Rennes, France- Fall Break

After my nice little weekend in Galway with Abby and Elizabeth, I unpacked, repacked, and hopped on a plane to France to visit my friend Connor. Connor and I met last year through Notre Dame's Swing Dance Club and became great friends. It was so nice to finally see someone from home after being away for 6 weeks.

I have never traveled to a country in which I did not know the local language, so flying in the CDG airport and navigating myself from Paris to Rennes over me, to say the least. I was surprised, however, at how much French I did understand and how much my years of Spanish came into play. There were many occasions in which I was talking to a person who did not know English, but could understand some Spanish.

Connor and I went all over Rennes. The city was beautiful and I adored the architecture. Connor describe Brittany (the part of France in which Rennes is located) as the Texas of the country. Everywhere we walked, you could see more Brittany flags than France flags. It was so cool. We went to a Stade Rennes game (one of my 101 goals!) and watched as the home team beat Marseille in the last thirty seconds of extra time! It was great!

The food in Rennes was phenomenal. There's nothing better than a fresh crepe! Rennes is famous for their gillettes, which is a savory crepe. We had a sausage gillette and a ham and cheese gillette while I was in town.

I didn't try to cram too much into my schedule while visiting Connor. It was just great to visit a friend from home and see how he's living in Europe. It was a blast!

101 in 1001 Update

Here's the latest update on my 101 in 1001 Challenge (you can see the entire list here):

28. Take a Spontaneous Vacation (11/14/14-11/16/14)

Shortly after class with our coordinator, Roberta, my friend Kimber and I were talking about how we weren't going to be able to visit London and Paris while studying in Ireland. This was Monday. By Tuesday, we had flights booked, were searching for a hostel, and double checking our finances to make sure we could afford to visit Paris. Within a few days time, Kimber and I were boarding our flight on RyanAir to Paris. I won't go too much into it here, as there is a separate post dedicated to the City of Lights. Thank you Kimber for planning this trip with me! Paris is definitely one of my most favorite cities in the world!

37. Read 25 non-school books. (2/25: 10/25/14 and 10/28/14)

I'm ashamed that I only set my goal at 25. I really ought to be reading more than 25 new books in two years. I finished the first of this list, however, while in Galway. I read Jailbird's Daughter. It was on the bookshelf at the hostel we were staying at. I read it in about 3 hours during our nap between walking around Galway and going out on the town while the other girls slept. I cannot recommend this book any more. It's a great story about a girl who fights her way to be a successful business woman and doesn't let her love life get in the way of her being successful. Such a good book!
Irene Carr's

I also read Lena Dunham's Not that Kind of Girl on my way to Rennes, France to visit Connor. I was in desperate need of something to get my mind off of school, and thanks to some other bloggers' I follow suggestions, I bought Dunham's book on my iPad. It was certainly an interesting read, and
I highly suggest it for women in high school or college. Dunham's essays take the reader through her life and discuss everything from personality quirks to sexuality. I could not put this book down. I basically read it on the flight to Paris and then the train to Rennes.


51. Don't bite nails for a month straight (10/27/14)

Okay, this isn't a big accomplishment, but I've made a constant effort not to be picking at my nails since I've gotten to Ireland. I'm amazed at how great my nails look. I  tend to pick at my nails and nailbeds when I'm nervous or anxious, and just thinking about it now is making me uncomfortable. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up and break that bad habit for good!

99. See a Rugby or Soccer game live (10/29/14; 11/18/14)

I was blessed to see two live soccer matches this fall. The first was in October when I went to Rennes to visit my friend Connor from Notre Dame. We went and saw Stade Rennes play and beat Marseille in the last thirty seconds of added time. It was an exhilarating win and I had a blast hanging out with Connor (you can read more about my trip with Connor here). It was a 3-2 victory for Rennes and the first time I got to see soccer (or football in europe) live!

The second time was even more exhilarating than the first! My flatmates and I got to see the US national team play Ireland in an international friendly at Landsdowne Field in Dublin. I have to be honest and say that the match didn't entertain me that much. However, I loved being able to go out with my flatmates and just hang out. It was a lot of fun.

Galway-Fall Break

Fall Break came and went quickly. It was hard to believe we were at the halfway point in the semester. I couldn't fathom that six weeks of classes  had already gone by and that I only really had six weeks left in my wonderful Ireland. I began fall break by traveling to Galway with Abby and her friend, Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Abby actually met last summer while they were studying in Galway. It was awesome to visit Galway and be shown around by two people who know and love the city like a local would. Galway was one of the cities everyone says you have to visit when you go to Ireland, and I wholeheartedly agree. I especially want to go back to Galway on a non-rainy weekend and walk down by the water.


We got to Galway on a friday night and checked into our hostel. Called The Bunk, our hostel was on the backside of this fancy 5-star hotel. The decor was very modern, clean, and quiet. Abby, Elizabeth, and I stayed in a 9 bed all female dorm. The coolest part of the hostel was the bunk beds. We slept in a triple bunk bed, which Abby and I decided were definitely necessary for our apartment. I couldn't help but think how much fun it would be to have one of these back home for me and the sisters. We settled in and napped for a bit before going out for food and to walk around Shop Street. We ate the most amazing pizza I have ever tasted at Dough Bros, a pop-up shop run by these two brothers and their friend. They own a food truck that goes around Galway, apparently, and were running the pop up restaurant for six weeks. We could hardly get enough and were tempted many times during our stay in the city to go back and eat more pizza. After Dough Bros, Abby and Elizabeth took me up and down Shop Street, which is famous for its bars and different boutiques. It leads from the heart of the city, down to the water. For a Friday night, Shop Street was hopping with so many people in the street and in the bars and clubs. It is a very popular spot to host Stag and Hen parties because of how many centrally located establishments. The city was so alive and exciting; I absolutely loved it. We grabbed gelato for dessert and then returned to the hostel to get some well deserved rest.



Abby and Elizabeth were most excited for Saturday morning. With an entire day to explore, Abby and Elizabeth took me to all of their old haunts from their summer in Galway. We visited this cafe, 37 West and feasted on their french toast, bacon, and the best pot of tea I've had in Ireland. It was one of Abby and Elizabeth's favorite place to eat when they lived in Galway. We walked all around NUIG–National University of Ireland, Galway and Galway's Cathedral. Both are photographed above (the cathedral is on the left and NUIG on the right). We went back to Shop Street on Saturday to peruse the shops and the farmers' market. Saturday was extra special on Shop Street, as they were having a Swing-a-thon to raise money for this charity for mental disabilities. It was so much fun to dance again! I hadn't danced since early August in San Diego, as Swing is not popular in Ireland. I was lucky that Abby had her camera ready and was able to capture some of the dances. We shopped a bit, ate a bit more, and then went and cleaned up at the hostel before going out for drinks on Shop Street. Overall it was a great trip and I can't wait to get back to Galway to see more of the city. It was a great start to the break.

Kilkenny and Kildare

Kilkenny is a great little city here in Ireland. Roberta took us right before our fall break in October to see the castle and walk around the city before going caving. We visited Jerpoint Abby and learned about how the abbeys functioned and ran until they were outlawed by the British before visiting Kilkenny city. Kilkenny Castle was amazing to go through. I didn't take many photos, but it was amazing how they had the original wallpapers and beddings. The Castle was extravagant.

My favorite part about traveling with Roberta is that she always picks the best restaurants for us to eat at. We are guaranteed to have great food and even better dessert when we are with her. We usually try to order all the desserts offered and share them amongst the group. It always works out the best and I am forever grateful that the other Belles I'm traveling with are so laid back. Our trips are always the best. We definitely give Roberta a run for her money with all of the shenanigans we pull– climbing trees, going to the edge of cliffs and poking our heads over, etc– but she takes it in good humor.

The cave we visited was awesome. It was a long walk down but once we got into the cave, it was like we were in another world. Dunmore cave housed over 4 different species of bats and had been growing for over a thousand years. There are still parts of the cave unexplored simply because they cannot be accessed at the moment. The scariest part was at one point, the tour guide turned off all the lights illuminating the cave. It was pitch black. You couldn't see a thing. We were unable to tell if our eyes were open or closed, for it all looked and felt the same.

The Oblisk

Later that weekend, our group was lucky enough to be given a tour of our home county Kildare by the leading historian on the area! Shamus Cullen is this absolutely remarkable little old man who has a thing for tragic romance stories. No joke, I love this man. He met us on campus, sat at the front of the bus, and just talked the entire day. It was great. Shamus took us all over Kildare, starting in Maynooth where we visited the Oblisk. The Oblisk was built by the Guinness family as a grand entry way to their manor house. It was massive.

We also went to Celbridge to visit the garden where Jonathan Swift courted his pupil Vennessa. We walked where they walked for four years before Swift married his wife (not Vennessa). Shamus explained their love story to us as we walked through the gardens, taking in the beauty. The gardens are not open to the public currently, but Shamus was able to get us in.

Gulliver's head as a tribute
to Jonathan Swift in the
garden we visited

We also visited Rathcoffey Church, which is one of the original stable churches. These were used when Christianity was outlawed and still a small sector in Ireland. Mass was held in the stables of farms, and many, like Rathcoffey, still stand today. I love being able to walk into churches that are over 200 years old and just think about how many people have come and gone through these walls, sat in the pews, and celebrated mass like we do today. It's remarkable to think about.

Shamus also took us to Bodenstown which is a burial ground and showed us where Wolf Tone made some of his most famous speeches. Tone was a nationalist who died trying to come back to Ireland from France where he recruited an army to overthrow the British. We were able to stand in where the politicians back in the day would, elevated above the grave yard. It was spooky, but cool.

Shamus and Rathcoffey Church

The coolest thing Shamus showed us though was in Donadee national park. He showed us the castle at Donadee, which is structurally compromised. He explained how they are expecting the castle to collapse on itself any year now, so it was awesome to see it still in one piece. While we were in Donadee we visited the 9/11 memorial located there honoring all of those who perished in the tragedy. It was a somber visit, but incredible to see how much the tragedy affected the world, not just America. We ended our trip with Shamus with visiting St. Patrick's Church. We stood where they believed his original church was built and admired the new building (new meaning it was still built before the 1800s).

The view of the castle at Donadee
 from St. Patrick's Church

It was a great way to end our weekend excursions with Roberta. Our 6 weeks were up and after fall break, we were set to travel alone wherever we wanted. Shamus was awesome to have, as he offered all of these great tales from around the county. It's even cooler that he's lived here his entire life and is Roberta's neighbor!

Causey Farms

The sheep's wool was exceptionally soft

Karen, a professor at Saint Mary's who is in charge of the Ireland program and who is currently on sabbatical in Ireland with us, took us to Causey Farms. I won't deny that I think of myself as a city girl, so going to Causey definitely put me out of my element. It was fun though. I am not comfortable around animals, so petting the sheep, catching a chicken (which I did on the first try, thank you very much), and feeding the horses really challenged me to be open minded and to try to interact with the creatures. My favorite part of Causey farms was baking our own soda bread. It's surprisingly easy to Irish soda bread and the recipes vary from family to family. The one we used was perfect to dip into soup. Vegetable soup is very popular in Ireland, and you'll never have the same vegetable soup twice, I'm certain of it! The major highlight of the trip was visiting the bog, which is a pool of mud that lacks oxygen. There are these crazy stories of finding perfectly preserved corpses in the bogs, as the lack of oxygen preserves the body. There are some great specimen at the Natural History Museum in Dublin. I didn't participate in jumping in the bog because I did not have a change of clothes and I am still not comfortable getting all muddy and then driving two hours home. We learned how to play the Irish drums and learned an Irish reel while at the farm too! It made me wish I took up Irish Step dancing as a kid! Overall, the farm life isn't that bad. I could get used to it.

Vegetable soup and our homemade bread

Playing in the bog

Killarney with my Smicks

Let me tell you, there is nothing better than hopping on the bus with Eugene, our driver, and hitting the road to go to southwest Ireland. We spent a weekend in Killarney, CO. Kerry to see Dingle, the Ring of Kerry, Killarney National Forest, and Muckrose House. Not to mention, our Irish were playing Stanford.

We got in late Friday night and immediately fell asleep. Saturday morning, after the most delicious traditional Irish breakfast, we hit the road to drive the ring of Kerry. It was absolutely beautiful being down by the water and it didn't rain on us once. It rained while we were in the bus, however, the moment we parked and stepped outside, the rain would stop! Lucky, right? We literally spent all day in the bus driving the Ring and even found ourselves in front of this little cottage on the side of the road, asking for directions on how to get to the Skelligs. The cutest little old man simply pointed past our bus. His home had a great view of the Skelligs, which are these islands off the west coast of Ireland that were home to some of the most secluded monasteries in Ireland. The islands are beautiful, and I'm sure that they are quite intimidating during a bad rain storm.

The little beach we stopped at for lunch
on the Ring of Kerry

The private beach at Derrynane

Climbing on the rocks on at the beach
at Derrynane

Our tour of the Ring of Kerry led us on a tour of Daniel O'Connell's childhood home. O'Connell is known as the Liberator in Ireland and was a key political figure in Catholic Emancipation in the 1820s and worked on repealing the Act of Union of 1800. He was this great barrister turned politician. He had a beautiful home right on the water. We climbed all around the rocks at that beach and took in the wonderful sun. I'm sure Roberta, our coordinator out here, would've had a fit. She's not a fan of us climbing and crawling places where we can get hurt. I understand that completely, I'm sure. We ended our tour by going through Killarney National Park, where Kimber, Katie, Pat, Alexis and I decided to climb up this huge tree. I'm sure it must be like watching 12 children running amuck for Roberta.

Our set up for the game

After dinner and some rest, our group headed out to a sports bar to see if we could watch the Notre Dame vs. Stanford football game. Alas, Ireland still doesn't get NBC, so we were forced to return back to the hotel lobby to stream it from our laptops. What a game! We were on the edge of our seats by the end of it and probably woke up the entire hotel when Notre Dame won. We took the win as a sign to celebrate and walked back to the city centre. It was a great night and a great way to celebrate a phenomenal win!

On Sunday, Roberta surprised us with horse and carriage rides through Killarney National Park to Muckrose House. It was a chilly morning, but it certainly beat taking the bus over to the house. There were a ton of people walking and running through the park and I was shocked at how much brush was everywhere. My mind kept going back to how this entire park would be lost if a cigarette wasn't put out properly. My carriage was laughing at my California mindset (I'm sorry but it was October, and that's definitely still fire season back home). Muckrose house was quite extravagant. Queen Victoria visited and stayed at the house. That was cool. We saw the bedroom she stayed in and got to learn about the great lengths the owners had to go through to prepare for the queen's visit.

I loved Killarney. It certainly is one of the places in Ireland I could see myself living in if I wasn't to live near Dublin.

Muckrose House! The pain pathway Queen Victoria would
have taken when first arriving at the house

Our Horse!

Staying up to date

Needless to say, I have not kept up with this blog as I had wished this semester. I promise, I haven't forgotten about it and I haven't neglected recording my tales. It seems like the semester just got crazy all of the sudden and is now just slowing down as we prepare to leave. I will continue to post about my adventures here, even if it's just for myself.

I've updated the url and the name of the blog, in case you haven't noticed. I like Belles, Bows, and Diamonds much more than The Travelling Belle. It drives me crazy that I had to misspell traveling in order to get that url. So now, the blog will be Belles, Bows, and Diamonds. I figured it encompasses all of my interests and will allow me to blog about so much more than traveling while I finish school back in the States.

I promise I will get better at posting and such! I have so many ideas for this blog and where I want to go with it. I just have to execute those ideas!

Much Love!
Leah

Glendalough, County Wicklow

The Upper Lake

Our second weekend in Ireland was spent in Co. Wicklow, visiting Glendalough. I loved Glendalough. It is the site of an old monastery set up by St. Kevin. It was breathtaking. I can only describe the experience as walking through the Redwood national park while also climbing through the ruins of a monastery founded in the 6th century. All of my photos were used without a filter. I feel as though I cannot tell you about Glendalough, rather the photos can only do this place justice.

Sligo, our first weekend in Ireland

"Neath these portals thread some of the
most Beautiful Girls 

We visited Sligo on our first Saturday in Ireland. Leaving at 7 am was not ideal, but I cannot lie that it was so worth it. Sligo is located in Northwest Ireland, just south of County Donegal, west of County Leitrim, and east of County Mayo. It was breath-taking. We visited Carrowmore, a historical site of a thousand year old open passage tombs. There were about a dozen smaller, open-passage tombs facing this one big one (you can see parts of the large tomb and the smaller surrounding tombs in the pictures below). Passage tombs, with these complex inner chambers, are the most extravagant of the Irish megalithic monuments. The tombs stood as complex monuments linked to a religion with its own ideology and rituals. Historians don't know much of what the religion consisted of, but from the structures of the passage tombs, they have been able to infer strict rules governing the building and placing on monuments. The large tomb at Carrowmore, for example is built so that on a very clear morning on Halloween, the sun will rise between these two peaks in the mountain range not far away and shine a direct path into the inner tomb of the large exterior. The sun shines directly through the entry path seen in the last photo and hits the inner tomb where the top rock sits on the back two rocks of the smaller inner tomb. It was very eery how exact the ancient Irish were when building these tombs.

After Carrowmore, we visited one of the numerous Holy Wells in the country. The one we went to was famous for it's statue of Mary. The statue has been known to float through the gardens of the Holy Well and has been witnessed doing so in front of hundreds of thousands of people. It was a beautiful sight to see. After our quick pit stop at the well, we set off to climb Knocknarea and Queen Medb's tomb. It was a good 30 minute trek up the mountain, but the views were impeccable. From one side of the mountain, you could see the rolling hills and farms of Ireland to the south; from the other, you could see the Atlantic and Sligo Bay, and the hills of Donegal.

Our day ended with a trip to a pub in Strandhill, where the Saint Mary's girls were seated under the most appropriate sign, as seen in the photo above. After a quick sprint down to the beach to put our feet in the water and climb around on the rocks, we returned home to prepare for our mission for Sunday. Roberta challenged us to get ourselves to Dublin and explore 3 of it's historical OPW sites without her as a guide. Needless to say, we rose to the occasion and successfully got ourselves to the train station, all around Dublin, and back.

The exterior of the largest tomb
at Carrowmore 

The inner, actual tomb at Carrowmore.
The top rock only touches three of the
supporting rocks directly. 

A smaller open passage tomb with
Knocknarea in the background to the left

The entrance to the largest
tomb at Carrowmore

The smaller tombs were
still big enough for us
to climb in. 

The entrance to the Holy Well

The view of the top of Knocknarea overlooking the Atlantic
and parts of Donegal. I love this view.