Dog Racing

Sorry for my absence the past few weeks. It's not because I haven't done anything, it's because I've been too busy to post. Here's my backlog of adventures.

Yesterday, me and 4 of my fellow American geology students took the bus to the dog racing park to see what all the fuss is about. It was amazing! There were 10 races, and all of us decided we should bet on a dog to get the whole experience. Ellie and I decided to go halvsies on a bet, so we arbitrarily picked a race and a dog, and we WON! Unfortunately, we only doubled our money, and we only put down 2 euro. It was pretty darn fun. You aren't allowed to take flash photography, so here's a video of the start of a race. I hope it works - I've never uploaded a video.

Sunshine in Ireland and Visiting Friends

Some of our IFG comrades who are studying in Germany for the year came to Ireland to visit us on their semester break. It was their turn to crash at our house after we stayed with them while we were in Germany for one of our classes. It's so fun to see those guys! Every time we see them the time flies way too fast, we eat too much good food, and we have a blast. It was a bummer to send them back to Germany, but it'll be grand when we all get back to Montana!

Beans on toast, a traditional Irish breakfast, to welcome our guests to Ireland.

Tea time in Kinsale with Eric

Pam & Ellie at tea time.

The gals outside Charles Fort.

Me, Ellie, & Eric

Stopping to smell the roses.

It got quite late on our adventure and the town of Kinsale looked very serene from our view point on the footpath. We stopped to enjoy the view and for a little pre bus ride snack.

Big ol' pair o' boots.

Taking a rest in the park.

Trying to smell the flowers along the river and avoiding the mine field of dog poos.

The bridge from the main campus to the geology department with the music department in the background up on the hill.

Beautiful view of St. Finbarre's Cathedral at sunset on a clear day. Not a common view around these parts!

Birthday Cake

This was the cake we ate for Ellie's birthday. It was just as tasty as it looks! I got it at the English Market, which is filled with all kinds of good food like this cake.

Old Head of Kinsale

Today I had a field trip to the Old Head of Kinsale for my structural geology class. Unfortunately, we had to battle the incoming tides and we couldn't gawk for too long at the cool folds in one area. It was absolutely freezing on the coast today. I came home and my entire body was still shaking. Despite the tide and the cold, I can't recall any other day that I learned as much as I learned today. I've been thinking about it since we left Kinsale.

Parasitic folds on the south limb of the syncline.

Killarney National Park

My roommate Ellie and I got a wild hair on Friday night and decided we were going to go to Killarney National Park. She's been talking about going for ages, and we finally went. There is actually some snow on the peaks of the mountains! It was great to see snow, but we didn't get a chance to get anywhere near it. We'd like to go back when the weather is a bit nicer and take a little hike. The mountains to the west of Loch Leane are the tallest mountains in Ireland. They are beautiful, but don't quite compare to Montana mountains.

Here's where I went. A) Cork and B) Killarney

Red deer I think

Loch Leane

Ellie and me.

Fungus amongus.

Lock Leane and Ross Castle with snow capped mountains in the background!

Ross Castle

Getting into the tree!

Ellie squeezed in.

Hangin' around.

Ellie and me.

Leather Belt

Whitney's dad, Mike, tooled this leather belt for me. He started it about a year ago and I just got it when Whit came to Ireland! It's been a long time comin' and I think that makes it even more exciting! The big bummer is that my belt buckle is in Montana. I looked for some here, but the only ones I've seen are dreadfully 'Old West' or something else equally as fashionable. I can wait another 7 weeks. Thanks Mike.







That's a lot of belt pictures, but I love it so much.

Gougane Barra

Yesterday, my Irish friend Joanne took Erin, Whitney, Ellie, and me to hike a the tallest peak in Ireland, but the weather was pretty crummy and she feared that her little car wouldn't fare well in the dirt track to the trailhead, so we improvised and she took us to the Gougane Barra, which is a remote, forested area and the headwaters of the River Lee, which flows into the Cork Harbour and into the ocean. In Cork, it is the most disgusting river I've ever seen, but in the Gougane Barra, it is the most lovely, crystal clear, peaceful network of streams that cascade down the high hill tops around the logh. It was a very very damp day and the photos are quite foggy and blurry, but here's a few that turned out.

Here's where we went.

A church built by St. Finnbar in the 6th century.

A monkey puzzle tree!

One of many streams.

Lookin' for fish.

Mossy wall and trees

The hillside with lots of small waterfalls.