I really need to keep more up to date on this blog because I'm really behind on informing everyone about my life here. My last post was October 15 which was two weeks ago. A lot of memorable moments have taken place in that time. That Thursday night most of the international students were going out to celebrate being in Liverpool for a month. I wasn't going to go out since I had to get up at 4:30 am to leave for Dublin. At the last minute I decided to go out since we were all having such a blast. The night was really great and I got in at about 2:30 in the morning. I couldn't fall asleep and I only got 3o minutes of sleep before getting up for Dublin. At 5:00 all of us met up and took a taxi. On the trip were my friends Emily, Alyssa, Cristina, and Sharon. We got to the airport and went through security which took for ever even though it was 6 in the morning. We made it to our Ryanair flight just in time. The plane seriously looked like it was held together by elmer's glue and when we took off I thought it might actually fall apart. The flight took less than 30 minutes from Liverpool to Dublin and there wasn't even a line for customs. First time in Ireland!!!!
We got a 1 day bus pass once we got out of the airport and we took a bus into the city of Dublin. The first thing we did when we got off the bus was to find an ATM and then get some coffee and breakfast. Once we took care of that we started moving around the city. Some of the sites we saw near O"Connell Street were the Garden of Remembrance, Dublin City Gallery, shopping district, and the Spire. Next we crossed over the river and made our way past Oscar Wilde's house and saw the campus of Trinity College. For lunch we went to the Temple Bar district and ate at a place called From Mexico to Roma which had a lunch special that was phenomenal. The next place we went after our relaxing lunch was St Stephens' Green which was the most beautiful park. We spent a bunch of time there just relaxing and watching the ducks. After that we walked to the Medieval and Cathedral district. We got to see St. Patrick's Church, Christ Church Cathedral, and Dublin Castle. There were so many little reminders of the Chronicles of Narnia. We saw some Turkish Delight and a lamp post that probably came straight out of the wardrobe. At this point we had been walking for the whole day so we decided to take a bush just to see where it would take us. Then we took the bus back into the city to meet up with Angels who took a later flight. We went to the train station and saw the Guinness factory from there. We had a quick meal at the train station and took the train to Cork. Once we got in we had to find our hostel at 12 at night in a city we had never been to. Eventually we figure out where we were and made it to the hostel. The room was so small and amazingly fit 3 bunk beds. We went to bed pretty much right away since we were so tired.
We slept in until like 9:15 and got ready for the day. The hostel beds were actually really comfortable and I got a great night of sleep. When we checked out, we heard about a bunch of things we should do. We walked down to the centre of the city and the sun was shining it was absolutely beautiful. We went to the Old English Market which has been there since the 1600s. It had every specialty shop you could imagine. I had the most amazing croissant and orange juice I've ever had in my life. So good. We walked around the city for a while but by that time it was raining/sprinkling. Then we made our way to the bus station to buy tickets to go to Blarney. When we got there, we looked at our map to see where we wanted to go. We walked up to one side of the castle and saw the dungeons. Then we made our way to the Rock Close which was like walking into Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings. It was absolutely beautiful with all the different types of vegetation and rock formations. After that we walked past the stables and up to Blarney House which is where I planning on living in the future. The last thing we did was climb up the castle. The stairs were narrow and small with only a rope to hold on to but the view from the top was worth it. At the top everyone kisses the Blarney Stone which is suppose to bless you with good speech. To do this you have to lay on your back and hang upside down with the help of a man to kiss the stone. You are seriously looking at the ground while doing this. Kinda scary. Once we got down and out of the castle we took the bus back to Cork. When we arrived back in Cork, we ate at a nice little pizza place and then went to get ice cream. After that we took the bus to the airport and waited for our plane. It was wierd being away from Liverpool for two days. I was definitely ready to get back. We arrived safely home at Aigburth and relaxed for a bit before going to bed.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
You'll Never Walk Alone
Sorry for not posting anything in a while. We’ve been keeping busy here and I’m really good at procrastinating everything. So last time I blogged I had just started classes. Now it is the end of three weeks of actual class and everyone at home is starting their fall breaks already. Extremely weird to think about. Classes are actually pretty good and they’re really interesting. Its odd having class for three days a week though. As of today I’ve been gone for a month. It feels like just yesterday that I was in Cleveland. Ok, so here are some of the highlights from these past weeks.
This is Anfield: On Sunday October 4, my friends and I went to Anfield which the stadium of Liverpool F.C. As most of you know, I have an insane passion for football (soccer to all you Americans) in general but especially for Liverpool F.C., so today was a great day. When we got to the stadium, we spent some time in the store looking at merchandise before the tour. Talk about temptation to spend money. Once the tour started I was pretty much out of my mind with excitement. We got to enter through the player’s entrance and walk through the interview rooms. The tour guide described what the players and coaches do on a match day. We went through the dressing rooms of the home and away teams and also saw the referee room. In the home dressing room we got to sit next to the players’ jerseys and take pictures. After that we got to walk out onto the pitch and touch the This is Anfield sign which is iconic and the players touch it before walking out onto the pitch. Then we got to sit where the substitutes and staff sit as well as sit in the Kop. Then we went through the Liverpool F.C. museum and got to see the club throughout the ages. In the store, I bought Fernando Torres’ book which I totally love. The last thing we did at the stadium was go around to the Shankly Gates and see the Hillsborough Memorial which was created in remembrance of the 96 Liverpool fans who died at a match in 1986.
Jesus Culture: On Wednesday, a group of us went to a huge church in Liverpool called Frontline for something called Jesus Culture. The people who run it are Americans and they have this tour across the U.K. with a conference and nights of preaching and worship. The worship was absolutely wonderful and the message really moved my heart. It was so amazing to see the work God is doing in this city as well as in the United Kingdom. It was great to be able to spend time with other believers in another country and make connections with other brothers and sisters in Christ.
On Sunday October 11, a bunch of us went to the International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum in Albert Dock. The museums were extremely interesting and it was cool to see the impact that Liverpool has had as a port city. The slavery museum moved through three different areas allowing people to get a sense of Africa and then the slave trade and then how race is viewed today and how far things have come. Also, we viewed part of the Maritime Museum that dealt with the Titanic, Lusitania, and other sunken ships. That night Emily, Hannah, and I tried to walk to Frontline Church from Aigburth and after about an hour and a half of walking we made it for the last 15 minutes of service but hopefully we’ll make it for the whole service soon.
Those were some of the highlights. The weather here has been absolutely wonderful and its only rained like twice that actually impacted us. It is actually warmer here then it is at home which is absolutely awesome. Tomorrow I’m going to Dublin and Cork so I’ll have another update about my first travels. I also bought tickets to Rome last night, so I’m really pumped for that. Love you all!
This is Anfield: On Sunday October 4, my friends and I went to Anfield which the stadium of Liverpool F.C. As most of you know, I have an insane passion for football (soccer to all you Americans) in general but especially for Liverpool F.C., so today was a great day. When we got to the stadium, we spent some time in the store looking at merchandise before the tour. Talk about temptation to spend money. Once the tour started I was pretty much out of my mind with excitement. We got to enter through the player’s entrance and walk through the interview rooms. The tour guide described what the players and coaches do on a match day. We went through the dressing rooms of the home and away teams and also saw the referee room. In the home dressing room we got to sit next to the players’ jerseys and take pictures. After that we got to walk out onto the pitch and touch the This is Anfield sign which is iconic and the players touch it before walking out onto the pitch. Then we got to sit where the substitutes and staff sit as well as sit in the Kop. Then we went through the Liverpool F.C. museum and got to see the club throughout the ages. In the store, I bought Fernando Torres’ book which I totally love. The last thing we did at the stadium was go around to the Shankly Gates and see the Hillsborough Memorial which was created in remembrance of the 96 Liverpool fans who died at a match in 1986.
Jesus Culture: On Wednesday, a group of us went to a huge church in Liverpool called Frontline for something called Jesus Culture. The people who run it are Americans and they have this tour across the U.K. with a conference and nights of preaching and worship. The worship was absolutely wonderful and the message really moved my heart. It was so amazing to see the work God is doing in this city as well as in the United Kingdom. It was great to be able to spend time with other believers in another country and make connections with other brothers and sisters in Christ.
On Sunday October 11, a bunch of us went to the International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum in Albert Dock. The museums were extremely interesting and it was cool to see the impact that Liverpool has had as a port city. The slavery museum moved through three different areas allowing people to get a sense of Africa and then the slave trade and then how race is viewed today and how far things have come. Also, we viewed part of the Maritime Museum that dealt with the Titanic, Lusitania, and other sunken ships. That night Emily, Hannah, and I tried to walk to Frontline Church from Aigburth and after about an hour and a half of walking we made it for the last 15 minutes of service but hopefully we’ll make it for the whole service soon.
Those were some of the highlights. The weather here has been absolutely wonderful and its only rained like twice that actually impacted us. It is actually warmer here then it is at home which is absolutely awesome. Tomorrow I’m going to Dublin and Cork so I’ll have another update about my first travels. I also bought tickets to Rome last night, so I’m really pumped for that. Love you all!
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