A Whirlwind Weekend in Aberdeen

My first weekend in Aberdeen has come and passed. Classes technically started today but my first isn’t until tomorrow. But the first weekend was good. It was basically spent just puttering around and getting settled. I now have a lovely bedspread and a pillow with a bow. I also have two plants. One is just a little one that has tiny white flowers. It’s currently sitting on my window ledge. The other is a bit bigger, has purple flowers, and is one which will grow over the edge like a spider plant.

On Saturday night we went out for dinner downtown. It was really neat because we actually went to an old cathedral that had been converted into a pub/club/restaurant. It’s called Slain’s Castle, I think. It was very nice anyways and a lot of fun to see something like that.

Yesterday was filled with more shopping for bits and bobs. We did manage to find the British version of Wal-Mart which was, well, interesting. It’s called Asda and they have everything. Well, everything except for calendars. But they had white tack and tape and clocks and plants which was handy. It’s a bit of a trek to get to though. When we got back in the afternoon we also went for our first walk on the beach which was sensational. It was such an amazing day I just couldn’t believe it. We walked along a bit where the tide had gone out and even made a Canadian flag in the sand. Then we had a race up the dune. Lesson for the day: do not attempt to race up the sandiest part. I managed to get nowhere so I had to slide down and go up the part where the grass was. One thing that was neat to see was all the ships waiting out in the ocean. They just sort of line up and there must be dozens of them. And the seagulls are gigantic! Honestly, massive. And then we had a lovely dinner last night and I made chilli. It was very nice to cook again and I actually experimented with tuna and it turned out to be quite delicious. It was nice because tonight Holly made us stir-fry and chicken which was very yummy and tomorrow V’Cenza’s going to cook something scrumptious. I am excited.

I only have two classes this semester. One is late medieval England, 1272-1509, which I am super excited for. The other is called plague, poison and persecution, 1348-1700. I think that they will both be fantastic and I am excited to see what they are like.

Anyways, that is all my news for now. Before I sign off I would like to address the matter of pictures. Unfortunately my computer hasn’t been cooperating with me and doesn’t want to let me do mass uploads. I am trying to find something which will just let me get them up all at once and when I do I will let you know where those are. Hope all is well with you, wherever you happen to be!

From Scotland with love,

Haley

A Scoop of Dublin and a Pinch of Aberdeen

So at the moment I am sitting in my room at Aberdeen which is fantastic. First of all, my residence building is the first in the row and therefore generally has the best view of the river. Second, our flat faces out and away from all the other buildings, towards the river. Third, we are on the top floor which means that the view is fantastic, it’s lovely and private, and we get a work-out every day climbing up and down the stairs.

I left Dublin at 9:30 this morning but luckily before I left I got to do some of my old favourite things. One of them was the hop-on, hop-off tour. I know that every driver says the exact same thing but I just love it. And they drop me in all the places that I want to go most. On Monday and Wednesday, for example, I spent a good amount of time in St. Stephen’s Green which is absolutely one of my favourite places in Dublin. It is just such a beautiful park. On Wednesday, though, I discovered another park which gives St. Stephen’s a good run for its money. I think it is technically called Merrion Park or something like that but I am just going to call it Wilde’s Park because apparently that’s where Oscar Wilde grew up. Now there is a statue of him and I suppose his house. Anyways, it’s beautiful. It’s in an area which is a little bit quieter than St. Stephen’s and I think the park is less well known so there aren’t as many people wandering through it. But on Wednesday I got my lunch downtown and then hopped back on my bus tour to get there. When I got off I found a lovely bench under a huge tree and just sort of munched and admired. There was also a pigeon who stayed with me while I ate. I named him Fred and gave him lots of little nibbles because he turned out to be very loyal. Then I just sort of wandered around the park and snapped pictures. Even though I’ve been here for a while I am still getting used to just how green it all is. The other thing I did on Monday was go to see the Book of Kells. It was really amazing just to see how much work went into making a single book. Even just making the blank book took an extensive amount of time and effort but what they produced was magnificent.

On Tuesday Bry and I went to Malahide Castle which was fantastic. It was actually owned and lived in by the same family for over 800 years, save a few during the Cromwellian era. It was only sold finally in like the 60s or 70s. That’s just fantastic, I think. And the grounds are magnificent. They have what may be my favourite kind of forest where the trees are all wrapped in ivy. I just love it because no matter the season it’s always green.

On Wednesday I was supposed to go on a tour to Newgrange but it didn’t end up running. It’s alright, I’ll go on it when I visit again. Instead I got another day around the city. It turned out to be fantastic because I got to go to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I had thought I wasn’t going to be able to go which I wasn’t too happy about because it is a place I absolutely adore and could spend hours in. When I got there the visa machine was actually broken so I thought I wasn’t going to be able to go in because I didn’t have enough cash. But then the lady said I could go so I ended up buying something from the gift shop to make up for it. It’s a lovely little guardian angel made of crystal and right now it’s hanging with my keys. But I just sort of walked around for a bit and looked at things and snapped pictures. I was taking a picture of a giant stained glass window at one point and a nice, elderly man just came up and asked if I knew the story on the window. I didn’t so he told me that it was actually the story of St. Patrick’s life. This one explanation evolved into a fantastic tour when I started asking more general questions about the windows. I must have been there for an hour and a half, just taking this wonderful, impromptu tour. It was really, really a brilliant visit.

So now I am sitting in my room. All of my flatmates are lovely. After I got settled they even volunteered to take me out to a shop so I could get a duvet. I haven’t gotten sheets yet but that’s on the itinerary for tomorrow and I’ve been loaned them for tonight. They also showed me how to get to the university which was brilliant. You have to go through Seaton Park and then the main university buildings are sort of on the other side of a main road which the park leads to. What I was super excited about though was that the whole “Main Street” of the university is cobbled. All the buildings along it are so lovely and old as well, it’s just beautiful. At the end of Seaton Park too there’s an old church whose name is escaping me but it’s fantastic as well. The whole place is just so old and lovely.

Anyways, it is getting rather late so I’d better toddle off and get some sleep.

From Aberdeen with love,

Haley

Galway Adventures

I just have to say that one of the first things that awed me during this trip was the fact that we were in Galway in just under three hours. That means that I went across a country in under three hours. In Canada, I can barely get to Kingston in that amount of time. In Europe, I crossed a country. Not something I’m used to saying.

We got in alright and our hostel was super easy to find. It was also a pretty nice hostel. I mean, the shower never actually had hot water but the beds were clean and there was a desktop with free internet downstairs. I think our room had eight people in it and it was actually fully booked every night. That’s pretty good for off-season, eh. I’m sure during the normal season it gets pretty hectic though.

The other nice thing was that we found a tour company which was actually operating during off-season. So that’s what we did for Saturday and it was utterly fantastic. It basically went out to Connemara and Cong which meant that we got to go through the mountains. Our driver was named Michael O’Malley (fantastic name, eh?) and he was pretty funny. The nice thing about this tour was also that we got to go on all the little roads and see the best of the country side. Like at one point we were climbing the mountain on a road barely big enough for a car. Our driver, Mike, was fantastic though. He was just ringing off stories while swinging the bus around corners with one hand on the wheel.

The first stop we made was Ross Errily Friary. It was an almost surreal place. I’m used to going to historic sites with big signs and planned routes and fancy ropes. At Ross Errily there were two locks. One was to the main gate and one was to the bell tower. The rest of it was virtually open. We could go wherever we wanted in whatever order and spend however long we wanted. We just got to be with the place. Further, it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. We were just driving down a dirt lane-way surrounded by farms and it was at the end. There wasn’t even a proper car-park, only a semi-circle for buses to turn around. I don’t really know what else I can say about it. It was just an ethereal place.

As we drove, history just kept popping up. There was the stone circle in the middle of farmer’s field; the oldest cross in Ireland in the middle of the intersection in Cong. Even Cong Abbey was left open so I could just wander in and out. It really was surreal.

The final place we visited was Kylemore Abbey. It was a school until last year and I can only imagine it being fantastic. It was sunny the whole time too and it was setting just as we were leaving. It did get cloudy as we drove closer to Galway but that’s alright. It is Ireland, after all.

When we returned to Galway city Bry had some homework to do so we found a pub. I had fish and chips and a pint of Heineken and watched Aston Villa beat Man C 1-0. I think that sounds like a fine evening, eh. It felt really fitting.

We didn’t have the whole day on Sunday but we did manage to get to Salthill and then back into Galway city to see the Cathedral. Then it was back on the train to Dublin.

So there you have it. My first weekend across the pond was filled with a little bit of everything. I played the role of the student in Ross Errily and Cong, the citizen in the pub, and the cliché tourist with my camera constantly roped over my wrist. So Europe, what else have you got in store?

With love from Ireland,

Haley

And so it begins.

And so it begins.

It’s just about 7:30 and I’m sitting in the airport waiting for my 9:10 flight. Yes, I think it’s the perfect time to actually start that blog I’ve been neglecting for three weeks. So here it goes, I suppose.

I can’t really believe it’s time. It’s been like a year and half of waiting and now I’m two hours away from the flight that will take me across the Atlantic for at least seven months. I’m not entirely sure what those seven months are going to bring. I guess I can hope for happiness, amazing experiences and inspiration and see what happens. As James Hammerton would say, “you know what the Monty Python boys say? Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.” If you haven’t seen Sliding Doors, by the way, I highly recommend it. Anyways, that’s beside the point.

I’ll try to write as regularly as I can and I’ll certainly write about special events. But don’t worry; I’ll also fit my studying in. That can be part of the adventure, eh. Having professors with massive Scottish accents? Could be fun, no?

I’ll be missing you all loads but don’t worry, I will be back for my last year. Best wishes to everyone for the coming seasons and I’ll see you when I’m back on the continent.

From Scotland with love,

Haley