Free Day in Dublin :)

Sunday was our free day so Kaitlynn and I made plans to go to mass at Christ Church Cathedral and then to the Guinness Storehouse. Mass was BEAUTIFUL.  It was so moving and afterwards, we met a lovely gentleman from Tanzania who was kind enough to teach us some Gaelic phrases that he thought we might need in Galway (we didn't and couldn't remember them anyway), but it was so kind of him! It was nice to see that the friendliness of the Irish spreads even to people who are just visiting.

Inside Christ Church

Beautiful stained glass behind the pews

On our way to the Guinness Storehouse, we got a bit lost but ended up stumbling upon this great little local shop where I ended up getting most of my gifts. 

<http://grandgrand.bigcartel.com>

Above is the link but the store had so much more! There was a ton of stuff like earrings and journals that were made from the locals and from recycled goods. It was so cool. I really loved that store, it was definitely worth getting a little turned around.

When we eventually made it to the storehouse, we went basically sent free to roam around the building, which was great because we could move at our own pace.

This is the lease that Arthur Guinness signed in 1755 for 9,000 years with an annual rent of 45 euros. WOW. For me, that was the most mind-blowing thing.

This is the waterfall inside the storehouse (water is one of the four ingredients in Guinness)

Delicious lunch in the cafe in the storehouse. Vegetable soup & brown bread :)

Our pints of Guinness in the Gravity Bar!

The Gravity Bar was so cool! It was at the very top of the storehouse and was all glass so you could look out all over Dublin! I didn't get any pictures of the view from there because it was jam-packed with people when we were there so here's the link: http://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/EventSpaces_GravityBar.aspx so you don't miss a thing. :)

This was a great way to spend our last full day in Dublin! So excited to go to Fermoy in County Cork next! :)

Day Trip to Boyne Valley!

During the Boyne Valley trip, I was flooded with information and unfortunately not a lot of it stuck. This post will contain mostly pictures and little tidbits that I do remember. If you make this trip yourself, I recommend getting a brochure or something of that sort because the area is SO beautiful that you will not be paying attention to what your tour guide is saying!
Our first stop was Newgrange.  This prehistoric site predates BOTH Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids! It is a passage grave that also aligns perfectly with the sunrise during the Winter Solstice.  That is the only time that the sun illuminates the inside of Newgrange, however it rarely actually happens since it's typically cloudy.  There was white quartz on the outside of the structure which I would have loved to see on a sunny day, but it was a typical cloudy day in Ireland when we went. However, still breathtaking!  There were also several small grave sites surrounding the massive structure.

Outside of Newgrange

View from Newgrange (it was on top of a hill) and nearby, smaller grave sites

Smaller gravesite next to Newgrange

We were able to go inside the structure at Newgrange (refer to the top picture--yes, we had to squeeze in through that tiny door!). It was very cramped but so cool! There were markings on the walls and our tour guide even had a light that simulated what it would look like during the sunrise on the Winter Solstice. It was incredible!!

Next stop: The Hill of Slane.  The Hill of Slane is where it is said that St. Patrick gave a speech on Christianity in order to convert the Irish.  It's also where he lit the Pascal fire on the evening before East Day about 1600 years ago!  This is also where the king would reside because the castle ruins were way at the top of the hill and the king had to be able to see all that was coming towards him.  We were able to go in the ruins and walk (and climb) around. It seemed like it was just a public place. No fees, no official tour guides, no fences. I LOVED taking pictures here with all of the ruins and the graveyard. Also in the pictures, you'll notice bright yellow patches in the background which are rapeseed (or canola) crops. They made for a great pop of color on this dreary day!

From the bottom of the hill

the graveyard

the graveyard & canola crops

the graveyard through the ruins

On top of the ruins

View from the ruins

A little staircase that I walked down! So narrow & steep!

Next stop: Trim Castle! Trim Castle is the castle that was used in the movie Braveheart! Obviously, since it was used in the movie it was still intact for the most part. Inside there was so much moss growing everywhere but they are working to preserve it!  I learned that the spiral staircases in the castle were specifically placed so that if there were any invaders, the soldiers defending the castle would have the advantage. Another interesting, but gross, fact was the bathroom situation... They would let their waste stew and then stir the pit, which would release ammonia gas which would then clean their clothes. So, they were basically doing their laundry with their waste. Very gross to me, but I guess if it got the job done, then it works. But, I am SO glad that method is lost.

front of Trim Castle

view from the top of Trim Castle

Next stop: Mellifont Abbey.  This place was definitely overflowing with history. The lands started out as a monastery and was then purchased by the Moore family.  After that, they allowed their workers to take stones from the massive structures to build homes for their own families. There was one building that was still in tact: the chapter house.  The chapter house was the dining room for the Moore's who had a friend named Hugh O'Neill.  O'Neill was "playing" both sides of the war: the Irish and the English so he would not have to chose sides. When he was found out by the English, the Queen demanded that he sign over his land in order to pay off the English soldiers. So, some soldiers were sent out to find him and they found him hiding in the Moore's chapter house. That was where he signed the treaty, signing his land over to the Queen.  This resulted in the creation of Northern Ireland. Unbeknownst to O'Neill, the Queen died a few days prior to the signing, making the treaty invalid.  However, since O'Neill signed it, the deed was done. It was so interesting learning that this man is pretty much the sole reason for all the dispute between the Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland.

the ruins of Mellifont Abbey

Inside the chapter house

Next (& final!) stop: Hill of Tara.  Alright, so the Hill of Tara wasn't much to look at really because it's pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a big hill, surrounded by other hills. But the history that went with it was amazing! It seemed to be mostly oriented around the kings who would rule Ireland.  On top of the highest hill was the Stone of Destiny, which determined who would be king. Over near the church that was later erected, were 2 stones that the would-be king has to ride his horse through, and if the stones moved to let him through, he was good to become king. Then, he had to ride his horse all the way to the Stone of Destiny, where he would place his hand on the stone and if it let out a screech, he was the rightful king.  Speculations surrounding the Hill of Tara seemed to be rather endless with stories of fairies and the leprechauns living under the hill. These were definitely cute little folklore tales, but they all seemed so out there, I wonder how they even originated.

Everyone on the Hill of Tara

The sun finally peaked out!

The view

The Stone of Destiny & tombstone

The trip to Boyne Valley was so beautiful! I highly recommend it just for the scenery. Definitely do some background research beforehand though so you can focus on the folklore and personal stories from your tour guide!

Forestry Development Department & St Peter's Dunboyne hurling match!

On Friday we got to go to an actual forestry field instead of staying in a conference room and being lectured about how everything works. I enjoy hands-on learning much more than a classroom setting, it also makes it pretty much mandatory to stay awake. This day was definitely the most agriculture-related day, which I know nothing about.
The farmer's name is Anthony Mooney and he is also being assisted by  the company Teagasc so smaller business will succeed and flourish. We were able to see different processes like how the trees are grown (obviously) on the farm but then some are turned into timber, others, wood chips, etc. It seemed like most of his land was dedicated to growing ash and sycamore. It's important to get tall pieces for timber and a farmer gets tall, unbranched trees by weeding out smaller trees that have no chance of being timber and the tree branches are pruned so the tree will grow straighter.

Everyone with Anthony Mooney (way in the back) and our bus driver, Aiden, who is a fantastic person

After the forestry field, our professor arranged with our bus driver to go back to Dunboyne for the hurling match. However, it was about noon time and the match wasn't until late that evening. So we stopped at a place called The Mint Leaf for lunch, then we were able to set out and explore the town as we pleased, meet up at a restaurant/pub called Slevin's for dinner, and then we would all make our way over to the pitch. The town was small and lovely. If you knew the name of one hurling player, you could connect with almost anymore. This was this first place that I found myself looking in real estate offices. I ended up buying a hurling jersey, supporting the local team and planned to have any hurling players I could get to, sign it. Everything went as planned, we met up at Slevin's for dinner and walked over to the pitch for the game and they even waived the entry fee for us! The game was fast and intense. Unfortunately, we lost, but a few of the hurling players offered to take us out to a pub called Brady's after the match. Our professor approved this and arranged with our lovely bus driver to pick us up outside of Brady's at 11pm. This had to be the best experience of local life during the whole trip. It was really great just talking to everyone for a few hours since this was a smaller town, pretty much everyone was locals as opposed to in Dublin, there's a good amount of tourists. Overall, a really great night for me. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to be out the door for a tour at 8am the next morning.

Sláinte!

Croke Park & Hop on/Hop off bus

Thursday was mostly a free-day, so forgive me for the lack of knowledge, but I have pictures! We all left the hostel together and took a bus to Croke Park, where the GAA sports are played. The professional players who play on this field, are NOT paid. They do it purely for the love of the sport (endorsements and advertisements help their bank account, of course) and most players have a regular job working 9-5 five days a week. Fortunately, the Irish people love these sports so much that there was eventually enough funding to construct this incredible stadium. I believe our tour guide said it was the 3rd largest stadium in Europe.

The stadium was build over railway tracks, which I found to be quite odd, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Having the tracks there makes it so easy to get to and from the stadium SAFELY. Even the way the stadium was built was different. I know nothing about architecture or anything of the sort so if some one shows me a stadium, I assume nothing is wrong with it. However, the guide mentioned that most people ask why it isn't finished.

As you can see in the picture above, I suppose it does look unfinished, but something about the way the wind blows would have made it impossible to have stands/a wall there. As you can also see from the picture, the field is HUGE. I do not have a single picture where the entire field is captured. We walked all around the stadium, inside the stadium, in the locker rooms, in the victory room, the cafe, and the museum. There is SO much history everywhere you go in Ireland!

On a more solemn note related to history, Croke Park is where the famous Bloody Sunday occurred. GAA events always happen on Sundays (for the county leagues, we went to a smaller division game on a Friday-tomorrow!!!) Anyway, the Black and Tans opened fire during a hurling match, people were killed, including a player, a young woman who was about to be married and 2 younger children. Hundreds were injured. In the museum, there is a memorial for those who were lost on that tragic day.

After our tour was over, we were free to go off and explore the museum and/or eat at the cafe if we wanted to. We had some time before the bus came back to get us so I checked out the museum and got a warm bowl of soup at the cafe-- soup ALWAYS hits the spot when you're in Ireland, it takes the chill off your bones and the Irish really know how to make a delicious bowl of soul every time. The picture below is a quote that was in the museum, a nice pick-me-up if you're in need of some inspiration. :)

Now to the Hop on/Hop off bus tour! I wish I could have recorded what all the drivers were saying while we were on their buses because 1. they were informative and 2. they were hysterical. I don't know what's in the water but it really seemed like the driver/tour guide loved his job (a common theme with our tour guides in Ireland, save for one, maybe). I understand enthusiasm is a part of the job description, but these people were fantastic. Anyway, Kaitlynn (from University of Wyoming) and I checked out Trinity College briefly and considered seeing the Book of Kells. We decided against it because we felt it was pretty expensive. Later, I talked to a friend who did go see the Book of Kells and she said it was disappointing because you can only look at one page, so I'm glad we got to go back to Trinity College after the first day but I'm glad we ended up not seeing the Book of Kells. Then, we hopped back on the bus and made our way to St. Patrick's Cathedral. This place was GORGEOUS. Absolutely breathtaking. Maybe it's just the Christian in me, but I love churches. And I love photography in churches...

 Inside St. Patrick's

 Outside St. Patrick's

 Driving by the entrance to Dublin Castle

Inside St. Patrick's again

Not only was everything about St. Patrick's beautiful, but something happened while I was there that I just loved. While all the tourists, myself included, were standing around gawking at the beauty of this church, the children from the school across the street (St. Patrick's school, I'm assuming) were in the church having choir practice. I can't say for sure what it was, but something about that just touched me. These kids are exposed to this kind of beauty every single day! They walk down the street and see incredible amounts of history. I walk down the street and see trees or congestion (depending if I'm in south or north Jersey..). I just so hope that these kids appreciate what they experience every day.

After hopping back on the bus, we went to Kilmainham Gaol museum/former jail. If you want to go to a creepy place, this is where to go. Maybe it was just the day in general, but I was chilled to the bone the entire time I was there. Every room was damp and cold and dark. Honestly, I couldn't hear much of what the tour guide was saying and I was so cold and uncomfortable that I don't remember the facts, not a must-see on my list, but interesting if you're into jails the way I'm into churches. The chained dragons were above the main entrance to the jail and are meant to symbolize rebellion.

We were going to go to the zoo in Dublin but the weather was just so awful that we decided to return to the hostel, warm up, and then go out again for some dinner. My taste of local life that day was passing by the street bands in Temple Bar. To avoid confusion, "Temple Bar" is not a bar, but an area, a few years ago a man decided that he would open a bar called "Temple Bar" in Temple Bar. It's very confusing and annoying to explain but we were in Temple Bar (the area) looking for a place to eat that wasn't jam-packed when we saw the band on the street. They were scattered everywhere, really. Being home now, the street bands and performers are something I really miss.

Grange Beef Research Center, Sheplands Farm, and the Irish National Stud

On Wednesday, our itinerary showed that we would be spending most of the day at the Grange Beef Research Center. As a vegetarian of eight years, I was not looking forward to this day at all. I thought we were going to see slabs of meat, learn about slaughtering, and maybe even taste some meat (grass-fed vs concentrate-fed, maybe?). Thankfully, none of that actually happened.
I learned that cattle in Ireland are mostly grass-fed. Since Ireland has the great weather where there's a downpour of rain one minute, then bright and sunny the next, the green, green grass there is lush, fresh and beautiful. So, if the feed for the cattle is free and nutritious, why waste money on buying concentrates and supplements (like the U.S. has to do)? Grange has nine key concepts to obtain the optimum beef: beef systems, genetics/breeds, animal reproduction, nutrition, forage conservation, grassland, animal housing and storage, animal welfare and health, and beed quality. There are 3 beef production systems: beef from suckler to heard, beef from dairy herd, and modeling beef production. There is a beef production index for sucklers, a growth index in dairy beef cattle, and feed efficiency in sucklers called RFI (residual feed intake). Production of feed is where most of the expenses lie, so it is important for the cattle to have a well-balanced diet while also not running the farm out of business. Grange uses molecular technology to improve fertility. This is relatively controversial, however most of the population has accepted techniques like artificial insemination. Concerning nutrition, the calves are weaned at 7 weeks old and go into bull beef systems and bull growth paths to ensure a healthy growth and development. Forage conservation focuses on ensiling and feeding alternative forages, grass silage/traditional bales, industrial uses, and gaseous emissions. Conservation is incredibly important because the last thing a farmer wants is a deficit (or on the opposite end of the spectrum, an excess) throughout the seasons. Grange is an environmentally conscious company, so any gases emitted during forage processing are monitored and limited. Studies on grasslands focus on maximizing grass in the diet and grazing on legumes. Pasture rotation is maintained so the cows do not graze on grass to the point where it is too short or lack of grazing so the grass gets too long. There was a specific length of grass where it was not too short but not too long and the nutrients were optimal. Even though I would never pursue a future in anything beef related, I definitely learned a good amount of information at the Grange Beef Research Center.
All of my favorite parts of this trip consist of spending time with the locals. Fortunately, we were able to go to Sheplands Farm, a beef cattle farm run by a German man named Heinz Eggert. I am more of a visual learner in general, so I was paying more attention to my surroundings than what the farmers were saying, but that's not to say I didn't learn anything here. We were given a handout upon arrival that contained a graph with the breakdown of farming costs. As expected, feed costs took up a majority of the finances. While here, we learned that Mr. Eggert is running the farm with an organization called Teagasc, associated with Alltech, on a program called the Better Farm Program. The goal of this program is for the farmer(s) to have a steady increase of gross profit, which Mr. Eggert has achieved. The program ensures this by reducing production costs and increasing farm output. There are a few other variables, of course, but so far the program has been quite successful.

Mr. Heinz Eggert on his farm

After our lectures and seeing the farm, we took our bus to the Irish National Stud and Japanese gardens.  The founder of the stud had a fascination with japanese gardens and astrology, an odd combination with breeding horses, but he was definitely doing what he loved. Our tour guide took us around the grounds of the stud and showed us several of the mares with their foals. Then, he lead us over to where the stallions stay. All of the stallions had their own individual paddocks with plenty of space to gallop and do whatever they please. They were all quite beautiful but one stallion really stood out. Invincible Spirit is his name and he is insured for 60 million euros. SIXTY MILLION. For a horse! It's total madness to me, but I'm sure the people there know what they are doing. Invincible has an incredible amount of offspring, most with great records like him.

After our tour of the stud, we were able to explore the Japanese gardens on our own. The gardens were so beautiful with the exotic flowers and vibrant colors. Even the stonework was beautiful. Definitely a must-see if you're even in this area of Ireland! The pictures really do not do it justice.

Much like every other evening after our learning time was over, I was starving! So, me and the lovely girl from the University of Wyoming made our way on to the other side of the Liffey to check out the restaurant scene. We didn't have to look far because right in front of us was a place called O'Shea's Merchant.

Our stomachs were roaring so we weren't about to be picky, as long as there was a place to sit. I really enjoyed this little pub. It was dimly lit and relatively quiet, considering that in nearly every pub there is almost always live music and large crowds. Perhaps it was because we were having an early dinner, but either way, this was a lovely place to end the day. Also, my meal here was particularly delicious and the presentation of the food! Maybe it was just because I was so hungry, but look for yourselves :) This was also the first place that I managed to stuff down a dessert as well. Totally worth it.

Alltech

http://www.alltech.com

After a very restful night's sleep, I felt 100% ready to learn!  We arrived at one of the Alltech buildings which was about an hour or so outside of Dublin.   Alltech is a facility that focuses on helping farmers succeed and produce high yields of crops while still being as environmentally as possible.   Every single product in all Alltech buildings is created internally.   I do not have much background in agriculture in the United States, but even I could see that this organization, which had headquarters all throughout Ireland, was nothing like what we have in America.   Alltech's three "pillars" are research, production, and marketing and all of these branches work together to form a cohesive organization whereas I feel that America is based mostly on competition between several companies.   Alltech created something called the ACE principle: "A" stands for animal, which Alltech works to increase the performance of, "C" is for consumer, whom Alltech works to benefit, and "E" is for environment, which Alltech strives to keep safe.
After an introduction on what Alltech is and what the people there do, we were lectured on the European Union. Twenty-seven countries working together to have a free market.   I thought this was very rare seeing as how the United States seems to actually be quite divided when it comes to most topics.   One topic that did have a good amount of controversy within the EU was genetically modified organisms.  It seems like GMO's, though there is a good amount of controversy in the U.S., are needed in order to have higher produce yields and efficiency to feed our growing population.  However, in Europe, there are a few countries that completely banned GMO's and most have very strict guidelines as set by the EU.  If the EU is confident enough in their crops that they feel GMO's are unnecessary, then they must be doing something right over there (like, maybe not using corn to make everything, like the United States...).
Following these briefings, we then had a short lecture on general animal science in Ireland. I don't know about you, but when I think of Ireland, I think of rolling green hills speckled with sheep.  Well, as it turns out, cows, not sheep, are the animals used most for production in Ireland.  Cows are definitely their biggest market whether it is for beef or dairy.   A whopping 90% of Ireland's beef cattle are exported!  That is HUGE.   Over half of a farmer's profit comes from dairy cattle. So, next time you think of Ireland, replace the sheep with cows and you'll be significantly more accurate!
Now, it really wouldn't be Ireland if play didn't immediately follow all of this work! Still at the Alltech headquarters, we were taught about the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) and major sports. The one sport that we had the most experience with is hurling: the fastest game on grass. To the American eye, its seems a lot like lacrosse but it also has aspects of baseball, soccer, and football (however hurling was around way before these other sports). After learning about how the game is played, we were lucky enough to see some of it in action. We hopped on the bus and made our way to the Dunboyne GAA.  Dunboyne is a small town outside of Dublin, a great place to visit. After getting off the bus we were immediately greeted with, can you guess it? More fantastic Irish hospitality. We were given lunch, hot tea and the company of a few hurling players and coaches. After lunch, they took us outside to the hurling pitch (field) and showed us basic hurling techniques and even gave us the opportunity to try out handling the stick used (a hurley) and try to hit the ball. I don't know how these guys (and for girls, hurling is called camogie) are able to do this as such a fast pace! Their hand-eye coordination was clearly incredible and to be fair, most of them have been playing hurling since they were wee lads. To end our fun with even more Irish hospitality, they invited us to their next hurling game on that Friday! We accepted their invitation with permission from our professor who was nice enough to arrange transportation for us.
Then, we headed back to the hostel for an hour or so to get ready for our "welcome dinner." Now, I absolutely adore the Irish hospitality, but sometimes, it can be from the wrong people. While we were walking to the restaurant, the man who arranged this trip from Global Education Partners (GEP), Craig, was telling us places we should avoid in Dublin, basically, do not go past the hostel and try to stay on the other side of the Liffey. He may have mentioned that if we were to go past the hostel and away from the Liffey and O'Connell Street, we would run into bad things, heroin dealers/users and whatnot. Well, wouldn't you know it, but one of those heroin users happened to be right behind us and felt it necessary to direct us to where we could actually get good heroin and proceeded to tell us that Craig was full of it. At the moment, this was completely terrifying because this strange, smelly man appeared directly behind us without any of us realizing it (beware of pick-pockets!) but after we were safely away and going in the opposite direction of the not-so-great area, we all had a good laugh about it. Poor guy thought he was really helping us out! Dinner was delicious as always, I had a brie and cranberry chutney toasted sandwich. Oh, how I miss the food! After dinner, we parted ways with our professor and Craig and went back to the hostel and out to a lovely, small local pub that was just a stone's throw away from the hostel. Also, on our way back to the hostel, we passed our helpful-if-you're-into-illegal-drugs friend and he seemed to have forgotten us already as he walked right by us.
Below is the link to the pub that we went to that evening. The atmosphere was fantastic with live music and friendly people. The venue is on the small side and from the outside, it looks like it is falling apart, but it was a great taste of local life.
http://www.cobblestonepub.ie