The Green of Aberdeen

This past weekend, Hannah and I had the chance to visit my mom’s first cousin, Fiona, and her family. She is also my Aunt Anne’s younger sister. We left early on Friday morning to take a three-hour bus to Dublin so we could catch our flight to Aberdeen, Scotland. I have never been to Scotland, and although the majority of tourists visit the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, Hannah and I were happy to go somewhere outside the norm.

Fiona picked us up from the airport with her three kids, Amy, who is 10, Ellie, who is 7, and Joe, who is 4. Fiona is also expecting twins next month, a boy and a girl. Fiona is a twin herself with her sister, Kate. My nana’s sister, Kitty, had two sets of twins, Fiona and Kate, and Aiden and Gerard. Fiona’s kids have school off for two weeks for a fall break. Isn’t that awesome?This was the end of their first week, so they were able to come pick us up from the airport. We headed back to Fiona’s and she made us a delicious lunch. In the car, the kids were a little shy, but by lunchtime they had really warmed up to us. Amy is so sweet and a great big sister. She kind of reminds me of myself. Am I allowed to say that? Ellie is going to be famous. I just know it. I told her she needs to invite me to her first Hollywood movie premiere. She is so funny!!Throughout the weekend I kept looking for a pen and paper to write down the funny things she said and did so I could remember for later. Unfortunately, I never could find a pen and paper fast enough. Joe is such a sweetheart and God bless him having two older sisters. I think he has the strongest Scottish accent of the whole bunch, and this weekend he had a little bit of a cold, which made him even cuter. After lunch we headed to the beach for a walk. It was a little chilly by the water, but I came fully prepared with my scarf, gloves and earmuffs. Even though, it was cold, it was really fun! We saw these three guys surfing, and I swore I thought Joe was going to jump in the water and join them by the way he was staring, mesmerized by what they were doing. After the beach, we went home and just relaxed. Hannah and I were really tired from getting up early that morning. Fiona put on a warm fire, and we all got under the blankets and watched TV. It was so nice and really made me miss the times my dad puts on a fire, and we all just sit around enjoying each other’s company.

The next morning, Fiona took us to a few castles around Scotland. The first one we went to was called Drum Castle. There was a garden outside that looked like it was from the movie, Alice in Wonderland. There were four parts to the garden, each representing a different century of flowers and plants. They were from the 17^th, 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th centuries. It was so beautiful and absolutely no one was there. I think it was empty because the castle was actually locked, so we couldn’t go inside. It didn’t matter though. The outside of the castle and garden were beautiful. The next castle we went to on the other hand was very busy. It was called Crathes Castle. They had a visitor center and little restaurant for lunch. We first ate lunch and then took a tour of the castle. It was so cool! It made me wish I was a princess and could live in my very own castle. There wasn’t a tour guide, so everyone could go through the castle at their own pace. They had little hidden Lego knights throughout the castle for little children to find. At the beginning of our tour, we were handed a map of rooms the knights would be in. Under each room, there was a riddle that hinted where in the room the knight would be hiding. Under each knight was a letter. After you found all the knights, you had to unscramble the letters to form a phrase answering a question about the castle. I think I might have enjoyed this more than the actual castle. Ellie absolutely loved it! She sped through all of the rooms searching for the knight. At the end, she was given a certificate to show she completed the knight puzzle. She was so proud, although she had already completed it two times before. The last castle we went to was Dunnottar Castle. This castle was so cool! It was on a little peninsula and took us 15 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the actual castle. There were so many stairs! I was so impressed with Fiona because I was tired after walking up and down all those steps; however, she didn’t even look fazed. We didn’t go all the way up in the castle because it was getting late, but we did see the castle dungeons. It totally freaked me out. To think people actually were in these dungeons gave me the chills. I much preferred looking at the castle from the outside.

I forgot to mention that where Amy and Ellie go to school, each class has a castle they represent. It’s just like Harry Potter only instead of houses like Gryffindor or Slytherin, each class represents a castle like Drum and Crathes. Obviously being a huge Harry Potter fan, I thought this was so cool!

That night, Fiona made us a delicious dinner, and we all snuggled up under a few blankets and watched the very popular TV show, X-Factor. Of course a fire was on which made the whole evening even better.

The next morning, we went to mass. My mom always tells me to make a wish in a new church.So every time I enter a new church, I make a wish. By the time I come home, I’m guessing I will have made 20 wishes. The only problem is that I forget what I had previously wished for, so I probably am wishing for the same thing over and over again. Maybe this increases the chances of this particular wish coming true instead of wishing for 20 different things. After mass, Fiona’s husband, Kevin, took us to Donald Trump’s new golf course in Aberdeen. (Kevin had just come home that morning after a golfing trip in Spain.) It was right on the water and absolutely breathtaking. Kevin kept telling me that I must show the pictures I took to my Uncle Paul because he knows how much my Uncle Paul enjoys golfing. When this golf course is finished it is supposed to be better than Saint Andrews.

By the time we left, we had to go straight to the airport. Since the airport is so small, we arrived only 30 minutes before our plane took off. Then we said our goodbyes to Fiona, Kevin, Amy, Ellie, and Joe. I wish I could have packed them up and taken them with me! I kept telling Fiona she needs to come visit Chicago soon so we can spoil her as much as she spoiled us. We had the best time in Scotland, and I already miss them!

Tomorrow, Hannah, a couple of our other friends and I are going to London. I am so excited! Ever since I first watched the episode of Friends, The One with Ross’s Wedding, in season 4, I have dreamed about going to London and taking a tour on a double-decker red bus. On Sunday night, we are going to the Chicago Bears game against Tampa Bay. What are the chances that the weekend I will be there, the Chicago Bears are playing… IN LONDON! I am so excited!!! I have missed American football so much while being away. Hopefully, they will bring home a win. Go Bears!

Ellie, Joe, Amy and Me on the beach

Ellie and me on the way to the Drum Castle Garden

Drum Castle Garden

Drum Castle

Crathes Castle

Dunnottar Castle

Dunnottar Castle dungeons

(obviously Fiona and Joe weren't as afraid as I was to go inside the dungeon)

Donald Trump's golf course

All Around County Mayo

My plan of action when tackling this blog is to write a post every week. Mostly about the events of the weekend because during the week I am in school and studying, things that can become a bit repetitive week after week. Still, I promise to fill you in on any exciting things that happen during the week. Now I know I have delayed this post for two weeks, but just think of it as getting two posts in one week. It’s like Christmas! Tomorrow I will write about the amazing time I had in Scotland this past weekend with my mom’s first cousin and Aunt Anne’s sister, Fiona, and her family. Now on to my time in County Mayo.

On this weekend, Hannah’s aunt and uncle (Mrs. Knight’s brother and his wife) came to Ireland and took us around different parts of County Mayo. They both live in Evergreen Park, IL and just came to Ireland on vacation for two weeks. I was excited for this weekend because after dragging Hannah to see my family every weekend, I knew she was excited to show me hers. On Friday morning, Tom and Molly (names twins!) picked us up at our apartment. This was the first weekend we were going to be spending with tourists just like us, people who wanted to see Ireland for themselves instead of just showing us Ireland. They were so so nice! It was a typical day in Ireland, full of rain. We drove to the northern part of County Mayo and stopped in Ballina. (Not pronounced Ba-LEE-na, but instead Ba-lin-AH). I had the most difficult time pronouncing this word. Even now every time I say it I have to first stop and think about it in my head. Well, this is where Mrs. Knight’s family is from. We even went to the church, Saint Muredach’s Cathedral, where Hannah’s great-great grandma was baptized. There was a wedding taking place on this particular Friday. Molly (I haven’t started suddenly speaking in first person. Remember this is Hannah’s aunt. Although, if you want to, as you are reading this, you can think to yourself that anytime I write Molly, I am referring to myself. It might be funny.) insisted we go inside. I’m glad she did. A lot of the women in the pews were wearing hats that guests wore at the Royal Wedding. I don’t know if these kinds of hats are as popular for weddings in Ireland as they are in England, or if this wedding is just unique. I plan on bringing this trend back for my wedding one day, and although this day is far away I suggest searching the stores now. I don’t know the selection Chicago offers for these hats.

Before our stop in Saint Muredach’s Cathedral, we grabbed some lunch in town. I forgot to mention that during the car ride from Galway to Ballina, I felt carsick. As my family knows, I have never experienced carsickness in my life; however, on this day, the one day I was with Hannah’s family, trying to make a good impression, God graciously gave me the gift of nausea.As Hannah and her aunt and uncle were talking I was trying to focus my attention on not getting sick. As it was still raining out, the windshield wipers were going full speed, and as they were right in front of me, I focused on their swift back in forth motion. (Later, Hannah would tell me how stupid I was for doing this) This of course made me feel even worse so I just closed my eyes. (Something, Hannah’s uncle, a doctor, nonetheless, said at lunch was something you should never do when feeling carsick) My excuse to both of them was that I had never been carsick before so I didn’t know. It’s not like they have a lesson for it in third grade, “What to do when you’re carsick”. Thankfully though, after lunch I was feeling much better. I was afraid of being sick again so I refrained from reading my copy of Seventeen Magazine the rest of the weekend while in the car.

The next stop on our tour was Killala Bay. I would like to take this time a note how much I love the travelling style of Tom and Molly Daum. There was only one mandatory stop we had to make (you will find out why shortly) and two hotels we had to get to before dark but other than that, there was no plan. All the other places we went (the majority we only stayed for 15 minutes) were unplanned. And let me tell you, they were some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The pictures below don’t do them justice. So we stopped at Killala Bay, only for 20 minutes, took a few pictures and left. Molly is a wonderful photographer and even sells some of her pictures online, so she was almost kind of working. Our next unplanned stop was the Céide Fields in Ballycastle. A local told Tom and Molly about this place the night before in Galway. They thought it sounded cool, and boy, were they were right. The Céide Fields is the oldest known field systems in the world, over 5,000 years old. The remains of stone field walls, houses and tombs are preserved beneath a blanket of peat over several square miles. Quick quiz: what is peat? I mentioned it in at least one previous blog, but for those who forgot, it’s partially decayed vegetation matter that people in Ireland use in place of logs to build a fire.Some families, especially in very rural Ireland, still use it to heat their entire home. So, we took a little tour of the fields and even watched a short video in the visitor center about how the Céide Fields got to be this way.

Our next stop, the only one that was planned was in Belmullet. Since this stop was planned, and for very good reason, we also stayed the night in a hotel there. It was getting late, and we were afraid the sun would set. Molly’s father died in January and was cremated. Molly, Tom and Molly’s father once came to this old graveyard on the coast of Belmullet, and ever since then, he told Molly that this is where he wanted some of his ashes to be spread. So that was what we were going to do. Hannah’s uncle had emailed her a week or two before about this ceremony and this is what he said. “I mentioned before that I need you as the videographer for Mr. Shannon's ash ceremony. I will be attempting to play Foggy Dew, Danny Boy and Amazing Grace on the Irish whistle and was wondering about your and Molly's voices. Would you be sports and sing? It would be fun- NO PRESSURE; don’t really care what it sounds like. I'll bring the words. I have visions of Molly and you having been in the choral groups in High School.”After much contemplation and failed attempts at practicing (we couldn’t stop laughing!) in our room, we decided to suck it up and sing. Number 1: My only vocal experience is from Saint Michael's Children's Choir back in 3rd grade. And even then I think the choir director made me in charge of the instrument, the triangle, to keep me from singing. Number 2: The first time I heard the song Foggy Dew was when I was attempting to sing it at the cemetery. So you can just imagine how it went. Hannah filmed the entire ceremony while Tom played his Irish whistle, and the two Molly’s sang. There were parts that Tom and Molly read pieces of poetry Molly’s dad liked. I was so honored to be apart of it (even if my lack of vocal ability hindered the beauty of the ceremony).

The next day, on our way to Westport where we would be staying that night, we took a detour to Achill Island. I’m telling you, this weekend was full of the most magnificent scenery. We only stayed long enough to snap a few pictures, but it was so worth it. When we arrived in Westport, Tom and Molly gave us a few hours to do whatever we wanted, read, sleep, or explore the city.Hannah and I were so exhausted that we took a three-hour nap. Now Mom, I know what you are thinking. We should have explored the town of Westport. Our time here is precious. And you are right. However, Hannah and I had been in Westport the previous weekend after we climbed Croagh Patrick. And since the town is only a few streets, it doesn’t take long to walk through it once. After our much-needed nap, we went out to dinner and then to Matt Malloy’s, a famous pub in downtown Westport. They are known for their live music and on this night they had musicians playing traditional Irish music, which was so fun to watch. One of my favorite parts of Ireland, and one of the things I will miss most when I go home, is the live music. I could watch them for hours.

The next morning Hannah and I caught a bus back to Galway. Tom offered to drive us, but since the bus stop was right outside our Bed and Breakfast, we insisted on taking it. We both slept the majority of the bus ride. Traveling really takes a lot out of you, but it was truly an amazing weekend!

Saint Muredach's Cathedral in Ballina, County Mayo

Killala Bay

The Céide Fields in Ballycastle, County Mayo

The Céide Cliffs

Belmullet, County Mayo

Hannah's Uncle Tom playing the Irish whistle

The cemetery where we had Mr. Shannon's ceremony

Achill Island

Another view of Achill Island

Ballinasloe Fair

This weekend we went to the Broderick’s again for the Ballinasloe Fair (an annual fair full of horse shows, carnival rides, tug o’ war competitions, etc). After the last time we were there, we were dying to go back. Anne Maloney, Martin’s girlfriend, picked us up again on Friday afternoon. We were then greeted with a delicious dinner made by Joe’s girlfriend, Clodagh. The previous week we had gone out to dinner, and Hannah had ordered the Shepherd’s Pie. Well, this evening, Clodagh had made us a home cooked Shepherd’s Pie, which according to Hannah, was 10x better than the one she had the previous week. It was absolutely scrumptious! Martin joked with Anne that she better have dinner like this for him every night when he gets home from work. Anne jokingly responded, “You can come down to Joe and Clodagh’s.” They are so cute!

After dinner, Martin, Anne, and Teresa took us to a tug o’ war competition. Hannah and I half-expected to see camp kids lined up in the mud, but this competition was very different. Men and women train all year long to participate in this 4-day event. Martin’s team was unfortunately knocked out on Tuesday. (His team doesn’t train all-year though. They just entered for fun. I don’t know how anyone could think pulling a rope and listening to men groaning, “PULL” over and over again is fun.) After we parked the car, Martin had us power walk because he wanted us to get a good stop to see all the action. We got there just in time because 20 minutes after we arrived the stands were packed. The competition went on for about 3 hours so it got a little repetitive after a while, but the championship pull was so exciting! My mom’s 2^nd cousin was on one of the teams. Martin also worked with a guy on the same team, so it was obvious who we were cheering for. It was the best two out of three, and after two pulls it was tied. (I forgot to mention that all the pulls took place on a blocked off street. It just so happens that half of the street was recently tarred which made the ground easier to slip on. It was really unfair for the teams who got stuck pulling on the tarred portion of the street because they almost always lost.) Anyways after it was tied 1-1 there was a coin toss. Our team won the coin toss and got to pull on the non-tarred portion of the street.Everyone was so excited, jumping up and down, celebrating as if they had already won. So after a long match of men chanting, “PULL, PULL,” our team won! It was so cool and definitely worth the 3-hour wait!

I wish I could better explain the strategy behind a tug o’ war because a lot more goes into it than you would think. But here it goes. There is a coach for every team, instructing the 8 people on the rope when to pull and when to just hold. A team holds to try and tire out the other team.When they begin to pull again, they bounce up and down or sway from left to right, yelling (can you guess?) “PULL” in unison. It’s very intimidating! They also coat their hands before each pull with carpet glue to hold onto the rope better. I would prefer me soft, silky hands to winning this competition any day, but I guess that’s why I’m not in it, right? Here is a link to a youtube video from the 2009 Ballinasloe Tug O’ War Competition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8BrX9VRWOE

The next day, after a delicious breakfast made by the one and only, Clodagh (I’m telling you, we are so spoiled!) we were off to see the fair. When my grandpa was growing up he used to walk 15 kilometers every year to this fair to sell his horses. He would stand in “The Green” (where all the horses and their owners are) all day (12 hours!) waiting for someone to come up and buy his horse, and when he wouldn’t sell them, he would have to walk all the way back to Ahascragh (where he is from) with the horses. Anytime I think of this, I feel so guilty!! Papa, I personally apologize for every time you heard me complain about anything. Next time I want to whine about how hard my life is I’ll remember my Papa and his horses at the Ballinasloe fair.

In the green, we saw Martin, who was helping his neighbor sell his horses, and my Papa’s brother, Sean. Uncle Sean is my mom’s godfather. He was there with his son Leo. It was great to see them. After our tour of the green, we walked through all the stalls selling everything from clothes to food to sweets and knick-knacks. Aunt Annie kept asking if we wanted anything. She is so so sweet! They also have a carnival there, and Hannah and I went up on the highest ride they had. It was so fun! At the top, you could see a great view of the green. I wish I had my camera. But then again, I probably would have dropped it as we were turning upside down, so I just took a mental picture.

Has anyone seen the TLC show, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding? Well, we saw a lot of travelers, or tinkers, this weekend. It turns out this is the weekend a lot of them mate or find their future spouses. I wish I had sunglasses so I could properly stare at the clothing (or lack there of) the girls had on. They all cake on bronzer and wear super tall high heels. As they walked by, a group of guys would be a few feet behind them with their necks crooked to the side. I wish I could have taken a picture, but I sort of wanted to make it back to Galway in one piece. We also saw a family of travelers with an old fashion caravan (see photo below). They let us take a picture with their house. Doesn’t Marty Joe look right at home?

After our day at the fair, we were exhausted. The Broderick’s, on the other hand, are a youthful bunch because they were ready to hit the town later that night. We went to their local pub interestingly named The Broderick’s (although there is no relation) and we had a great time! If it were up to Hannah and me, we would go visit the Broderick’s every weekend. (Yet, they might feel differently) I only hope they can come visit us soon, so I can return the favor! Now I have yet to update you all on my weekend with Hannah's aunt and uncle two weeks ago, but I promise next week I will update you guys! This weekend I am going to visit my mom's first cousin and my Aunt Anne's younger sister, Fiona, in Scotland. So look forward to two new blog entries next week!

Love, Molly

Tug O' War Competition

Hannah, Teresa, Anne and Martin

Teresa and me

Anne and Hannah

Hannah and I on the green

The Green

Hannah and me

Aunt Annie, Hannah, Marty Joe, and me outside a traveler's house

Life in Galway

Hello everyone! I hope everything is going well at home. Ireland is still just as wonderful as it was when I first got here. I am starting to really find my way. Sometimes I forget I am actually in Ireland. I still plan on writing a post about this weekend (Hannah’s aunt and uncle took us to different parts of County Mayo, and let me tell you, it was beautiful); however, I never wrote a post about Galway and how different (or similar) it is to home. So, this post will be a collection of little stories and interesting parts of life here in Galway.

Let me begin by saying that the taxi drivers here are so incredibly nice. They are all cute, little 65-year-old grandpas. For example, when Hannah and I took a taxi home from my friend’s apartment after a night out, the taxi driver, John, took us all the way to the door, waited until we got inside, and then beeped the horn goodbye. They actually care about your safety. Here’s another story to prove this point even further. One day last week, Hannah was walking on Shop Street (the main street filled with restaurants, pubs, and shops in Galway) when our friend Kaitlin texted her to meet her at a place Hannah had never been before. (I had class at this time otherwise I probably would have been with Hannah) After Hannah exhausted her efforts of trying to find this place by herself, she hopped into a taxi that took her to the place she planned to meet Kaitlin. Hannah said that she could find it from here, but the taxi driver insisted on taking Hannah directly to Kaitlin and our other friends. It was a good thing too. It took 10 minutes of driving up and down, street after street to actually find Kaitlin. When Hannah took out her wallet to pay him he told her, “No, no. There is no need to pay me. You were by yourself, and I wanted to make sure you were safe and found your friends.” Isn’t that awesome?After seeing horrible things happening in this world every time I turn on the news, my faith has been restored in humanity to see good, kind-hearted people like this taxi driver. If anyone comes to Ireland, I would highly recommend taking a taxi ride. They are also a great resource for good restaurants, pubs, and shopping.

Now anytime I talk to home I am always asked, “How’s the weather?” So here it is. It rains.Every day. More than once. That I was expecting. I was not expecting, on the other hand, for all the pages in my books to curl due to the moisture in the air, the majority of my clothes to be damp, and to not be able to write in my spiral notebooks because the pages are too wet. Let me tell you, although it costs a small fortune to do laundry here (3€ for one wash, 2€ for a dryer), I appreciate to an entirely new degree clean, dry clothes. Thanks Mom and Dad for all the years when clean clothes would just magically appear on my bed, nicely folded, sometimes even put away or hung up. I apologize for arguing with you when it came to putting my clothes away myself. If my future children ever complain about putting their clothes away, I am sending them on a one-way trip to Ireland. They will only be allowed to come back after they write a blog (or email) apologizing for their attitude.

I haven’t written a lot about my roommates for two reasons. One, there isn’t all that much to say, and two, I don’t know their humor and wouldn’t want to offend them in any way. Still, there is one roommate of mine worth mentioning, Lou Lou. She is my roommate from France, who is so freaking awesome! I love her and want to put her in my suitcase (she would fit; Europeans are so skinny!) and take her back to Chicago. Anyways, one day Lou Lou (her full name is Ludmila) got into a little disagreement with her boyfriend and was kind of upset. (Her computer also broke later that night. Bad day!) So the next day I went to the store and bought her some chocolates. When I gave them to her she was so confused. She also doesn’t speak very good English, but it has gotten a lot better over the last five weeks. I told her, “Hannah and I bought these for you.” She responded, “From me?” “No, no. FOR you,” I said. I then continued to explain that when girls from the United States are upset about boys, their friends buy them chocolate and ice cream to cheer them up. She thought this was so weird. She also thought I only planned on giving her one of the chocolates in the box. When I told her the whole box is for you, she was so surprised. I guess this is why people in the United States are heavier than Europeans.

I forgot to mention that we also have a sixth roommate, Ginger. Ginger is a cat that is always outside our building, waiting by our apartment door so it can sneak in between our legs as we walk inside. One night, as Hannah and I were cooking dinner, Ginger jumps into our kitchen through an open window. She watched us eat dinner, probably hoping for us to share some with her, until she finally gave up and jumped back out the window. We think the people who lived here before us fed her. One of our other roommates Jess works at a veterinary clinic, and she told us that she doesn’t seem too skinny or sick so that she must be getting food from somewhere else. One day, Hannah and I walked into the kitchen to find Ginger taking a catnap (get it?) on our couch. I closed the windows because it started to rain and about three hours later I hear her meowing. I went into the kitchen, opened the window and she jumped right on outside. She’s not a very good roommate. All she cares about it getting a free place to sleep.Even when Hannah tries asking her for advice about boys, she just turns her tail and jumps back outside.

The majority of people know that people in Ireland drive on the other side of the road. (Note: I did not say wrong side of the road for those of you in Ireland reading this) But did you know that people walk that way too. All I can say is, thank goodness I am not driving over here. When I am on my way to class, and I see someone approaching me, I immediately move to the right.Well, they immediately move to the left. So after 10 seconds of the awkward “which way are you going, change your mind, make eye contact, quickly look down, change your mind again, avoid eye contact, possibly change your mind for the third time”, you ultimately pass them and hope to never see them again. Although, in my case, it’s the same person every Wednesday on my way biological psychology.

Side note: The stoplights here have red, yellow and green lights for people crossing a busy street. I know we have the whole countdown with numbers thing, but I thought this was pretty cool. They still have the same meaning. Red = stop, Green = go, Yellow = run.

I guess that’s all I have for now. School is actually starting to require some work (who would have thought?) so it might take me a little longer to update you on my life. I hope that’s okay with everyone. Still, I will do my to be as on top of everything as I can.

Love, Molly

Lou Lou and me

Hannah and Ginger