Ye Olde Middleton Distillery

Yeah, Laurie would post before I got the other half of the weekend in there wouldn't she... Anyway, even after the missing of the bus and the being late to the distillery, I had a good time. I wish we had gotten to enjoy more of the tour, but the small bit we did learn about was nice too. That said, most of the particulars of the tour have escaped me now. I'm left with only a vague remembrance of the history behind the distillery and the process of distilling whiskey.

If you're wondering why the sign says Jameson, well, wonder no more. The distillery we visited is the predecessor to the new Jameson Distillery right next door. Midleton evolved into Jameson. Now, the small output of Midleton whiskey can cost over 600 euro, since it's only sold from the one distillery. Makes you wonder if the buyers drink it...

The large building used to be a wool mill, but was bought up by the Jameson family and converted. There are so many windows, if I remember correctly, due to the high risk of fire involved with whiskey making. If you look past the red chair of the random tractor thing, you may even see round dark circles on the buildings. These are the iron bars supporting the floor of the building, which in turn supports over 90,000 gallons of undistilled whiskey something or other.

I think that's what our tour guide said anyways. Whatever it was, they kept it in these giant vats.

This is where the magic happens.

This big tea kettle like construction is heated from a huge fire below (which used up to either 4,000 or 400 tons of coal--my tour memory is a little rusty). The vapors from the whiskey spirit went out through the spout and into another thingumy where cold water turned it back into liquid. the liquid goes from being eight percent alcohol to eighty percent alcohol. This happens three more times before it's considered good enough to be irish whiskey. America only does it once apparently. No worries though, the end product is always watered down.

Here's the top of it. More importantly, I got to ring the bell which signaled the people below that the fire was hot enough. The tourguide tried to cajole the many small children into it, but no one wanted to. I had to pull the rope twice before it gave a loud ring. Probably my favorite part of the Distillery. That said I did enjoy the whiskey tasting. We were given a glass of whiskey with whatever else we wanted to water it down with, in my case, coke. We also got to sip little watered down thimblefuls of other whiskeys. Out of the three irish whiskeys, the scotch (only distilled twice), and the american Jack Daniels (only distilled once), I liked the scotch the best. Jack Daniels was probably the grossest thing I've ever consumed. If I wanted to drink perfume, then...well...I'd be weird.

After an extremely long wait for the bus, we did finally roll back into Cork city. I was so starving by the time we got to Jackie Lennox's fish and chips shop, I ate the whole fish and half a pile of fries as big as my head. We're talking the thick, potatoey fries too. Okay the pile was as big as my head, not the fries. It's saying something when I can out-eat Laurie. Twas really good, but really greasy. I could still feel the coating of grease in my stomach the next day. Definitely not something I could eat with any kind of regularity.
Rest of the weekend not so entertaining. I went to the library, went home, and wrote my Anglo-Irish Lit paper. I think writing an essay on a poem about insanity may have driven me insane. Mnemosyne Lay in Dust by Austin Clarke is still a really good poem though. Took way longer to write the essay than it should've. At least that's one down, which leaves two art history papers to go. If somebody hadn't already checked out the books I need from the library, those would be a lot easier to write too. That said, the fun never ends and by fun I mean work and by work I mean adios amigos!

Kinsale the loverly

I could devote a thousand words to the prettiness of Kinsale, and more no doubt, but a ton of pictures will take much less time. So I'll try to keep myself from rambling on about the beauty of nature as it reclaims a piece of Irish history. What's more, Laurie's told you most of the particulars, so ye can use this as a supplement anyway.
Our first view of Kinsale's harbor.


And here it is from the fort. Mika and I were in the first taxi to make it to Fort Charles, so I had plenty of time to soak up the view while waiting for the others.


Here we have one of the first visible bastions of the fort.








Mika, playing on random circle things. maybe they were wells.




See how the trees have grown inside that building? Sarah and I went exploring within and found a bird sanctuary. We couldn't so much see them as hear them, but it was very inspiring.

Hopefully Sarah didn't mind my pointing out things every two seconds...
"Oh, oh, Sarah, check out this spiderweb!"

"Hey Sarah, how bout this lichen?"

"Look Sarah, you can see the ferns blowing in the breeze through this old vent!"

We also found a bunch of huge snail shells. I'm talking monster snails. The picture below has one of our smaller, but more complete finds in the bottom left corner.



Sarah and I also spent a lot of time around Charles' Bastion. There were two of the circular look-out posts connected by this grassy arch.

They provided a wonderful view of the sea.
Makes Sarah look like a lonely girl lost in her thoughts of the distant shore.

But don't worry, she has me!!

There were also many great views of the surrounding countryside (when I could tear my gaze away from the sea).

I took a picture of Charles Bastion on the mosaic map out front, because I liked it so much.

Sarah and I finally caught back up with the rest of the group and we headed to the Bulman. The half hour we had to wait for lunch time to begin was worth it. My seafood salad was amazing!! and the toasted sandwiches were really good too. and my irish coffee. Oh my goodness the kitty cat was so adorable!!! With one blue eye and one yellow and so small and cute! The cat may have been my favorite part.

We finally began our walk back to town along a scenic path called the Scilly Way. Not, however, before witnessing two cars sideswipe each other pretty viciously. Everyone seemed perfectly fine and the cars didn't seem to be damaged either, so we found it funny as we had just been talking about how a one-lane sized street shouldn't be a two-way and how scary the speedy taxi ride had been.

I know Laurie already posted this picture, but what I read it as was "Caution Children, magical dwarves are on the loose and will try to get you with their green ladybugs!!"
Meanwhile, the walk was really relaxing and beautiful and Sarah and I once more fell behind as we basked in the loveliness.





You can just make out the ruins of James fort on the dark hill. Apparently a chain once ran from James fort to Charles fort. When enemy ships tried to enter the harbor, they pulled it taught, destroying their assailants. James fort is also built in the five-pointed star shape of Charles Fort.

The end! From there was the pub and waiting for the bus. Sadly the bus arrived before my coffee did. Oh well, at least I got to use the money I saved on not buying coffee to take the bus home! Overall, a really nice weekend. I've been really pleased with the places API has taken us thus far. I think I'm just a sucker for old ruins.

rain rain go away ... or else!!

So yeah, bluh. I didn't know I was going to trek around town today in the drizzly drizzle, but I would soon find out. After class I discovered Laurie and Sarah had plans to get their immigration cards today. So, after swinging by the apartments for lunch and to pick up all my forms and passport and 100 euros and such, we headed off. I'm not sure why I even took my umbrella. The wind made sure the rain got in. As you can see, my pants were totally wet, even up to my thighs.


So, an hour later we were relatively happy to be told our passports were good until we left in June, meaning no need for the card. Woo-hoo! Then we ran to Penney's. After a month of wearing double layers of everything to bed, I've decided I need a duvet like Laurie's. So now I have a big fluffity pillow blanket too!!! It was only 15 euros, so I felt it was worth the investment.

I also bought some shorts with a cute dragon on them. or maybe it's a seahorse. either way, it has whiskers.

Needless to say, we took the bus home. Last but not least, yesterday's sunset over Victoria Lodge and County Hall.

Back in the saddle

Dublin was so gorgeous!!! Absolutely fantastic. One little weekend was definitely not enough to take in all the sights. Was a lovely lovely trip though. The four hour bus ride took us through pretty Irish country side, very similar to Alabamian countryside.


Here we are fresh off the bus walking to the hotel.

The Harrington Hotel proved to be quite nice. Sarah, Mika, and I roomed together so we could plan birthday surprises and Laurie, Ashley, and Tara roomed together. Our room was nice and the bathroom was amazing (mainly because it had a huge bathtub).

These are the stairs right outside our room leading to the lobby.

Our first night there, we had a walk around St. Stephen's Green. A large lovely park right in the middle of the city. Apparently the park used to only be open to the elite who payed a fee for the privilege. Lucky for us, Mr. Guinness eventually made the park open to the public, contributing more to society than beer.


Later we went to a restaurant in the Concert Hall. Finding that the meal was pre-paid for, we all ordered the most expensive things we could find. Laurie had amazing mutton, Sarah and I savored crabmeat risotto and Mika picked pasta.

I even had two mochas and a coke, which for some reason, had a lemon stuck in it.

Afterwards, we attended a concert with music by John Adams, which reminded me a lot of Fantasia.

Sarah and Laurie bought John Adams CDs and we all got free t-shirts. Some of us went out after that and some of us, meaning Sarah and myself, took delicious showers and went to sleep.
Next day we were up bright and early, eating breakfast by 8 am. I had scrambled eggs with salmon. My ploy to eat a huge breakfast so that I wouldn't have to spend as much for a big lunch worked, but also left me feeling slightly icky for the rest of the day. Not that stopped me from enjoying every minute. We four and Ashley headed off for the bus stop. Here's us waiting for one of the double-decker buses to arrive.

The buses generally looked like these.

We finally made it to the zoo and it was totally awesome, despite being a bit chilly. We saw all sorts of animals, but I'll try not to post too many pictures of them, since I'm sure Laurie will be doing the same. We stopped for a snack at some point, which in my case meant a sausage roll (basically mushed up sausage in a warm pocket of bread). Here we all are checking out the gorillas.

We spent quite a while being creeped out by the ibises.

The monkeys are still my favorite, no matter what zoo I'm at.



We finally made our way around the African Plains and headed out.

That's a hippopotamus, in case you can't tell. Our next stop was Trinity College, a walled in University that creates a world unto itself. Enter in through the gate pictured below and the city disappears.


There we saw the Book of Kells. We thought the cost would be covered by our Dublin Pass, but no, we had to pay 7 euros. Consequently, I spent a little more time than I might have otherwise making sure I got my money's worth. It was really neat to see the old books and be astounded by their intricacy. I wasn't supposed to take pictures, but I only found that out after taking this one.

The Old Library itself was equally impressive. Floor to ceiling books, and the ceiling is a long way up. Pictures weren't allowed in the library either, but I have a brochure with it on there. I'll take a picture and upload it later. Just trust me that it was amazing and that I could have stayed another hour just being in awe of the library. After meandering in the gift shop, we went in search of food. By the time we were done at Mona Lisa, an Italian restaurant, we decided we'd run out of time to do anything else before dinner with the API group. So we all headed back to the hotel for a break. Or that's what Laurie thought!! Mika, Sarah, and I actually procured directions to a grocer's that was open late. Mika and Sarah hurried off to buy Laurie a surprise birthday cake, while I stayed behind in case Laurie visited. They made it back just in time to get ready and meet Edward at the Market Bar. Turned out that only us four and Ashley and Tara opted to go. We had to wait an hour or two to be seated, but the food was really good. I had big heapin helpin of nachos.

Back at the hotel we planned to meet at 9 for breakfast, before collapsing into bed.
So, yeah, Mika and Sarah and I have our Cadbury Swiss Gateau cake and chocolate caramel squares ready in the breakfast room by 8:40. 9 rolls around and right on by. By 9:30 Mika hurries Laurie down before breakfast time is over. She was quite surprised and delightfully embarrassed when the entire room burst into applause at our (we thought quiet) rendition of Happy Birthday. The waitresses were kind enough to wrap the leftovers in tin foil.


In our free time before the Literary Pub Crawl we took a quick bus tour. Mika and I explored St. Stephen's Green Shopping Center, while Sarah and Laurie strolled around St. Stephen's Green.


Very awesome shopping center, not so much for the stores as for the architecture. Although, on Friday afternoon I did buy an ice-cream cone there and Mika got a bag of candy, including a giant jelly snake. Oh, I also bought an awesome pair of shoes at a place called Zerep on Friday. They have a flower on them. And they were only 10 euros!

The Literary Pub Crawl began around noon. We met at a pub, I forget the name, and were led by an Irish actor around Dublin. I didn't partake of the drink, but I did have a whole pot of tea unto myself, which kept me sloshing for the rest of the tour.

At our first pub, our guide sang us a song and discussed James Joyce. At our second stop, under the bell tower of Trinity College, he reviewed Oscar Wilde. At our second pub, O'Neil, he went over a playwright whose name I believe was Benjamin Bean. The third pub, The New Stand, we were just supposed to take a break. Outside the fourth pub, he gave a quiz. We could have won the prize (a t-shirt), but we were all too awkward to shout out the answers. I did manage to get out that Oscar Wilde made up Hickory Dickory Dock. I knew because Edward cheated for us and had someone text him the answers. We decided to then have lunch at Bewley's a famous coffee house, which also had a restaurant attached. Then it was off to the bog bodies!! The Museum of Archeology was another architectural splendor.

The bodies were totally creepily cool!! I can't imagine what accidentally discovering them would have been like. They were definitely one of the highlights of the trip. We were going to get on a tour bus and just tour the city after that, but we got on the wrong bus. After being taken out of city centre, we had to hop on another bus and come back. From there we just walked around. Mika tried to sneakily record a man preaching to the public, but he caught her lookin at him and took it as a sign of interest. I thought this was hilarious from my safe vantage point across the street. Apparently, he actually said, "You seem like a pleasant girl, but wipe that smile off your face." I don't blame him considering she was trying not to laugh at him.

There was talk of gnashing of teeth. Enough said.
Eventually, time came to return to the hotel and wait an hour for the bus to arrive. Good thing it was freezing and that my back hurt. I was totally ready to get on the bus. The sunny Dublin weather definitely spoiled me for Cork. We got off the bus at around 11 and stepped into the cold drizzle. My new shoes are not meant for the rain, I'll tell you that. I did randomly find a nice watch on the sidewalk. It still works, despite the wet. Good for me.
Yesterday I slept it off until Laurie's birthday dinner. Sweet potato black bean chili was delicious. Little Debbie cakes with candles stuck in them made a tasty makeshift birthday. We thought we might have set off the fire alarms, but turned out someone downstairs burned their dinner. Laurie seemed to enjoy her gifts of two Ireland related T-shirts and my gift of three different kinds of cookies. Today I had to get back to work. So I caught up on my reading, ran to Tesco for groceries, and headed to class. Now I've got a handful of essays to write. Woohoo. Oh, I totally bought a pancake mix at the grocery store (the sample lady got me)and made a pancake for dinner and it was absolutely delicious, didn't even need syrup, which is good, because I don't have any. That's pretty much where I stand now. I'm sure Laurie will have a million more pictures to put up and maybe Sarah can bring herself to post too! Til' next time...