On the Loose

Hillary's Visit

2011-04-12T11:10:00.000-04:00

April 7th-10th, 2011

Dublin, Ireland, and Howth, Ireland

Hillary, spending this year studying in Santander, Spain, opted to take a weekend and jet out to visit, along with Zach, a fellow Cornellian from her Santander program. She's been doing a lot of traveling this year, and just waiting for the moment when the Ryanair seasonal flights direct between Dublin and Santander would start back up. She arrived fairly late in the day on Thursday, so we walked around town a bit, found some food, and wander through Temple Bar for ice cream.

Sunset by the Ha'penny bridge, so named because it used to cost half a penny to cross.

The next day, we started off by meeting up with Zach and a friend of his from Madrid to take the free walking tour. With a different guide, I really got very different stories, and even saw different things.

The inside of City Hall-- it's a really pretty building, and we got to hear the stories behind a lot of the symbols for the different counties and crests.

A beautiful little hidden garden area behind Dublin Castle.

Just as the tour finished, I got word that I had to run and pick up my Trinity Ball tickets. Thankfully, I barely made it, and Hillary and I headed off for the next step: Guinness. Ever since I first started talking about coming to Dublin back in freshman year, Hillary made me promise that if I did, she could come visit and we would go to the Guinness Factory together and see the 9,000 year lease. Well, consider that promise fulfilled.

Hillary and I outside of the Guinness gate.

The 9,000 year lease that the Guinness family has on the land in Dublin. That's right, they don't actually own it.

Hillary and Zach in the Guinness bar, enjoying the 360 degree view of Dublin.

After introducing Hillary to the Abrakababra for dinner, it was time to part ways for the evening-- I had Trinity Ball to attend, unfortunately breaking up the trip.

The next morning, we started things off with a free visit to the Book of Kells, then some shopping on O'Connell Street (Hillary even got some shoes at the Schuh store). We grabbed lunch at the Bagel Factory and settled down in the park to eat.

We just happened to enjoy our lunch with James Joyce, under some lovely pink flowering trees.

Then we made a quick afternoon jaunt to Howth. We did the short hike rather than the long one, which actually turned out lovely. We even made a new doggy friend.

A little grey, but fairly nice weather.

It took until the 3rd time being here to realize that this is W.B. Yeat's house. Way to go me.

Enjoying a little Irish countryside.

Our dog friend-- we named him Bailey, after the Bailey's we had on our Fro-yo at the stand just outside the Dart station. The friendly frozen yogurt man gave it to us for free.

Sadly, Hillary had to be off bright and early the next morning, so it was quite a short trip, but considering the time crunch, we managed to get a lot in.

Melissa's Visit

2011-04-11T11:09:00.000-04:00

Friday, April 1st- Monday, April 4th, 2011

Dublin, Ireland, and Howth, Ireland

This semester, Melissa is studying at St. Andrews in Scotland, so for her spring break, she made the rounds and stopped by to see me in little old Dublin. I had just finished a final paper for Irish Writing and turned it in, hot off the presses, before going to pick her up from the train station. Perfect timing!

After dropping her stuff in my room, our first stop was St. Stephen's Green park, since it was a lovely afternoon for just walking around and relaxing.

The pavilion at the park, and all the people there feeding the birds.

We made an easy night of it, with dinner at Mona Lisa's and a movie night. The next morning brought us up bright and early for a little Dublin tourism. Believe it or not, although I have class next to it every day, this was my first peek at the Book of Kells.

The library where the Book of Kells is kept. It is very old, very ornately decorated copy of the bible. I didn't realize that the entrance price also includes an extensive museum exhibit about the book, its making, and other gospels of its kind, as well as my favorite part: a peek into the Long Room, the oldest, coolest library I have ever seen. And the bonus? Being a Trinity student, I got Melissa and I in for free.

We walked around Trinity for a bit, and I enjoyed the fact that not only was the sun shining, but all the construction equipment was gone from front square. Finally.

Next stop: Sandeman's free tour. After doing one in Amsterdam, I thought it was definitely worth a gander in Dublin. And in spite of living here for the time being, there's still a lot I don't know and haven't seen, so it was really interesting.

The inside of Dublin Castle courtyard, on a beautiful day for a tour.

After the tour, our afternoon took us to Croke Park, the Gaelic Athletic Association stadium, for a Hurling and Gaelic football double-header with Anna, Erin, Emma, and Alex. Here's where weather started turning... It started sprinkling on our way over, taking the bus to the north side, then walking between the endless street vendors selling flags, hats, and scarves for all the counties represented. But, of all the good luck, our seats were under an overhang.

Thank goodness for the overhang-- kept us smiley all night long.

We were REALLY glad for that overhang when the weather got nasty-- bucketing rain and hail for most of the first match. But the players kept on. The hurling was up first, and it was definitely my favorite-- like lawn hockey on crack.

The half-time entertainment, part 1: just like Bucky's Mighty Mites! Really young hurling players-- super cute.

Half-time entertainment part 2: a surprise live performance by Jedward, Ireland's Eurovision contestant. Never heard of them? I hadn't either. They basically do covers of a bunch of old 90's songs while running around like over caffeinated children, to the screams of 12-year-olds who think they are singing original songs. They do have some original stuff, including Lipstick, their song for the Eurovision competition (a Europe-wide version of American Idol that's been going on since 1956).

On Sunday, we made our way to Howth. Although I'd been once, it had been much earlier in the season, and not on a Sunday, so we hadn't seen the farmer's market. Melissa and I spent a good deal of time browsing, and ended up with candy, fudge, souvenirs, and some proper lunch food.

Part of the market-- they didn't have just produce, but also baked goods, hot food, cupcakes, crafts, jewelry, just about everything you could think of.

Saying hi to the seals at the pier. There were a lot of them that day, just milling around, hoping to get fed.

Melissa and I set off on a hike. Although it was the same route I did before, the weather made a world of difference-- no mud, and lots of sunshine makes for happy hikers.

Gorgeous landscape along the coast, especially with all the little yellow flowers along the cliffs.

Enjoying the view. It was so quiet out here you could hear the sea move, even though the waves weren't breaking.

On Monday, I had to ditch Melissa for a bit to go to class (sigh, the trials and tribulations of one not actually on spring break). I caught up with her again after she'd done some exploring of O'Connell Street and Grafton, and we hit up the National Gallery and the National Library.

In front of the National Library, where we saw the Yeats exhibit. Very well done, although probably more interesting if you're into Yeats. Having studied some this semester, it was pretty cool to see some of his hand written poems, where he'd crossed things out and made changes.

The National Library is also just a regular library-- we may or may not have played in the kids corner. Apparently penguins can be found in trees.

That night, I shepherded Melissa on to her next stop-- Rome. Her plane left uncomfortably early, forcing her to catch the bus at 4am, but I'm pretty sure Rome is worth it.

Robbie's Visit

2011-04-06T11:08:00.001-04:00

March 21st-25th, 2011

Dublin, Ireland

Since Robbie had already booked tickets home to London over spring break, he was able to take a few days out of the middle of his break to hop over to Dublin and visit me. Although I still had class, I made a point of getting all my work done in advance so that by the time Robbie came, I was able to enjoy a mini-vacation of my own.

I'm not great at taking pictures of myself, so our next best bet was to go to touristy places (in this case, the Trinity College campanile), and ask tourists to take our picture for us. It worked pretty well.

At the globe outside the library. Notice my library shop bag, completing my image as a proper tourist-- Robbie had just got me my Trinity College sweatshirt. Guess that makes me official now.

It was lovely to spend a few days just relaxing, having picnics in the park, going out to dinner, watching movies, and walking around Dublin. The only thing that put a real damper on the trip was the fact that I got sick-- just my luck.

Paddy's Day in Pictures

2011-03-20T11:06:00.000-04:00

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

Dublin, Ireland

Yes, that's Paddy's with dds, not Patty's. Apparently Patty with tts is a girls name, which would just be insulting to dear St. Patrick, patron Saint of Ireland. Anyhow, here is a little snapshot of my Irish St. Patrick's Day.

People were crowding onto statues to get a height advantage to watch the parade. Anna and I had to walk a long way before we found a suitable vantage point. This is near the start, on O'Connell Street by the spire, and it was mobbed.

Well, really, the whole city was mobbed. Absolutely saturated with people. Even on Dame Street, where we ended up, there were people standing on window ledges to get a good view.

...And the parade. Nothing like American parades, with simple boxy floats and people smiling and waving. It was artsy, interpretive, and kind of confusing. This might be a firebird?

If you look over the viking hat, you'll see flamingo dancers on stilts. Don't know why.

But the flamingos liked to come say hi-- this one bobbed its head right over the top of us.

Fluffy's girlfriend, perhaps? A giant, pink, 3 headed dog, with moving, blinking heads.

Post-parade, the slow movement of the masses of people was insane. Everyone was trying to get somewhere, no one was going very fast. The pictures don't do justice to all the green-- it was like a sea of kelly green people.

The ferris wheel set up outside of Marion square park. It looked really cute all lit up at night, but apparently it stopped traffic for days. Guess its worth it for the Paddy's Day festival.

St. Steven's Green Shopping Center was just one of many buildings that switched to green lights for Paddy's day. In fact, even the ambulance had flashing green lights in honor of the occasion.

Follow the Train Tracks: Bruges

2011-03-19T10:59:00.011-04:00

March 2nd, 2011

Bruges, Belgium

We started our day trip to Bruges like we started most days-- quick breakfast of croissants at Carrefour, followed by mass confusion about public transportation. We figured out the train eventually, and scored a good deal by getting one 10-trip pass to share, rather than each buying our own round-trip ticket.

The wandering was lovely. Twisty, tiny streets, so well cobblestoned that even the pedestrian crosswalks are made with white cobbles, not painted on.

Our first plan in town was to climb the clock tower, which literally found by wandering and looking for the tallest buildings we could (not just stupidity, but actually the directions of the lady at the tourism center). It was lovely wandering, and we even found Anna a copy of Harry Potter in Dutch on the way.

Found it! The clock tower dominates Markt square, one of the central squares of Bruges.

366 steps later, on the most ridiculously steep, tightly wound spiral staircase I have ever seen, we reached this amazing view of the city. Well worth the climb.

The massive bells. We stayed long enough to hear them play, and not just chime the hour, but actually play music. Loud, but very cool.

Back on the ground, it was time for lunch. "Markt" square means "market," and there was indeed a functional market set up, so we set about finding something tasty and cheap to eat. I settled on sharing strawberries with Emma and getting some hot food at the very multilingual burger stand. This was my first experience not knowing what language to order in, as Bruges is actually in Flanders, the Flemish portion of Belgium, where the speak Dutch or Flemish, although many still speak French, as well as English, or even German. So confusing! After getting our food, we sat in the sun on the steps of the post office to enjoy our fair with a lovely view of the square.

The market sold everything from produce, to raw meet, to hot foods, to flowers.

Along with the grand buildings like the clock tower, Markt square was also lined with these smaller, brightly colored shops in the architectural style characteristic of the area.

Our next goal was Chocostory, the chocolate museum. But, given the twisty european streets, our inadequate maps, and the strange habit of not having street signs or, when they did, labeling the street in a different language from the one on the map, it took us a while. No worries, though. We were content to wander through such a beautiful city, and stumbled on some lovely surprises on the way.

Wandering in Bruges, just enjoying the sunshine (in spite of the cold) and the architecture.

We stumbled upon the grand City Hall building, in Burg square.

We also made the welcome discovery of the smallest, cutest chocolate shop I have ever seen. Just look at how small Emma and Kathryn look in front of it. We sampled their specialty-- praline, a sort of hazelnut truffle common in the area, and we each ended up with a box of chocolates.

In the end, we asked for directions in a toy store and found our way to the museum, where we learned all about the history of chocolate and the process of the chocolatier, complete with demo and samples (the best way to win over an audience). Best part hands down-- they actually had a pressed euro machine.

A play-mobile diorama visual aid-- this museum would be what you call "kid-friendly."

For those of you unfamiliar, I have a LOT of pressed pennies at home, so the chance to press a 5 euro piece as a souvenir is nothing short of thrilling. Thank you, Chocostory.

After the museum, we returned to the streets of Bruges for a little souvenir shopping as our day wound down. The last thing to check of the list? Belgian fries. So we picked out a stand back near Markt square, selected from a long list of condiments (I ended up with garlic mayonnaise), and settled down on the steps to eat and enjoy the view in the golden afternoon.

Souvenir shopping. The little store fronts were really adorable-- that may seem like a strange thing to say about architecture, but it seems to be universally what people say about Bruges, and it just sort of fits.

Back in Markt square for days end. The elaborate architecture really looks amazing lit up by the setting sun.

I watched the line of horse carts, waiting where the market had been earlier, ready to take passengers on an afternoon tour of the city. It was lovely to take it slow for the day, and just sit and enjoy. A nice break from the super-tourist speed, and it seemed a shame to leave.

Follow the Train Tracks: Brussels

2011-03-19T10:58:00.011-04:00

February 28th-March 2nd, 2011

Brussels, Belgium

Anna and I successfully met up with Emma just as we were boarding the train from Paris to Brussels, and the three of us enjoyed a relaxing train journey munching leftover pringles and listening to the announcements made in Dutch, German, French, and English. In Brussels, we struggled with long lines and a new metro system, but finally purchased 3-day passes and hopped on what we hoped was the metro to our hotel. Easier said than done. Between Anna's out-dated map, the multi-lingual maps posted in the metro, and the friendly passengers who tried to help us but couldn't quite hear us clearly, it took a while. Thanks to the confusing street system and inadequately close-range maps, our hotel itself was equally difficult, but when we found it, it was well worth it.

The group of us had split the cost of a 4-person hotel, which ended up being cheaper than a hostel, and MUCH nicer. Real beds, a real private shower, and actual space to move around, not to mention peace and quiet.

That's when the bad news came in from Dublin-- Maggie, who was supposed to meet us in Brussels, was down and out with food poisoning. Poor thing! Kathryn, our other travel companion, was still on her way though, and we met up with her and headed in to the city center to explore while we still had some light left.

The main building on Grand Place, a large cobblestoned square of very unique old architecture.

More of Grand Place-- the architectural style is very ornate, including lots of gold leaf and sculpture. This area of town was very different from the area our hotel was in, which was more of a business district.

Some of the streets were very narrow. This one was mostly restaurants, all with the strange habit of soliciting you to come eat there by having someone stand out front and get very in your face with the nightly specials.

An arcaded street, meaning the street is covered with glass arching over between the shops. It made it just a little bit warmer inside.

Manneken pis, the statue of the little boy peeing. It is a major symbol of Brussels, supposedly because of the youth and playfulness it embodies. The statue itself is much smaller than I expected, perhaps only a foot high. While in Brussels, we saw versions of Manneken Pis that involved it made of chocolate, peeing chocolate, peeing beer, and peeing champaign. It was a little odd...

You can't quite see it, but this picture captures the Belgium trifecta, all in a row: waffles, chocolate, and beer. Don't worry, we experienced all three. So healthy.

After our explorations, which included dinner and our first Belgian waffle along the way (delicious!), we rallied at the motel room and met up with some of Kathryn's friends studying in Brussels to go to the Delirium Cafe. A classic for visitors, the Delirium brews its own beers and has more than 2,500 beers in house. Yeah. I didn't know that many even existed. I started with the Delirium Dark, then had Trapist Chimay, a beer made by monks and very rare and expensive most places. Both were delicious, and in the Belgian style, unusually alcoholic. There is a reason they serve glasses instead of pints in Belgium-- most of there beers are 10-12% alcohol instead of the say 6% that would be strong in Ireland. A little goes a long way.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early to hop the metro out the the Atomium. But first, quick breakfast at the Carrefour, including fresh squeezed orange juice.

These machines were really common here-- just pull the tap, and the oranges move their way through, split, and juice into your jug. My little jug was actually cheaper than a tropicana of the same size, and it was so much more fun!

The Atomium was made for the World's Fair that was held in Brussels, and now houses various exhibits (yes, you can go inside it). But mostly, it just looks gigantic and absurd, and like it shouldn't be able to stand. We didn't go inside, since we'd heard it was cooler to look at from outside and we were on a budget. But it made for some good pictures.

The Atomium. Because... why not?

Once you get up underneath it, it's really huge. Kind of ridiculous.

With the Atomium checked off, we headed back to the city center for a little more exploration.

St. Michaels Cathedral. It was really gorgeous inside, very bright and airy.

Parc de Bruxelles. Notice the trees that have been trimmed to basically form nets into each other. They had lights strung on them, but we're still not sure what their purpose was. The park was also full of joggers-- apparently you have to work off all that beer, chocolate, and waffles.

Palace Royale, including the giant cobblestoned area out front which is possibly a roundabout, possibly for pedestrians... it's impossible to tell where anyone is supposed to go because no one wants to paint lines on old cobbles.

Statue in front of Palace Royale, after playing a little human frogger.

The Musical Instruments Museum, or the MIM. It was a really cool old building, but we're not sure why it said "Old England" on the top.

The MIM involved wireless headphones that meant as you walked up to each old instrument, you could hear what it sounded like. Here's Anna rocking out to a lute-- she's a big fan of interactive, kid-friendly museums.

Last stop in the MIM-- the view from the top. The spike you can see in the distance is the main building of Grand Place that we saw the night before.

We met up with Kathryn again, who had opted out of the MIM in favor of a different museum, and headed for waffles round 2, to be eaten in Grand Place. Then we made our way back to the hotel, stopping at the grocery store to grab provisions for dinner-- baguette, brie, and paprika ribbles (apparently the Belgian version of ruffles). Kathryn and Emma met up with Kathryn's friends again, but Anna and I stayed behind to recoup, eat, and watch 7th Heaven in Dutch.

Follow the Train Tracks: Paris

2011-03-19T10:57:00.014-04:00

February 26th-27th, 2011

Paris, France

My journey began in Dublin at 3am as I walked along Dawson Street in the dark, looking for Anna and the bus stop, and realizing much later than I should have that 6am flights are cheap for a reason. Such is the life of a poor college student trying to see the world! For this reason, we were also flying Ryanair, also known as the "air taxi," stingiest airline in existence, AND we were taking only carry-ons for our week-long trip. Yup, three countries, one backpack.

It's a common joke that Ryanair charges extra for EVERYTHING. Although they don't go as far as charging for the air you breathe, I know someone who had to pay by the minute to speak to customer service when they didn't send his boarding pass.

Checking the size of my carry-on. Ryanair is notoriously strict on size, and won't even allow a purse in addition. Luckily, my trusty orange backpack turned out to be the perfect size.

Although it wasn't posh, we got what we paid for-- safe passage to Paris. We arrived exhausted but determined, found our hostel, and struck out to be tourists.

The view from the window of our hostel-- the white building in the distance is Sacre Coeur. We stayed in Montmartre, the area of town with the Moulin Rouge.

We found a creperie for lunch (one of my favorites of French food), then made our way to the Louvre, where we outwitted the lines by entering the back way and buying tickets on automatic machines. Most people enter through the landmark glass pyramid, and the ticket lines there were atrocious. Thank you Anna's uncle for the tip.

The inverted pyramid by the entrance we came through, underground. Da Vinci code, anyone?

Inside, we saw some of the classics (yes, the Mona Lisa IS small, although I don't know why people whine about that so much), but Anna and I both tended to prefer statues. Its astounding how sculpters can create a likeness of cloth, skin, and hair using solid stone. I also enjoyed the relation to Greek and Roman mythology.

My favorite statue-- "Psyche revived by Cupid's kiss." It goes with the story of how Cupid, god of desire and romance, fell in love the mortal Psyche. Their love is initially forbidden, but eventually Psyche is granted immortality and becomes the goddess of the soul. Interestingly, the story is considered to be the first version of Beauty and the Beast.

Of course, we didn't skip the pyramid. And by the time we got to it, the sun was even peaking out.

From the grounds of the Louvre, we made our way down the Jardin des Tuileries towards Place de la Concord and L'Obelisque. Although not quite in season, it was lovely wandering through the park.

My favorite part-- the giant fountains complete with toy sailboats that you could set on their course by pushing out with a stick. It was just windy enough for them to really scoot along. Sad that we're too old for it, but this little girl was sure having a blast.

Thuroughly exhausted and with the weather starting to turn rainy and cold, Anna and I decided to head to the hostel for a nap. Easier said than done. We were literally on top of the metro station for a good 30 minutes wander around before finally finding the entrance-- Paris needs clearer signs. Seriously. After recouping, we struck out to find dinner in Montmartre in classic student fashion, shopping the mini-marts and bakeries until we had rounded up a lovely (if not healthy) spread for dirt cheap.

Anna, chowing down on our dinner of fresh baguette, chocolate waffles (a French equivalent of ho-hos), paprika pringles, and bulk candy. Yum.

For Paris day 2, we pulled out all the stops. Fully rested and aware that this was our last chance, we gladly played "super tourists," as Emma would say. And top on our list was, of course, the Eiffel Tower. So we made an early start with breakfast at the hostel (better than expected-- they even had coco puffs), figured out how to buy metro day passes to facilitate our adventures, and after a stop off at the Moulin Rouge (it happened to be on the way, so why not?) we reached the metro stop for the Eiffel Tower: Bir-Hakeim (or Beer-Hawk-Island, as we called it).

We had to stop our selves from taking thousands of pictures as we walked towards it-- each view seemed prettier than the last.

It really is HUGE-- the vertigo you get from looking up is crazy.

We dodged the street vendors and beat the lines again by being the smart tourists and taking the time to walk to the line on the back side. It was easily a quarter the length of the more obvious line.

View from the first observation deck. The shadow of the Eiffel Tower stretches all the way across the Seine. You could really see everything, if you knew where to look.

It was incredibly windy, but the view was well worth it. Although it got colder the higher we went, the weather was cooperative-- you couldn't ask for prettier clouds!

The obligatory me-with-Eiffel Tower picture when we reached the ground again and walked through the Champs de Mars.

In search of food, Anna and I wandered our way out of the Eiffel Tower area and played our favorite game: follow the baguette.

Step 1: spot someone with a baguette (not hard in Paris)

Step 2: walk in the direction they are coming from

Step 3: see another person with baguette

Step 4: repeat until you trace your way back to the bakery of origin

This time, however, follow the baguette led us to a hidden market street on Rue Cler where we spent a while dog watching, book shopping, and browsing before stopping at a bakery for some delicious croissants. Properly fed, we pulled out the map to find the nearest metro and continue our super-tourist day.

The metro may not always be obvious, but I love the character of the metro signs.

Our next stop was the Centre Pompidou, museum of modern art. Anna and I both enjoy modern art, plus this one is kind of a landmark for Paris.

Centre Pompidou was very controversial when it first went up-- not exactly classical Parisian architecture.

Anna and I liked to call this the anti-Louvre. They were fond of interactive art-- very kid-friendly.

The crazy tubes mounted on the outside of the building house the escalators to access the other levels and a viewing walkway on the 6th floor that gives a great vista (one that can include the Eiffel Tower, unlike when we were on top of it).

We used that great view to navigate our way to the next destination: Notre Dame. Unfortunately, Paris has more than one giant cathedral. We ended up going in completely the wrong direction, finding a completely different church (although still lovely), and walking all the way to Place de la Victoires before locating ourselves on a map and finding our way back to a metro to correct our mistake. Yay for the all-day metro pass. The whole thing wasn't a bust, though-- we stumbled on a really cool poster store and both Anna and I picked up some really cool souvenirs.

Even after we took the metro to the Notre Dame stop, we were almost afraid we weren't going to find it. How hard can it possibly be to find a giant cathedral, right? We got there just as the sun was setting, with time enough to take some daylight pictures.

Once you find it, there's certainly no doubt it's the right one. Notre Dame is HUGE, beautiful, and ornate.

I loved the doors-- the wrought iron work on them is amazingly intricate.

We left Notre Dame to walk along the Seine and through the Quartier Latin as the sun was setting, stopping at a few shops on our way to the metro stop that would take us home.

Street art we stumbled on, titled "Rue du Chat qui Peche," or "Street of the Fishing Cat." I thought this was random graffiti on an alley way, but it turns out that is the name of the narrowest street in Paris.

After another cheap student dinner, this time with the addition of brie that we had to cut using one of my club membership cards for lack of silverware, we left the hostel again to see the night time sights.

We went back to the Moulin Rouge to see it lit up, now with the windmill spinning. Much cooler at night. Also note the horse trailer out front. It said on the side, "The little horses of the Moulin Rouge." Wonder what minis were doing in a cabaret show...

We also returned to the Eiffel Tower to see it lit up, including a brief 5-minutes of sparkling. We ran into a couple of foreigners who were nice enough to snap a picture for us.

Our last stop took us up to the L'Arc du Triomphe, which, for the record, is much larger than I thought it was. Oh, and that's me proving I can balance on one foot.

L'Arc du Triomphe is at the start of Champs Elysees, a street famous for many things, but mostly for this song. I was incredibly disappointed when Anna had never even heard of it, and I had to sing to myself as I walked down the street.

Exhausted, we made our way back to the hostel to pack up and head to bed, ready to hit the road for Brussels the next day.

DUISS Weekend Trip to Cork

2011-02-07T16:50:00.008-05:00

January 28th-30th, 2011

Cork, Co. Cork, Ireland

After joining the International Society during the Semester Start-up Programme, Erin, Anna, and I decided to make use of our 2 euro sign up fee and take a weekend trip with the club to Cork. Although there was a price for the trip, it included bus fair, two nights in a hostel, and entrance to the many attractions on our itinerary, so it was a more than reasonable fee. We jumped on the chance to have someone plan our outing for us.

Day 1: Blarney Castle

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

The first day included a visit to the Blarney Castle and grounds to kiss the Blarney Stone, then a tour of the Cork Gaol, and some time to walk around Cork. Although smaller, I found the city of Cork to be surprisingly similar to Dublin, complete with its own river beginning with "L" (Dublin has the Liffey, Cork the Lee).

Erin, Anna, and I at Blarney Castle. They had beautiful grounds, nice and frosty in the morning. Yes, it does get cold, even in Ireland.

Being a proper tourist. It has to happen some times.

Walking up inside the ruins of Blarney Castle

Erin in the "murder hole"-- some sort of defense mechanism for the castle that allowed you to pour hot oil or other nasty things on your enemies from above.

Kissing the Blarney Stone! The stone is actually a part of the wall at the top of the castle, and in order to kiss it, you have to lay on your back, grab two bars, and basically flip upside-down over a gap in the wall used for drainage. More acrobatic than I was expecting. Kissing the stone is supposed to give you the gift of eloquence... we'll see.

The view at the top of the castle. It was really spectacular.

Ok, now the real view-- without me getting in the way. Pictures really don't do it justice.

The Cork jail was much nicer than the jail we toured in Wicklow.

The interior was airy and clean, although very cold. It would have held higher-class prisoners, including a "debtors prison" that allowed prisoners to bring in their own furniture, servants, and food.

Cell that held Irish author Frank O'Connor when he was imprisoned as an Irish nationalist. You can still see his writings on the walls.

Day 2: Jameson Distillery

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

Our second day started with the Queenstown Museum, commemorating one of the stops of the Titanic, the continued with the sunday Irish tradition of church followed by whiskey: we toured a gorgeous cathedral, then made our way to the Jameson distillery to get a taste of some Irish whiskey.

The Jameson Whiskey Distillery-- a Cork original.

Grain storage building. The shutters were required to regulate temperature during the summer because if the grains got to hot, they would spontaneously burst into flame.

The largest whiskey distiller in the world-- the first of 3 giant copper vats used to triple distill the whiskey.

Erin got to take part in a whiskeys around the world tasting challenge, comparing Jack Daniels, two types of Jameson, and a Scottish Whiskey (or scotch).

Tasting time! I'm not sure I like it on the rocks very much, but whiskey and ginger ale is pretty good. Still doesn't quite beat a gin and tonic, I'd have to say.

A Day in Howth

2011-02-06T08:25:00.009-05:00

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Howth, Co. Fingal, Ireland

And now, back to travel-- the other reason I'm here. One not-too-rainy Saturday afternoon, Anna, Emma, Erin and I decided to strike out for Howth on our first adventure outside of Dublin. The story is really best told through pictures, so, try to follow along...

Our first time riding the DART, the train that goes up and down the coast. Howth was only about 10 minutes north of Dublin.

Howth is mostly a fishing area-- lots of boats, fish shops, and harbors.

Some friendly seals we met in the harbor. They just kept popping up as if to say, "Look how cute I am. Feed me??"

We set off on a walk around the Howth peninsula, and the seaside cliffs were absolutely gorgeous. Supposedly on a clear day you can see all the way to Wales.

Our dog friend, christened Becks (named after a beer, as we only thought appropriate in Ireland). He followed us for quite a while, bounding along the path, happy as can be, and made fast friends with Anna.

This was our vista as we stopped to eat lunch. The picture can't do justice to the way the sun was breaking through the clouds, lighting up patches of sea and illuminating the backdrop for the lighthouse on the peninsula.

As we progressed, our path got more and more muddy. Here's Erin and Anna, conquering the muck.

Emma, pausing to take pictures of some of the interesting foliage.

Looking back along the coastline we've walked, including the lovely stone garden wall we followed. The view was truly spectacular.

Erin and Anna, trying to keep warm while enjoying the view. Erin taught us a very useful penguin dance to keep the blood flowing in your fingers.

Parts of the hike became very steep, with stairs carved into the rock, and even these triangular hand-holds carved out to help you along.

The end of our hike brought us back inland and along the ridge of a golf course-- we were instructed to move quickly so as not to get hit by stray balls from the driving range. You can see here where Howth peninsula connects to the mainland of Ireland.

Our hike was a long one, and by the time we circled back around, it was dark and we were exhausted. After determining that the local food was either expensive or take-away only (it was simply too cold now to eat fish and chips seaside, unfortunately), we grabbed some snack food and took the next DART back to Dublin.

Academics-- The Reason I'm Here

2011-02-06T08:24:00.009-05:00

The Campanile in the Front Square of Trinity, classic symbol of academics. You'll have to forgive the construction barricades, but I thought the shadow was really cool.

So you might be wondering if I'm ever going to get to the actual STUDY part of the study abroad experience. Well, my schedule is finally set, so if you're interested, you can take a peek at my class list. I'm doing things European-style-- meaning, taking all one subject and focusing intensely on it. In my case, this is English Literature.

The Arts Block, the building where I have most of my classes (not my picture). Unfortunately, also the ugliest building on campus-- it honestly looks like a nuclear bomb shelter.

Non-Realist Writing

This course covers things like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Brave New World, The Time Machine, and other novels that push the boundaries of reality. The idea is to look at the reasons behind the author's move beyond the real-- it reminds me of my strange fiction class from a year ago, except these novels are the classic forerunners to that course.

Introduction to Modernism

This course deals with poetry, prose, and plays in the 1900's to post-war era. The writing of this time was unique in being experimental as it tried to deal with the rapid changes taking place in society at the moment.

Irish Writing

A must for the study abroad student. It includes classics like Yeats, Joyce, Shaw, and Beckett, as well as some I was unfamiliar with, and some more modern writers near the end of the course.

Home on the Stage

This is my only Sophister level course (meaning upper-level seminar). It is a class on the realist movement in theatre and specifically the representation of the home. Middle class domestic life had no place on stage until this point, and letting audiences watch a version of themselves on stage was a real change.

My favorite library, the Usher. It is 5 stories of book stacks, with a solid wall of windows facing on to the cricket pitch. Given how much I love a library with a view, it's no surprise I should prefer this, but my alternatives are:

The Lecky (aka The Icebox): concrete walls, wide open floor plan, so impossible to heat that students wear their coats in doors

The Berkeley (aka The Berkeley Bunker): classic nuclear bunker architecture and claustrophobic feel that really lends to the study atmosphere

The Guinness Storehouse

2011-02-04T06:24:00.000-05:00

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

Dublin, Ireland

It seemed only appropriate that as our first touristy act in Dublin we should visit the Guinness Storehouse, a museum of brewing and a shrine to that most famous of Irish beers. So us Americans (Brittany, Emma, Anna, Jared, Sean, Erin, Kathryn, Maggie, and I) set out to walk to the site of the original Guinness Factory.

We got a little turned around, but eventually we came across these tourist-friendly signs: Guinness, this way!

The signs got more exciting the closer we got-- Here's Emma pointing the way.

Inside, the old storehouse was converted to an exposition that showed the ingredients, the brewing process, and the storage process. There were also exhibits on Guinness around the world, advertising through the ages, and, of course, a tasting room where we were coached through how to tasted and savor all the flavors of a Guinness. If you hold it in your mouth, you actually taste the sweetness towards the front of your tongue and the bitterness of the hops in the back of your mouth-- it's odd.

One of the main ingredients-- water. The water for Guinness comes from the Wicklow Mountains. We actually saw the mountain lake they draw from while on our trip for SSP.

One of my favorite ads. Guinness is good for you!

The last step was learning to pour the perfect pint- a crucial process. We were trained in the angle to hold the glass, and how bringing the tap towards you or away from you changes how the beer pours. And the final step is vital; always wait for your Guinness to turn black before you drink it, or you'll ruin the whole pint. Emma theorized this is why bartenders look so annoyed when you order a Guinness during busy times-- it takes them FOREVER to do it right.

Pouring the perfect pint! I now have a certificate that says I have the skills. I wonder what a bartender would do if I brought it to a pub and insisted on pouring my own...

My very first Guinness, nice and dark and ready to drink. It seemed only appropriate that I should drink my first here, although I wish I had some basis for comparison so I could weigh in my opinion on the American vs. Irish Guinness argument.

A bunch of us at the top floor lounge to drink our pints, with a lovely view of the surrounding city. (Jared, Emma, Erin, me, and Anna)

Semester Start Up Programme

2011-02-03T10:15:00.014-05:00

Sunday, January 9th- Friday, January 14th, 2011

Dublin, Ireland

Programme has extra letters for extra fun! The Semester Start Up Programme was a pre-orientation week that I participated in just before the start of classes, to better acquaint myself with Dublin (not to mention meet a few people). We kicked things off in true Irish style, with a welcome reception of pizza and wine on Sunday night. Needless to say, it was the largest congregation of glassy-eyed jet lag sufferers I have ever seen, but it was a good start to the week.

Day 1: Literary Pub Crawl

Monday, January 10th, 2011

The next morning started off a soon familiar pattern of lectures in the morning on topics of Irish culture, literature, and history, then an excursion in the afternoon and evening. Our first day, like most orientations, gave us a tour of the campus, a library tour, and an architectural tour. Unlike many schools, however, our evening ended with a programme-sponsored tour of the pub scene. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.

A very photogenic bar on the Pub Crawl at a pub called The Old Stand

The tour was a Literary Pub Crawl, led by two actors who took us to 4 local pubs with literary connections-- some were popular author haunts, others were settings for novels like Ulysses. The actors added to the atmosphere by reading selections of the authors works. It made for quite a fun evening.

The last stop of the night-- Jared, Sean, Carey, Rebecca, Margret, Emma, and Me enjoying one last beer

Day 2: The Gaelic Athletic Association

Tuesday, January 11th, 2010

This afternoon brought us to the home of Gaelic sports-- hurling and gaelic football. Both sports involve the largest grass pitch used by any team sport, with 15 players on each side. Here's a recipe for each to give you a basic idea, plus click the name to link to a youtube video for a good visual:

Gaelic football = soccer + rugby + basketball + insanity

Hurling = lacrosse + baseball + hockey + war

Gaelic sports experienced a huge revival at the turn of the century, with an increase in national pride and a desire to find what it meant to be Irish. This caused the birth of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), which now hosts competitions for all of Ireland's counties. We toured the GAA museum and the stadium where all major GAA events take place.

The view from the top of the stadium-- our guide told us they plan to put in a zip line from one side to the other. Definitely going to come back for that.

Flags of all the counties. The GAA is unique in that players can ONLY play for the county they are born and raised in-- there is no drafting and trading allowed. This creates a huge sense of county loyalty.

Anna, Myself, and Emma looking up our local teams track record in the GAA museum. Dublin's colors are light blue, in case anyone's wondering.

Emma testing her balance, one of the many skills required to excel at gaelic sports.

Trish, one of our group leaders, shows us what she can do with a hurling stick.

After the GAA museum, seeing as we were on the north side of the River Liffey for the first time, we opted to find food in that neck of the woods. This took us to a pub called Madigans where we were clearly outsiders-- most were older Irish gentlemen, quietly enjoying their beers.

One of our group leaders tried to explain the difference between the south side (where Trinity College is found) and the north side by telling us a few classic Dublin jokes:

Q: What do you call a north side man in a suit?

A: The accused

Q: What does a south side mother make for dinner?

A: Reservations

Me with my all-day Irish Breakfast. The barman looked like he thought there was no way the silly little American girl could finish it, but except for the toast, I came pretty close. Be careful with the pudding-- it's nothing like our pudding.

Day 3: The Abbey Theatre

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

In the evening, we made our way to the Abbey Theatre for a showing of Arrah-Na-Pogue, a play by Dion Boucicault. In Irish, Arrah-Na-Pogue means Arrah of the Kiss, a name that the wily Arrah earns for springing a rebel from jail by hiding a key in her mouth. The play was fabulous-- very funny, and very well performed, including some amazing prop and set design. No pictures in the theatre, so use your imagination.

Day 4: International Orientation

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

This was the day that non-SSP international students arrived and began their orientations, so after our morning lectures, we hooked up with them for events led by Irish student liaisons who tried to tell us a bit about life at Trinity from the local student perspective. One good lesson for the day:

craic, noun, /crack/: (a) fun, a good time, "It'll be good craic" (b) the latest, "what's the craic?" meaning, "what's happening," or "what's new with you"

It's a gaelic word used VERY commonly in Irish slang, to refer to just about anything. We've heard parents tell their kids, "you've had your craic, now let's get you home and to bed." It's very prevalent. It still sounds very silly in an American accent though, so I doubt I'll be picking it up any time soon.

Day 5: Glendalough and Wicklow Gaol

Friday, January 14th, 2011

Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

Our final day was a field trip-- my first time outside of Dublin. We took a bus to Glendalough, an old Christian establishment at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains, which are just visible from Dublin.

The archway into the Glendalough Christian settlement. No mortar was used, but it's still standing today.

Sean, me, Jared, Emma, and Brittany, in front of the Glendalough round tower. The towers were common in early Christian settlements, and were NOT for fighting purposes, but mostly spiritual and for housing texts. This one is apparently the most perfect still surviving.

Up close with the round tower-- the foundations were only 5 feet deep, yet the structure remains stable. Part of the reason is that the door is placed 15 feet above ground and only accessible by ladder. Sadly, know way to go inside it now as all the floors are gone.

After Glendalough, we made our way to the town of Wicklow for a tour of the historic Wicklow Gaol (that's jail in Irish). Let's put it this way-- I would NOT have wanted to get caught stealing anything in Wicklow.

Welcome to Wicklow Gaol! Apparently they give haunted night tours as well. Would have been creepy...

The cell windows from the exercise yard. We were happy to get outside for this part of the tour-- it was actually colder in the damp stony indoors than outside.

The exercise wheel, used as punishment for the prisoners. Like a really old school stair-master, except you had to stay on it for 5 hours or more.

Goodbye America, Hello Dublin

2011-01-19T13:21:00.004-05:00

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

Chicago, IL, to London, England, to Dublin, Ireland

As I'm sure you all know, I left in January to spend my spring semester in Ireland at Trinity College Dublin. In my travel-induced haze, I didn't take many pictures in transit or during the two brief days I spent with Robbie and his family in London on my extended layover before continuing to Dublin. Rather than bore you all with the details of my to and fro through the airports, security, customs, and snack lines, here's a little something that pretty much sums up my thoughts as I boarded my plane from Chicago to London. Somehow, it wasn't until I had one foot in the air stepping onto the plane that I realized-- I really wouldn't be back in America until June.

Goodbye, America

Goodbye peanut butter, goodbye sunny summer,

Goodbye mac n’ cheese, and buying new DVDs,

Goodbye rational currency, and goodbye dear sweet Hershey.

Goodbye internet, and hello being wet--

Goodbye Red, White, and Blue, oh I haven’t a clue,

What new things will be seen when I say hello to the Green!

I stepped off my bus from the airport in completely foreign territory, completely exhausted.

Me: "Is this the stop for Trinity College?"

Bus Driver: "Yes."

Me: nod, walk purposefully in no direction at all

This was the street corner I stepped on to. My thought process? Find the oldest, prettiest looking buildings and hope that they were Trinity. Also, hope that I found them quickly, because I had 2 rolling suitcases and a backpack. Luck was with me, and this strategy led me not only to Front Gate (the place I was supposed to pick up my keys), but also a group of three other lost Americans, two of whom also lived in Goldsmith Hall with me and would be on the Semester Start Up Programme.

And so, with very little trouble (but a LOT of baggage), we were off and running.

Thanksgiving, or "The Long Journey Home"

2010-11-11T19:34:00.018-05:00

Ithaca, NY, to Madison WI

Tuesday, November 23rd- Sunday, November 28th, 2010

Armed, as one must be when facing Amtrak, with the spirit of adventure, Robbie and I set out from Cornell at 11:30am on Tuesday morning. Our bus ride to Syracuse went off without a hitch, and we caught a movie (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1) in the Syracuse mall before returning to the train station to wait.

We hadn't exactly realized until boarding the train that our tickets in a sleeper car gave us first class, VIP status, but we discovered soon enough, as we walked into a tiny cabin with our names and destination already tagged on the door.

Me: "Wow, I'm exhausted. And kinda hungry..."

enter Ralph

Ralph: "Good evening, I'm Ralph, and I'll be attending to your every need. You've just missed dinner, but there's still food in the lounge car if you're hungry. Let me know whenever you'd like me to do your turndown service."

Us: blank stares of amazement "...Thanks!"

We managed the "turn down" ourselves, converting the chairs in the cabin into two (extraordinarily tiny) bunk beds, and actually managed to get some decent sleep before waking up the next morning to what we thought should be Illinois landscape.

Robbie, after situating the top bunk for me. It was tight, but would have been pretty comfortable if we had figured out the thermostat-- the blankets they give you are not designed for warmth.

Turns out, we woke up in Michigan.

enter Ralph

Ralph: "We're running a little behind schedule, but help yourselves to complimentary breakfast in the dining car, or coffee and juice just at the end of the hall by the showers."

Us: blank stares of amazement "Thanks, Ralph!"

The breakfast was fabulous (who knew french toast cooked at 190mph could be so good?), and we learned from other passengers that we had been rerouted up to Detroit, and were VERY behind schedule.

...Several hours later...

Robbie: "I'm starving. When do you think--"

enter Ralph

Ralph: "They're going to serve lunch to the sleeping car passengers, if you two are interested in cheeseburgers."

Us: blank stares of amazement "Thanks, Ralph!"

Seeing as we were supposed to be off the train by 10am, they only had lunch food for us VIPs-- very lucky for us, as we were starving, and hadn't brought any food. When all the sleeper car passengers ate lunch together, we could definitely tell that we were not the typical demographic. Most were around 50, and clearly traveled like this a lot. We finally made it to Chicago in the late afternoon, and even then, the drive out in rush hour traffic was a nightmare. It was late evening on Wednesday before we finally reached home at last.

Some of our escapades in Wisconsin-- I introduced Robbie to the true Sconnie spirit of hockey games, and we bought each other hats for the occasion

We discovered later that it was a derailment on a major Amtrak rail that caused our rerouting and delay, and luckily no such thing happened on our return journey. We arrived just a half hour behind schedule, safely returned to our Cornell campus to start exam prep... yay.

End of another Semester...

2010-11-11T19:34:00.017-05:00

Donlon Formal

Willard Straight Memorial Room, Ithaca, NY

Sunday, December 12th, 2010

Robbie and I at the formal

With the semester wrapping up, Robbie's freshman decided to send it out with a bang. They threw a formal dance in Willard Straight, and I was lucky enough to be invited to see the festivities and blow off a little finals steam-- not to mention ignore packing for Ireland for one more day.

When it finally came down to packing time, it was tight. Like, really REALLY tight. Poor Baxter couldn't fit anywhere! And, since I absolutely couldn't leave him in the Dickson basement with all my storage stuff until August, Robbie offered to take him on a little trip to London and let me pick him up there.

Robbie took this picture after I left-- Baxter getting ready to head off for the UK! Baxter is actually a British citizen... it all makes sense now.

Magic Bars

2010-11-08T14:40:00.005-05:00

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

506 Dryden Road, Ithaca, NY

Partly in to celebrate Halloween and partly in honor of Melissa officially signing off on a lease with Tahra to live at 506 Dryden for senior year, Melissa, Tahra, and I got together to make Melissa's signature treat-- "magic bars."

A freshly signed lease. Yay! I missed the moment of actual signing, and Melissa refused to pretend for the sake of a photo op. I'll be faster next time.

Tahra's baking/Halloween costume. She was Minnie Mouse, which worked out very well with her oven mitt from Disney World.

Cooking with attitude.

Me, in my lovely new apron-- whenever I bake for my residents, they all get very jealous.

The Fancy Camera Tours Campus

2010-10-27T20:06:00.004-04:00

Cornell Campus, Ithaca, NY

October, 2010

In an effort to catch the fall color on campus before it disappears, I've been trying to take advantage of a couple nice weather days to play with my camera. I'm definitely still working out how to use it, and could probably benefit from a few lessons. For instance, one good note to remember-- when you take your camera out of your bag, *check what settings it's on* before you take an hours worth of pictures, because the dial might have moved while in your bag. When I uploaded them, I thought to myself, "I don't remember taking any pictures at dusk..." I didn't. Lesson learned.

Anyways, here's some of what I've got in my shiny new flickr pro account (thanks mom!)

Grilling Adventures

2010-10-14T22:06:00.006-04:00

506 Dryden Road, Ithaca, NY

Here's a little peek at some of my smokey joe's adventures this semester-- it's been great to have around, and Tahra lets me keep it locked to her back porch in exchange for sharing the delicious things I grill on it.

Tada! All set up, first time out of the box. It looked a little to clean for my taste, so I thought we'd better hurry up and use it...

Inaugural first match lighting-- very exciting.

Tahra chopping veggies for one of our meals. Yes, college students CAN be healthy.

Yum... that's a lot of steak. Believe it or not, we ate it all-- nothing like a good grilling party to bring a lot of people together.

And of course, New York's first Brat Fest. After steaks and other such complicated things, I'd have to say I really appreciated how EASY brats are-- really idiot proof. Although a little skeptical (it's kind of hard to describe what exactly a brat IS), everyone really loved them. I'll have to see if they carry brats at Wegman's. Maybe in the exotic food section??

The Brat Fest was a combo birthday party for Robbie and I, so Tahra made us cookie cakes for dessert, complete with 21 candles.

New York, New York

2010-10-14T21:56:00.017-04:00

Queens, NY, and Manhattan, NY

Friday, October 8th- Monday, October 11th, 2010

This year was the first time I left Cornell for Fall Break-- on a little trip to New York City. Robbie's parents came in from London (with a lucky break connected to his dad's business trip) to celebrate his 21st birthday with him. They invited me, Link, Tahra, Melissa, Dan, and Illika out for a very snazzy dinner on the town for Robbie's 21st birthday, and we all decided to make a weekend of it, complete with shopping and sight-seeing.

After long internal debate, I decided to bring my new *very fancy* camera, a birthday/christmas gift from my aunt and grandparents to New York with me. I was really worried about taking it somewhere with such a high risk of theft/damage, but I came to the conclusion that someday, I want amazing travel pictures of all the exotic locations I hope to visit, and that means that someday, this camera will have to be in risky situations, so why not start now and get some use out of it? I was really glad I brought it (especially since it returned safe and sound), and I was blown away by the photo quality.

So, rather than compress the pictures to post them here, I put all the pictures taken with the SLR on flickr. Sorry to make you do the extra leg work, but its really worth it to see the bigger pictures. Everything below was taken with my digital (or by friends, since sometimes I was busy with my fancy camera), and comes with the complete story. The flickr page is pretty much just the pictures. Click here for the flickr page

Friday, October 8th, 2010

Melissa and I took the bus down together on Friday, meeting up with Tahra (who hitched a ride) and Illika (coming in from Washington, DC, where she's studying for the semester) that night to share a hotel. We really liked the sign in the Port Authority bus depot telling us to respect the escalator-- I particularly enjoy the picture that tells you not to ride the escalator on your back, while throwing your suitcase in the air.

When you travel as a poor college student, sometimes it means getting cozy-- the four of us shared a room in a Quality Inn in Queens with one king sized bed. It was actually a lot roomier than I thought it would be.

...Of course, it was a LOT roomier if you had it to your self, as Illika is demonstrating.

Saturday, October 9th, 2010

(Robbie's Birthday)

Saturday morning, we snagged ourselves a continental breakfast and made our way uptown to meet the boys who, courtesy of a birthday gift from Robbie's parents, got to stay in the Four Seasons on Union Square. Not quite the poor college student digs for them. We shopped around Manhattan, including the largest DSW I have ever seen (...the boys went for coffee for that part).

Me in the subway on our way uptown, trying to get a picture with my fancy camera. Yes, I am aware of how ridiculous I look.

Tahra, Robbie, and Dan rocking their sunglasses in the Forever 21

We headed back to the hotel early to get primped for dinner that night. It was quite the process, including an amusing episode that required using my tree climbing knife (which was packed in the backpack I brought that weekend without me remembering it, and was the only cutting implement we had) to cut the bottom of Melissa's slip off, since it hung below her dress.

Melissa, taking a knife to her slip. It certainly made for an odd scene.

Illika's hair, in a very complicated French braid-bun-invention. It turned out lovely, and even lasted through the night.

Everyone's outfits came together beautifully, though, and we were only the slightest bit behind schedule when we left. Too bad the subway was much more behind. Our train didn't arrive for 35 minutes past when it was supposed to, and we finally gave up and went to hail a cab.

The beautiful sunset over Manhattan that we got to watch as we waited for our train to NOT arrive.

Even the cab seemed to be taking forever, and by the time we arrived at the Four Seasons, where we were supposed to have pre-dinner drinks, it was just about time to leave for the restaurant. Ah well, no harm done, since we didn't end up late for our reservation at the 21 Club-- a very snazzy restaurant where Humphrey Bogart once had a regular table and George Clooney often goes for drinks. I kept my eyes open for Mr. Clooney, but we didn't see him.

Robbie and I having a drink while we waited for our table to be ready

After dinner, we couldn't quite decide what to do late at night in NYC (not being the clubbing sort), so... to the 24 hour Apple store!

We were perhaps a little over dressed for the Apple store...

A fountain outside the store. Illika kept telling me to pose, but I'm not exactly the modeling type.

Robbie and I, walking around town

The guys

The ladies (minus Tahra, who had to depart to stay with family in New Jersey)

Robbie gave me a pair of the Four Seasons slippers to take back to the ladies' humble abode in Queens-- the boys felt a little bad about all their swag. They even had a remote control for their curtains.

Sunday, October 10th, 2010

The next day, after heading uptown and catching breakfast at a cafe, Illika, Melissa and I met up with Robbie, Link, and Dan to wander our way through Central Park and visit the American Museum of Natural History.

Walking through central park (I credit this and the following pictures to Melissa-- I was taking pictures with my fancy camera, and like I said, I can't post those pics here)

Me and my camera-- I kind of look like I'm trying to catch a cheating husband or something...

The skyscrapers made an interesting backdrop for all the trees and greenery

At the museum, our first stop was the planetarium for a fabulous show on the origins of the stars, narrated by Whoopi Goldberg. Afterwords, we walked around the Hayden sphere, and wandered through some of the other exhibits before heading out for dinner.

The Hayden Sphere at the Natural History Museum. The planetarium show took place inside the sphere, and the planet walk wrapped around the outside.

Monday, October 11th, 2010

We didn't have a lot of time on the last day. Dan had left the night before for a conference in California, and we parted ways with Link before lunch, since he had to get back to Ithaca early for work. That left Illika, Melissa, Robbie and I to split up for lunch-- Illika and Melissa both had friends they wanted to meet up with in the city, and Robbie and I had plans to eat with his parents.

Robbie and I got stuck on the wrong side of the Columbus Day parade when we were on our way to lunch. We were a little late, but I think his parents forgave us.

Melissa, Robbie, and I had a little time to kill before catching the bus, so we hit the bookstore and FAO Schwarz. They wouldn't let us play on the giant piano, since we're too old, but it was fun to see anyways.

Legoland in FAO Schwarz

After that, it was on to the Port Authority bus depot and back home to Ithaca-- our very delayed bus made us arrive past midnight and quite ready to collapse into bed.

New Comforter Cover

2010-10-07T21:53:00.000-04:00

I spent a long time this past year working on a new cover for my comforter, with the purpose of having something bright and colorful for my necessarily white-walled dorm room, and it has finally arrived in my room. My residents keep commenting as they walk by, and they can hardly believe I made it. The only unfortunate part is that my favorite of the embroidered squares usually ends up between my bed and the wall. Ah well.

My favorite square-- one of several embroidery patches I designed. At least now you all can see it, even if I don't get to on a daily basis.

Fall Tree Climbing 2010

2010-10-06T21:35:00.000-04:00

Monkey Run, Hoffman Challenge Course, and Stuart Park, Ithaca, NY

Fridays, September 10th, 17th, 24th, and October 1-2nd, 2010

Yet again, I taught Friday Tree Climbing for COE. This semester, I taught with Colin C, Colin E, and Drew. We tried to differentiated the Colins by renaming them Thing 1 and Thing 2, but no one could remember which was which.

This year's was another fabulous group-- really involved and engaged. I have high hopes that we'll even get some future tree instructors out of it. I also started to notice some of the ridiculous traditions that are becoming a necessary part of the course. For instance, we don't hardly even know why anymore, but we always keep snack a surprise, and refer to snack time as "super secret powwow time." Tree climbing is a pretty young program, so I basically know all of the instructors who taught it in the beginning, but the students we're teaching now know those people only as names attached to absurd stories and bizarre traditions. I hope some of these quirks will stick with the program-- I like to think that the other instructors and I have a lasting impact of some kind.

Our whole class up on the platform for the overnight. I was on ground crew for this one, which meant I got to carry out one of Devin's traditions: as ground crew, wait until everyone is on the platform and settled into their sleeping bags about to go to sleep, then ascend up and read them a bedtime story. Specifically, the Lorax. When you're done, you just rappel into the darkness. It's funny how peaceful it makes you to hear a bedtime story as you drift off to sleep-- all the students really love it.

This tradition's mine-- last year, I started bringing a pirate flag to the last day of climbing, and assigning it as a special mission for someone to climb up as high as possible with it. Zac took the job very seriously.

Welcome to Clara Dickson

2010-09-26T21:14:00.001-04:00

North Campus, Ithaca, NY

As many of you know, I took an RA position in Clara Dickson Hall this year, as the live-in advisor for the 70 freshman on my floor, particularly the 36 girls living on my end of the hall. Seem like a lot? Dickson is actually the largest dorm in the Ivy league, holding over 500 students. Now imagine move in day with just 1 elevator-- we like to call it "barely controlled chaos."

Although it required quite a bit of scrambling and frantic packing, I managed to get the phone call offering me the position on a Thursday, accept the position by Friday, and move to Ithaca for training by that Wednesday. Talk about a time crunch. But training is what gives you the chance not just to learn the rules, but also to get to know your staff and your building (Dickson took me a while to learn to navigate, I have to admit), and I'm really glad I was able to make it.

After the intensive week of non-stop trainings, staff bonding, and bulletin board making, the freshmen finally moved in and hit the ground running with orientation week. It didn't take long to settle into the flow of RA life, running programs and being on call every so often.

For those of you who don't know, "on-call" means the Dickson staff takes turns being the designated staff member in the building. You hold the on-call phone, which receives emergency calls from residents, and you walk around the building a couple times to make sure everything is in order. The biggest issue Dickson has to deal with is lock outs-- because there are so many single rooms in Dickson and the doors lock automatically, residents are always locking their keys in their rooms and having to call us to let them back in. So far, every lock out I've had to respond to has been someone who forgot their keys when they went to shower-- bummer for them, locked out in a towel.

Just a few pictures of the set up in my room-- it took me a while to get moved in, but I got there in the end.

Pictures and posters help with the painfully white walls

RAs get free microwaves/fridges. Also note the pirate flag-- a birthday gift. Last year, my suite mates had flags from their respective cultures, but since I'm somewhat of a mutt, I somehow or other ended up with a pirate flag.

I'm really enjoying the position, so much so that I've decided to come back senior year. I hope to be able to stay in Dickson, where I know my staff (many of whom will also be returning) and my advisor, but apparently they can't guarantee that. We'll see.

A Sconnie Summer

2010-09-18T22:34:00.001-04:00

Madison, WI, Prairie Du Chien, WI, Elkhart, WI, Minocqua, WI, and Chicago, IL

June 1-August 4, 2010

I know I've been a bit lax about my posting, but my business has no real end in sight, I'm taking this opportunity to have a study break and reacquaint myself with the internet. But before I get to my photo-recap of my lovely Sconnie Summer, allow me to share the inspiration behind my blog title. It's an old fire side song from my days at Camp Black Hawk called "On the Loose" that I've always had a soft spot for. I posted it in the side bar of the blog, so take a peek if you're interested. I also headed it with my favorite picture from this summer-- it seemed particularly relevant.

Before I move on to the pictures, I have to give a nod to the one big part of my summer which I have no photos of. Some of you may know I took an internship as a communications specialist for the UW Madison Veterinary School this summer, writing articles, pamphlets, and press releases for the school. The internship involved interviewing a lot of really amazing scientists and compiling their stories for the Vet School, the university, and to publicize into greater media circles. For a look at some of the stories I wrote over the summer, I've put links in a box titled "Veterinary School Internship Portfolio" at the bottom of the page-- check it out if you're interested.

Now, for the good stuff--

Hillary, digging stuff out from under her bed. Packing up at the end of the year was an interesting process.

Melissa and a floor covered in boxes. We all seemed to have a lot more stuff that we realized.

World's Largest Brat Fest! Kate and I enjoyed the brats, music, and atmosphere, and I even came out of it with a t-shirt.

The Wisco-sonoran Brat Expiriment-- brats, boiled in beer and onions, rolled in bacon, then grilled. Sound delicious??

It was-- here's Jp taking the test bite.

The beautiful Elkhart Lake (at an ungodly hour of morning) for my dad, my aunt Anita, and Laura to compete in the Elkhart Triathlon.

JP wasn't so excited about the early morning-- he has that "You woke the sleeping beast" expression on his face.

Funny how his wife-- about to do an olympic distance triathlon-- looks way more cheerful.

My dad was even jumping up and down. Yes, that's him, waving his arms in the air at the back of the wetsuit-clad crowd.

We got treated to a beautiful rainbow on the drive down to our cabin in Prairie du Chien.

That same night, the sky cleared up just enough for one of the most fabulous sunsets I've ever seen. This picture was taken over the Mississippi River, looking towards Iowa.

A fish boil at the cabin-- everything tastes better when you're the one that lit the fire under it.

I dabbled in a little tree climbing at the cabin, but didn't have all the equipment I needed to take advantage of the fabulous cottonwood in the yard. Next time...

A bald eagle landed in the tree right above our deck, literally 15 feet above us. I don't think we would have even noticed him except that he started screeching.

My dad and I explored the water lilies and scoped out the eagle's nest by kayak. We were rewarded with a peek at some baby birds in the largest nest I have ever seen.

One of my projects for the summer was buying and repainting a new bookshelf for my room, which of course involved a massive reorganization of my books. As they piled up on my floor, I came to the conclusion that I own A LOT of books.

For the Fourth of July, Melissa and Tahra joined me in Mineral Point. We made a cherry pie completely from scratch (and we made it in style-- note the aprons).

It turned out fabulously-- picture perfect AND delicious.

We joined in the traditional Mineral Point parade, brat boil, pie sale, and concert, but we were rained out of the fire works at the end of the night. The thunderstorm provided a different kind of light show.

Kate, Nim, and I went up to Kate's cabin in Minocqua for a weekend. I think Nim got the whole sun-bathing thing wrong here... pretty sure you're not supposed to cover up with towels.

Me, chopping veggies for a stir fry. We did a surprisingly good job of fending for ourselves when it came to food.

Kate introduced me to my first time making bread from scratch-- it was easier than I thought it would be, and it came out delicious.

Tahra invited Melissa, Robbie, and I to visit her in Chicago. Here's Tahra and Melissa playing in the fountain at Millennium Park.

The famous bean-- who's entire purpose in life is for tourists to gather and take pictures. Which we did.

And of course, summer wouldn't be complete without horses. Cowboy spent the summer going English, complete with some dabbling in dressage. Now that he's all of 6 years old (scary!!), he has a new spring in his step, and took to the flashy arab trot quite nicely-- if only I had time to show him.

European Adventure-- Traveling

2010-04-12T20:19:00.009-04:00

Day 0: Escaping the States

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Ithaca, NY, New York JFK, London Heathrow

After spending all morning running around frantically getting my financials in order ("No, see, you can't freeze my accounts, I'm leaving for EUROPE tomorrow."), I hopped on the bus for New York City. When the bus pulled into the port authority terminal and the driver started yelling, "Everyone out," I had the interesting realization that I would have to go take a little adventure on the New York City subway system if I wanted to actually get to JFK. Luckily, I am the sort of traveler who leaves myself plenty of extra time, so even after the subway shenanigans (in which I did not get lost at all), I arrived at the airport with enough time for a quick dinner before hopping my overnight flight to London.

Imagine spending all day in a bus, then underground, and finally taking a glass elevator up and up and up until you are above NYC, being greeted by a spectacular sunset. It was a great way to end the US part of my travels.

Day 1: A Night in France

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Lyon, France

I had a good 6 hour layover in Heathrow, so I took the time to exchange some money, get some real food (and some Cadbury chocolate), and buy another book for the road (Dorian Grey, as I was nearly finished with Please Don't Come Back from the Moon). My second flight was much tinier and much shorter, and I touched down in Lyon, France before I knew it.

Countryside on the way in to France. When the mountains appeared on the horizon, I honestly thought I was flying in to the Swiss Miss hot coco can-- they were huge, perfect white peaked mountains, almost not believable.

I gabbed a bus in to the city center and found our hostel for the night. I asked the receptionist if he spoke English, and when he said no, I dove right in to my first real French conversation. He kept offering to carry my suitcase to my room, and when I kept refusing, he just said, "Fine. You'll see." Turns out the spiral staircase to our 6th floor room was more like climbing a mountain than climbing stairs.

At their widest point, each step was wide enough to fit 3/4 of the length of my shoe. I really thought I would fall and break a few bones at the least.

I met Haley on the bridge over the Rhone River (very romantic), and we walked back to the hostel, where I climbed the stairs for the 4th time that night. With an early morning coming up, we were quick getting ready for bed.

The bridge where I met Haley. Although I would love to see more of Lyon during the day, it sure was beautiful at night, all lit up.

Hockey Season Wrap Up

2010-03-24T04:53:00.014-04:00

Just a little wrap up of the hockey season-- I know most of you aren't that interested in hockey, so here's a story in pictures:

We finally got the cinnamon sugar pretzel we'd been dying for since the beginning of the season. Why did it take us so long?? We decided we could only get it between periods if they were winning, and for some reason the concession stand was always out by then. But it was beyond delicious, and worth the wait.
I made bear mittens to match my bear hat-- they're great for pounding against the glass. The first time I wore them, we arrived insanely early, and came across Colin Greening (captain) playing soccer in the hallway, and Patrick Kennedy sitting in the stands listening to his ipod. I think they were lucky. By the way, for you bear hat skeptics, I have already made an sold one, and have orders for several more.
Hillary in her jersey (a birthday gift from me), getting ready for the game. It rained all the way there, and we spent the game soaked and cold, but still happy.

We said goodbye to 5 great players on senior night. Because name/number/position of each player would be boring, I'll add an interesting tidbit for each and let you draw the conclusions. #15: Captain and forward Colin Greening (great leader), #24: Forward Brendon Nash (always smiles), #5: defenseman Justin Krueger (danced to the German anthem), #28: Defensive forward Joe Scali (scrappy player, very Italian), and #30: Goalie Ben Scrivens (best goalie ever, loves the fans).Hillary caught a puck tossed out at the end of the period-- she made a very impressive pounce for it and beat out the competition. She then got it signed by Scrivens, the goalie.

Europe Headlines Update

2010-03-24T04:53:00.006-04:00

So, just some quick updates (no pics yet, sorry) on my Europe Extravaganza:

Travel: The bus to NYC, flight to London, 6 hour layover in Heathrow, flight to Lyon, bus to the city center, and walk to my hostel added up to quite the travel time. To top it all off, Haley and I had to get up at 5:30 the next morning to catch a bus back to the airport and hop a plane to Spain. I was exhausted, to say the least.

Spain--

Day 1: Got there mid-morning, spent a lot of time searching for our hostel with our suitcases in tow. Once we found it, we walked bag-free around some of the shopping areas, then tried (and failed) to get in to the Palaccio Real (Royal Palace).

Day 2: Slept in a bit, then found churros con chocolate for breakfast. Spent most of the day at Museo del Prado-- a lot more exhausting than you would think. Got lunch from an alimentation (grocery store), and diner from street venders. Changed hostels to an International Youth Hostel-- much busier, and we slept in a dorm rather than a private room.

Day 3: Woke up early to head back to the Palaccio Real, which was now open. After touring around, we hopped the metro to the big flea market that happens on Sundays-- very, very crowded. Spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the Retiro park, then went to a flamenco show at night.

Day 4: Went to the bull ring in the morning, then walked around and did some souvenir shopping before catching the metro back to the airport, a plane back to Lyon, and a bus back to Haley's place in Chambery. I was glad I wasn't the one who had to get up for class the next morning.

Bucket Hat

2010-03-23T04:53:00.000-04:00

March 9th, 2010

My new hat! I knit this from some of my christmas yarn, which was a fabulous silk-alpaca blend. The buttons were a lucky find-- they came as extras with one of my button-down shirts, and just happened to look perfect on the hat. I finished it just in time to have a less-wooly hat for the beginning of spring and my trip to Europe.

Chili Fest

2010-02-27T15:23:00.006-05:00

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Ithaca Commons, Ithaca, NY

On this beautiful, only moderately cold Saturday morning, Tahra, Hillary, Melissa, Robbie, Illika and I headed down to the commons to take part in Ithaca's annual chili cook off. We sampled everything from the dragon's breath spicy chili, to the belgian chocolate and paprika chili, to Thai chili.

For some reason, one of the booths had set out sour cream, shredded cheese, and chocolate chips as the chili topping options. So, of course, we had to give it a try. It pretty much tasted like candy in chili.

This chili was a blend of spices, pinto beans, tomatoes, and LOVE.

But of course, that's just the "chili" part. There's also the "fest" side of things. This included several radio station booths, a guitar hero contest, karaoke, and a mechanical bull. In spite of the very, very public setting-- a whole crowd was milling around just to watch people make fools of themselves on the bull-- I could pass up the opportunity to check mechanical bull riding off my life goals list. A little public embarrassment never hurt anyone, right?

The bull was surrounded by a nice, cushy inflatable arena. The bull itself was insanely slippery, made of shiny hard plastic. It didn't have to get going very fast for most people to just slide off the side, which was probably a safety precaution.

Hillary and Tahra both participated in a contest that one of the radio stations was holding-- dance by yourself, with everyone watching, for a minute. It's amazing how many people were unwilling to do this, even for a $10 gift certificate.

Skate Night

2010-02-27T15:10:00.004-05:00

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Lynah Rink, Ithaca, NY

In spite of hockey's depressing loss against Yale earlier that night (which we will not speak of), the free skate following the game was a blast. Tahra even made it out on the ice this time-- last fall's skate night, her duties as a skate team member kept her locked behind the counter. I really enjoy the speed and maneuverability of hockey skates. Although this was only the second time I've ever used them, they feel familiar because the shape and style is very similar to snowboard boots.

Hillary and I enjoyed a brief moment on the Cornell hockey bench, looking at old play books.

Travel Plans

2010-01-28T09:04:00.004-05:00

Just a quick update-- I finally just bought my plane tickets to go visit my friend Haley over spring break while she's off studying abroad in Chambery, France. Plans are under way to see other parts of Europe while I'm there, which is very exciting. So far my only experience with Europe has been a crazy 12 hours in London, and I'm itching to try out my French on native speakers. Here's a link to Haley's blog about her travels in France, to give you an idea of where I'm headed (but also to plug her blog-- I know she loves having more followers).

Spring Schedule

2010-01-26T12:02:00.005-05:00

I'm fairly certain of my schedule at this point, so here it is for all of you who are interested.

BIOG 1110: Intro to Biology, MWF 9:05-9:55 and T 2:00-4:30

LING 2218: History of the English Language, MWF 10:10-11:00

FREN 3050: French through Film, MWF 11:15-12:05

ENGL 2060: Cornelian Authors, M 2:55-4:10 and W 7:30-8:45

PSYCH 2150: Psychology of Language, TR 10:10-11:25

Bio is a chore, mostly to fulfill a science lab requirement. But it focuses on human biology, biomedical technology and ethics, and forensic sciences, so it could be interesting. I'm reserving judgement. History of the English Language is also largely for a requirement, but it's definitely the best history class I could imagine-- explaining the whys behind the stupidity of the English language, and the complex factors that came together to make the language so vast. Although I was fairly disturbed that French through Film has no books, it seems like it will be a good class for improving conversational/grammatical skills. I really like my professor for the Cornelian Authors course, which I think might make up for it being not a very advanced course. Psychology of Language also seems to have a good professor-- he literally wrote the book. All in all, I'm optimistic.