SEPTEMBER

I have officially been in Ireland for thirty-five days now! (And it has only rained for three of them!) A lot of things have happened since I have arrived in Ireland. To catch everyone up on the last month, I am making this post a photo blog with the most important things. One thing that hasn’t happened? I STILL have not received a debit card for the bank account that I opened one month ago. This week they sent me a PIN in the mail though, so thank goodness for progress. Maybe the card itself will come soon! Until then I will continue to live off of Starbucks and their incredibly reasonable exchange rate…

I felt like a wizard zipping through the airport with this super awesome luggage towing set. All I had to do to get this luggage was graduate from McGill. (Thanks mom and dad!)

Goodbyes suck. My family is awesome.

This is my campus! This is what I walk by to go to class! This is where I sometimes eat my lunch. This is an unrealistic representation of the weather in Ireland.

Before I knew how to find my way around the city I took this photo because I kept seeing it on postcards. Much importance. So tourist.

I went with the Exchange Students’ Network (ESN) to the Guinness Storehouse and finally had a beer. I poured this one. It tasted better than any other Guinness I’ve ever had. They gave me a certificate and everything! (Maybe they give it to everyone…hmm)

I proceeded to drink said Guinness with a 360 degree view of the city. Sorry, I didn’t get any pictures of the view. I was too focused on sending Mama Gnett some photos of me enjoying this beauty of a beer.

I joined the Arts Society during “Freshers Week,” and went on a Pub Crawl. There was a scavenger hunt. As you can see we are all very focused. Eyes on the prize. I might be a little too competitive.

I defended a castle that Oliver Cromwell once stole. They are still a little bitter about it.

The castle still has moving parts (like the door pictured above). The castle is therefore in high demand for movie sets. (Part of Braveheart was filmed here).

We also explored a 3km long cave. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in said cave. Instead, here is a picture of me standing in the Irish countryside opposite the no photo zone.

This is Blarney Castle. Here we were slid on our backs towards that outer wall to kiss the Blarney Stone. It was quite a rush. Legend has it that if you kiss the stone you will get the “gift of the gab” and become eloquent. Did it work?

The castle is surrounded by a beautiful garden. The only catch is that all of the plants and flowers are poisonous. Most importantly, the mandrake (of Harry Potter fame) is REAL. Sadly, we were prevented from testing whether or not they do indeed scream when being uprooted.

No photos will do justice to the beauty that surrounds Blarney Castle, but these were my attempts.

I took a selfie with a kangaroo… in Ireland! I never thought my first encounter with these precious creatures would happen during my year abroad in Europe, but thanks to the incredible Fota Wildlife Reserve I was able to interact with them up close.

[He deserved a couple more photos]

I tested more alcohol. I felt frisky.

This is the view from the Heartbreak Pier in Cobh (formerly Queenstown) Ireland, home of the last port of call for the infamous “unsinkable” Titanic in 1912. 123 passengers boarded the Titanic at this port. The photographs at the exhibit were taken by Father Francis Browne. He got off the Titanic at this stop to visit his uncle. His photographs were discovered in 1985 (the same year as the wreckage was discovered). They are the most accurate representation we have of the Titanic to this day, and James Cameron relied on them to create a realistic imitation for the set for his movie.

A photo of the town of Cobh.

Lastly, we stopped in Kilkenny. This was by far one of the greatest experiences of my time in Ireland so far. The town itself is very medieval and the architecture is incredible. We were also lucky enough to be in town for the homecoming of the hurling team who had just won the championship the day before. I’ve never been to a hurling match, and I had only been in Kilkenny for a few hours, but the cheerleader in me had to participate in the homecoming. Allea was equally as excited, and even bought us flags. We accidentally joined a parade and had to pretend the whole time that we knew what was going on. We ended up at the hurling pitch with the players, and a big stage set up with bands and dignitaries. It was “great craic” as the Irish would say.

I had a visit from home!! Amelia is travelling around Europe and had a layover in Dublin, so we were able to catch up and grab a drink before she flew out to Munich the next morning (presumably to continue drinking…) 🙂

And finally, as any cupcake enthusiast would do, I found the best cupcake in Dublin. The Cupcake Bloke runs a stall at the Coppinger Row Market Thurs-Sat. If you can’t tell by the picture, they are heavenly. Pictured above is a toffee apple cupcake. I (mildly) protested to him giving me a loyalty card, because I really didn’t need more incentives to go back. Thankfully I have signed up for the Get in Gear Get Active program at school starting on Monday. Next week I am signed up for yoga, running, rock climbing, dance, and trampoline. I also joined the trampoline club. I’ll be attending my first sessions this coming week, so I’ll let you know how embarrassing that is in my next post.

If I’ve kept your attention this long then thanks for reading!

xo Cass