjoying the occasional night out at a Pub. Remember if you want to have something from Europe let me know and I might be able to oblige you!

Let you know how it goes!

Rain Rain!

It is now starting to feel like I'm in Ireland. It is finally raining and cold! I love it!

I wanted to take a minute and ask a favor from my Drafting/ Architecture friends and colleagues. I have to do a few interviews on people in my field about the Health and Wellbeing of Drafting /Architecture. Seems weird but it will make way more sense if you would like to volunteer so I can explain. We would have to do it over Skype and on your free time, I will work within your schedule. I appreciate it! 

Please let me know if you are interested! I need at least 3 volunteers! lizzerdh2o@gmail.com

Thanks! 

Weekend Tour around Ireland!

My trip this weekend was amazing! I didn't write about it on Monday or Tuesday because I was mainly sleeping. What went down this last weekend went by so fast and we saw so much I just came back to my dorm on Sunday night and died!


Friday-


I got up super late because I knew that the bus would not leave until 2. I slowly got ready, packed and fed. When I got to the Phoenix Building (where we had to meet) I saw a ton of kids waiting with suitcases and bags. Thank goodness I was smart and just packed light (for once) my backpack and purse. done. Light easy to carry and I knew I would buy stuff so I left room as well. I also brought along 4 corked glass jars to put rock, sand and grass in at the various place were going.


There were so many students we had to take two huge charter busses. The bus was very nice and since I signed up for this trip alone I met a lot of new people. The first leg of the trip was close to 3 hours long and the first stop was Blarney Castle! I love Ireland! the view out the window for the whole 3 hours was amazing. I took pictures of mainly homes, because I am a weirdo, but I also took a lot of pictures of the landscape. There are so many rock walls in Ireland it was so gorgeous to see!


Blarney Castle is the home to the Blarney Stone. It is a huge stone mounted on the highest tower of the castle that you lay down bend backward reach out and kiss it. Now I know it is tradition and I know that I was told why people do it but I can't exactly remember. Probably something to do with having good fortune for 7 years or being able to talk eloquently for 7 years. Something like that. Well at the bottom of the castle there is a sign that talks about how dangerous the staircase is and who climbed it. Turns out Oliver Hardy and Winston Churchill climbed the tower to kiss the stone. I love Oliver Hardy! I told myself I was going to make the climb no matter what. Once I started I didn't think you could stop but all the rooms off the stairwell were so interesting I had to take a break and go see. lol I believe the staircase was about 2.5 ft wide and each step was 9x9 spiral all the way to the top! I will post pictures of them, they were CRAZY!

When I finally got to the top and around to the stone I was nervous. I didn't know if I wanted to lay down and kiss something that I knew billions of people had already done. That stone is so old. It even looked black and worn, but then I thought to myself. Oh come on Lizzie You will probably never come back here and get this chance again. If you get Herpes you can tell people it was from an ancient stone in Ireland on top of a castle! So I did it!

I walked around the grounds and castle for a while longer before we had to meet back at the bus to go to Cork where we stayed for the night. The Hostel was really nice. I was in a room with 11 other people. Metal bunk beds and only one plug, that caused a lot of controversy. Once we were all settled we went for dinner at Thomond Bar. Since there were 65+ of us we didn't get our food until close to 2hrs later. I had two berry ciders at that bar then we went to another pub called Old Oak Pub. It was neat there was an older bar in the front then a lounge in the middle and a new bar with a dance floor in the back. I hung out in the lounge with my friends. I didn't buy more to drink but I finished my friends cider because she didn't like it. We went back to the hostel and slept for 3 hour then got up, had toast for breakfast and got back on the bus by 8am.

I know I am being soooooo descriptive and writing everything! I'll keep it down for the next two days! :)

Saturday-

We drove for a while to get to Killarney. There we had the option to go on a horse and carriage ride through the town and national park or walk around on our own for 2 hrs. Of course I went on the carriage ride! Beautiful horse, her name was Sally, and our driver was John. The carriage ride took about and hour and some change. We went through part of the National Park on the outskirts of Killarney. It was so beautiful! I loved all the nature, rolling hills and beautiful castles and lakes. I am IN love with Ireland! After the ride my friends and I walked around some more before I had to get back on the bus for another long ride.

We stopped at Inch Beach for a quick view of the ocean before we went to Dingle for lunch. There were so many shells in the sand I took a few small ones for my corked jar, along with some sand. The smell of the ocean was so delicious! I missed seeing the ocean when I was home for a bit over the summer. Once we got to Dingle I had the feeling I was in Westport, WA. Absolutely a beautiful day for the ocean, and to top it all off I had famous fish and chips at 'The Diner' in town. We had a few more hours to walk around the piers and have a nice long look at the ocean. I also took some small rocks from the peninsula.

We drove for another couple hours before we came to our hostel for the night. I was so beat I knew I would want to eat a little bit and then go to bed. So I went over to the bar had a cider with dinner and then when my friends came in they wanted me to stay. I decided to have another cider and then go to bed. Of course, the music started around 10 then more people came in and we started playing games. Then my drink got spilled when it was just about empty, my really nice friend bought me another one. So I didn't wanna be rude, so I drank it. I was so hot and tipsy and I couldn't hear myself think over the sound of the music. I went to bed to see if I could get a few hours in before the 8am start the next day.

Sunday -

I woke up knowing I was going to the greatest natural phenomenon in Ireland! The Cliffs of Moher! I have been wanting to see the cliffs for as along as I have wanted to travel. We had to travel another 2 hours to get there but it was way worth it! It was so hard to contain my excitement when I walked from the parking lot to the Cliffs. There is a wall about 20 ft from the edge for safety but I could still get an amazing view! We had great weather for the view, not the perfect in the morning but I am glad it cleared up by the time we got there. My friends and I walked along the edges to the right of the cliffs around the bend to a different view. Absolutely phenomenal! I took a few blades of grass, rocks and a flower from the cliffs and put it in my bottle. I couldn't get over how wonderful it was to see the views I have be dreaming about seeing. We only had a few hours to wander around be fore we had to head back. We went to the visitors center and I had a few coins made for my little sister. Flattened 5c pieces.

After we left we went to a small town to have lunch. Our bus driver was telling us about our next stop when I got really excited we were going to the same cliffs of rock that Harry Potter 7 was filmed. The part where Hermione and Harry were on the run without Ron. I was pretty ecstatic to be standing right where Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson were. We passed by other famous areas, like where P.S. I Love You was filmed and where Leap Year was filmed.

I had an amazing trip and a wonderful experience seeing the best of southwest Ireland. I have a bunch of pictures I will post to the Pictures tab of this blog. I also have updated the Friends and Place I've Been tabs. I purchased a lot of postcards as well for my growing collection. I am going to be going to more places and experiencing way more things before this trip is over!