irish sports night.

Wednesday, February 15th

The International Division here at UL has done a great job of keeping the international students busy this semester.  They have organized cheap trips and group gatherings.  The main event on Wednesday night was learning to play Gaelic Football and Hurling!  It was great craic!

The university brought in actual sports trainers from Country Clare to teach a bunch of uncoordinated, confused international students their national sports!

We began with hurling, which I already briefly described in another post. However, watching the game is nothing like actually picking up a hurley and sliotar (pernounced slitter, the ball) jogging out to the pitch yourself!

After our Hurling tutorial we got to try out Gaelic football!  The game is played with a ball really similar to a soccer ball.  But the rules of the game are a mix between soccer, basketball, and volleyball!  You can bounce/dribble the ball once during a possession, and you can toe-to-hand the ball (drop it on your foot and bounce it up to your hand)... one of these 2 things needs to be done every 4 steps.  Also, when you pass the ball to a teammate you essentially use a volleyball bump pass... you can never just throw the ball to one another...

It was crazy to learn and I'm sure we looked even crazier when we tried to play!

I will hopefully get the chance to keep watching both of these sports while I'm hear and continue to learn about them!

OPC weekend.

Friday 2/10-Sunday 2/12 - Glendalough and Wicklow Mountains

PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY!!! CRAIC CRAIC CRAIC!! (oh yeah... and some hiking!)

I Spent the weekend at the Glendalough International Hostel with 120 other University of Limerick students... all members of the Outdoor Pursuits club (OPC).  We thankfully had the entire hostel booked out to our group... a regulation for OPC put in place by managment for good reason!

We arrived on Friday after a 4 hour bus trip from the University.  I managed to avoid my usual bout of motion sickness by snagging a seat in the front, and by not drinking like a fish with my fellow students!  Needless to say, everyone was feeling grand when we pulled into the hostel.  Sydney and I found a group of 4 girls looking for a few more roommates... we joined them for a memorable weekend in room 20!  About 5 minutes after arriving, while I was making my bed, the legs fell off...  Sadly, this might have actually improved the comfort level of the bed!

Sydney and I finally made it to bed around 1:30 on Friday night with the intention of getting up at 8:00 to join in on the "experienced hike" of the day.  WOW... and they weren't kidding about it being for experienced hikers!  We left the hostel at about 10am Saturday and headed for the Wicklow mountains!  We worked our way up and around the lake the lake we started at, seen in the picture below (this picture was taken at our first big ascent of about 4 or 5... before the clouds/fog got too thick to have a view).

Our hike lasted for about 4 hours before we opted to join the first group back to the hostel... the hike down took another 1.5 hours!  Here a few of the pictures that I managed to snag while I wasn't too scared I was trip/slip with my camera in my hand!

Saturday night was the OPC annual Valentine's Day ball... one of the hostel conference rooms was decorated with pink balloons and cupid cut-outs along with your usual cliche decorations.  We eventually made our way to the one pub within walking distance of the hostel, I'm sure we were a sight for the locals.  When we finally made it back to the hostel around 2:00 the last think I was worried about was the angle of my bed... I slept like it was nobody's business!

Before heading back to Limerick on Sunday we went for a relaxed hike around the Glendalough monastery ruins and saw some beautiful old buildings and structures... even a campanile!

The girls of room 20!

Understandably, the bus ride home was much quieter!  

It was a great weekend full of new friends and new experiences... I can't wait for the next OPC weekend trip!

the burren.

Sunday 2/5 - The Burren

Ahhhhh.. so behind on my posts!

Since arriving here at University of Limerick I have joined 2 of the many societies the school has to offer...
-The International Student Society holds events every Friday at one of the bars on campus and keeps up busy with trips, sporting events, and food!
-The Outdoor Pursuits Club (OPC) is really the club that I have embraced since being here though!  They host cheap day and weekend trips for hiking, rock climbing, orienteering, and caving!  They also have social events and are a really great group of people to hang out with!

This post is about the OPC!
I signed up for a day trip to the Burren (a rocky region along the west coast of Ireland) to go rock climbing.  We left at 9 am from campus and drove out to to the Burren to get climbing, but unfortunately found the wet conditions too dangerous for a climb.  Se we settled for a bit of easy hiking instead!

When we got off the bus we stopped to check out the breath taking view of the ocean from the cliff edge...

We then wandered (or struggled) down to the shore line where you quickly learned that getting too close to the waves meant getting soaked!  

After we'd had enough of the Burren we got back on the bus to warm up and head to a small seaside town called Lahinch.  The town is known for its surfing beaches... and there were plenty of people out there catching a few freezing waves!  We walked along the shore and watched the surfers enjoy the sunless day, and a few OPC members even went swimming!

After our hike we took a brief walk around town to see the sights, shops, and pubs... and of course in hopes of finding some traditional Irish pub food!

We met up with the rest of the OPC members to 'watch' the Ireland vs. Wales rugby game at a Lahinch pub.  Despite a loss for Ireland, the pub was a warm and fun atmosphere!

It was a great day, and the fun to get to know the OPC members.  The cheap trips they have to offer are somthing that I will be staying involved with in the future!

a traditional evening in Limerick.

Saturday 2/4 - Limerick, Ireland

After our long day of exploration in Limerick City; Sydney, Steph, and I headed home to eat and regroup before finding our way back into town to grab a pint at a pub!

Our first stop was Mickey Martins... one we had scoped out during our afternoon in town. I sat next to a roaring fire and drank cider with some good friends!  Since we were trying to blend in with the Irish locals all the pictures I took are a little dark... nothing screams tourist like a camera flash in a dark pub!

When we'd had our fill at Mickeys we decided to ask a few locals where else we should go. We were directed to Flannery's.  Although the main bar area of this pub had a much more modern look, we managed to snag a table in the entryway which had a much more trad. pub look!

 I have been given a list of 26 must see pubs in Limerick... 2 down, 24 to go!!

a very busy day in Limerick city.

On Saurday, I spent the day in Limerick with Sydney and Steph.  We started off the morning with our second trip to the Limerick Milk Market.  The market is a great place to get fresh fruits and veggies at a reasonable price.  We also treated ourselves to a breakfast of hot cocoa and chocolate croissants... the start of a new delicious tradition!!

After breakfast, we headed out with cameras and map in hand to explore Limerick (like true tourists!).  Our first stop was St. John's Catholic Cathedral just a few blocks from the Milk Market.  The church was beautiful!  despite the poor lighting I was able to get a few great pictures of the architecture. After a long look around and lighting a few prayer candles, we were on our way...

 We sloshed throught the streets of Limerick, and crossed the Abbey River in hopes of finding St. Mary's Cathedral (Church of Ireland/Protestant).  After a long walk around the church wall we finally made it into the church grounds.  Although we decided not to pay to see the inside of the church, the huge cemeteries and gardens within the church walls kept up busy for quite some time!

 It was well past noon by the time we had seen what we wanted of the churches of Limerick.  With tired and soaked feet we we decided that it was time for an indoor activity.  Our proximity to the Hunt Museum made it a prime choice... and it is not a location that I am likely to forget anytime soon!

It was at this point in the day that the we began to see some true Irish hospitality and kindness! Although it only cost 3.50 euro for students to visit the Hunt Museum, the women at reception generously let the 3 of us soaking wet girls in for free! And preceded to find us a guide... also for free!  We were unable to take any pictures in the exhibits, but we enjoyed almost 3 hours of art, trinkets, and banter from our guide!  The museums collections consist of items donated by John and Gertrude Hunt and included items like pottery, paintings (a few Picasso paintings that once hung in the Hunt's kitchen!?), crucifixes (an entire room of them), and dog collars (Gertrude's collectable of choice!) among many others.  It was a great experience despite the extreme case of 'museum legs' that followed (Pat!).

Now completely dry, personally and the weather, we left the Hunt Museum to find King John's Castle.   Which is a relic of Limerick built along the river to protect the town around 1200 or 1210.  The castle is now a history museum and an interactive 16th century village.  We again decided not to pay to go in, but enjoyed the history from the outside!  It was while we were taking pictures in front of a canon that we had our 2nd brush with kindness for the day!  An older gentleman smoking a pipe (very cliche) offered to take a picture of all 3 of us (seen below).  He then preceded to tell us that he worked in the Limerick Museum across the alley and that if we'd like to come in it was free!  

It was a small museum consisting of the basic history of Limerick.  Although a little shabby, see the picture below, it included pictures of historical figures and artifacts such as hand made lace.  It's always good to know a little about the town you live in!

Clearly, the day was packed with adventure, rain, and a lot of walking!  It was a day to remember, defiantly one of the reasons I decided to study abroad!  Sorry this post was so long... I couldn't pick anything to cut out of the day!  I hope you have enjoyed seeing a little bit of Limerick through my eyes.

PS: We actually headed back into town later that evening to experience a true Irish pub night, but I'll get into that later...

the secret garden.

On Friday, Sydney, Steph, and I decided to take advantage of the sun and explore the ruins that you can see from my balcony.  While we have no idea what the structure used to be, but it has now become a shell of stone covered in vines and trees!  It is how I would imagine visiting the secret garden would feel! 

I am actually standing in front on entrance to the ruins.  It is essentially a vine covered hole in the stone wall.

The tall existing structure still has a visible spiral staircase. 

Despite the empty beer cans, the place was beautiful.  It has been so interesting to see ruins just randomly scattered throughout the country... not something we're used to in the US.

hurling.

On Thursday afternoon last week there was a very big hurling match between my school, the University of Limerick (UL) and the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT).  The game was strangely played at 2:00 in the afternoon on one of UL's many fields, and despite the time of the game there were hundreds of students and adults in attendance.

Based on my observations, the game of hurling is a combination of hockey, soccer, softball, and rugby.  It's a high speed, high contact game in which the players attempt to score goals (for 3 points) or gain points (1 point).  The equipment used in the game includes hurleys (the wooden stick you can see in the pictures) and a ball similar to a softball.  The helmets that you see the players wearing have only been an enforced part of the uniforms for the past 3 years! The players run with the ball, pass, and tackle in hopes of getting to the end of the pitch to score and it can be quite violent!

It was great fun to watch, even though the game ended in a draw, and I am excited to see more of the sport.  My friend Sydney's roommates play on UL's 1st year team and helped us to pick up some of the rules.  I hope to go watch them play soon!

PS... the natural glow lighting up the game is actually the sun! we got three days of sun last week and I felt completely spoiled!