Earlier in my trip I visited Blarney Castle in Co. Cork.
Kissed the blarney stone, hiked around the castle grounds and took part in a tradition called the Wishing Steps.
Now I can say my wish has come true. So if ever you find yourself at Blarney Castle, ask someone how to get to the wishing steps, read the instructions and try your best!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Ok. Go ahead. Laugh.Now that that's over, I think this is the only picture I will post from this night. You don't need to see the rest, this one just about sums it up. My friends and I dressed as the Power Rangers for a costume party. And yes, we went out to a night club dressed like this afterward. A one time only experience
Sunday, February 22, 2009
The band Formerly Known as SacreBleu!
Tuesday Night Agathe, Benjamin and I played guitar on a radio show for our campus radio station, 99.9 Wired FM.
Agathe and our friend Jonathan have a 30 min radio show about french music on tuesday evenings at half five. So this week we decided to do live music.
After polling our friends for a name for a group, Juan from Spain decided on the title SacreBleu. We then had the idea to keep the number of people who knew it was us to be playing on Tuesday to a minimum, and thus we fabricated a story about how the band was an up and coming group from France. We told the majority of our friends to tune into Agathe's radio show on tuesday to check out this new band who would be reallt great.
To fill time on the show Agathe and I had written a short history of the band, how we met etc. so Jonathan could interview us on the air. Jonathan announced over the air that Agathe could not be present for the show that day as she was on the road seraching for new music, leaving her free to play the part of Girly from SacreBleu. The band members were Curly (myself) , Girly (Agathe), and Gotee [goaty] (Ben) *Ben has a large black gotee.
We played a four song set beginning with two well known French songs sung in French, Champs Elysees and Aicha.
Then two popular modern french songs sung in English, New Soul by Yael Naïm and On my Way by Cocoon.
Our plan worked fine except for no one really listens to our school radio station anyway, so it was more for or own fun, but also we actually had intentions to be a real 'band' afterwards.
However the following morning we were struck with terrible news, and really just lack of research on our part, but it turns out there are already several bands named SacreBleu or Sacre Bleu, so alas, our band dissolved.
We are tenatively reformed under the name by Jove! which is a loose translation of Sacrebleu into english. We went to a local open mic night at white house pub to see if it would be worth playing sometime. It was there we realized we needed our own music. Luckily, Agathe to the rescue, Agathe has a brilliant mastery of language and poetry. So we took some of her poetry and lyrics she had previously written and put them to tune for the first time. We now have one original song ready to play (ready in a loose sense of the word) called Williamites.
Agathe and our friend Jonathan have a 30 min radio show about french music on tuesday evenings at half five. So this week we decided to do live music.
After polling our friends for a name for a group, Juan from Spain decided on the title SacreBleu. We then had the idea to keep the number of people who knew it was us to be playing on Tuesday to a minimum, and thus we fabricated a story about how the band was an up and coming group from France. We told the majority of our friends to tune into Agathe's radio show on tuesday to check out this new band who would be reallt great.
To fill time on the show Agathe and I had written a short history of the band, how we met etc. so Jonathan could interview us on the air. Jonathan announced over the air that Agathe could not be present for the show that day as she was on the road seraching for new music, leaving her free to play the part of Girly from SacreBleu. The band members were Curly (myself) , Girly (Agathe), and Gotee [goaty] (Ben) *Ben has a large black gotee.
We played a four song set beginning with two well known French songs sung in French, Champs Elysees and Aicha.
Then two popular modern french songs sung in English, New Soul by Yael Naïm and On my Way by Cocoon.
Our plan worked fine except for no one really listens to our school radio station anyway, so it was more for or own fun, but also we actually had intentions to be a real 'band' afterwards.
However the following morning we were struck with terrible news, and really just lack of research on our part, but it turns out there are already several bands named SacreBleu or Sacre Bleu, so alas, our band dissolved.
We are tenatively reformed under the name by Jove! which is a loose translation of Sacrebleu into english. We went to a local open mic night at white house pub to see if it would be worth playing sometime. It was there we realized we needed our own music. Luckily, Agathe to the rescue, Agathe has a brilliant mastery of language and poetry. So we took some of her poetry and lyrics she had previously written and put them to tune for the first time. We now have one original song ready to play (ready in a loose sense of the word) called Williamites.
Carnival!
Friday night, my two friends Lucia and Gaël, Dutch and Belgian respectively, hosted a party for the international students.
The theme was Carnival! which is essentially the Dutch/Belgian equivalent of Mardigras. Everyone dressed up in costume; my friends Agathe, Jen, Christophe, Benjamin and I went as a group costume, The Power Rangers. It certainly made for an interesting night as later we moved the party to Molly's which is the local night club we frequent. So we went out on the town still dressed as power ranger.
I may or may not post pictures of this.
The night culminated in a sleepover at Agathe and Jen's flat where we moved all the mattresses into the living room. We spent the next day thoroughly exhausted and though it was lovely weather, we laid in Agathe's living room and watched movies all day, moving as infrequently as possible.
The theme was Carnival! which is essentially the Dutch/Belgian equivalent of Mardigras. Everyone dressed up in costume; my friends Agathe, Jen, Christophe, Benjamin and I went as a group costume, The Power Rangers. It certainly made for an interesting night as later we moved the party to Molly's which is the local night club we frequent. So we went out on the town still dressed as power ranger.
I may or may not post pictures of this.
The night culminated in a sleepover at Agathe and Jen's flat where we moved all the mattresses into the living room. We spent the next day thoroughly exhausted and though it was lovely weather, we laid in Agathe's living room and watched movies all day, moving as infrequently as possible.
UL climbs the ranks
Heading into the intra-varsity Tourney, our polo team has climbed the ranks of the National League Division Three.
This weekend marked 5 wins in a row for the team as we beat University College Cork 10-4 Saturday night and played Blackrock again this morning securing also a 10-4 victory.
Our team should now be sitting at 4th or 3rd place in the league of 9 teams. We should qualify for the play offs and may be able to finish in the 3rd spot but the top two spots are fairly secured already.
This coming weekend is the Intra-Varsity Tournament hosted by NUIG (National University of Ireland - Galway) at their brand new sports complex. The tournament will have universities form all over Ireland but the big teams will be Queen's University from Belfast, DIT Dublin Institute of Technology, NUIG, and perhaps DCU or UCD (I always confuse the two) Dublin City University or University College Dublin.
Depending on the group draw for play on Friday we should have an ample shot at progressing pretty far into the tournament. There are some teams there we know we can beat and some we know we can atleast keep up with so the matches should be great. And for all else, The night life in Galway is brilliant.
This weekend marked 5 wins in a row for the team as we beat University College Cork 10-4 Saturday night and played Blackrock again this morning securing also a 10-4 victory.
Our team should now be sitting at 4th or 3rd place in the league of 9 teams. We should qualify for the play offs and may be able to finish in the 3rd spot but the top two spots are fairly secured already.
This coming weekend is the Intra-Varsity Tournament hosted by NUIG (National University of Ireland - Galway) at their brand new sports complex. The tournament will have universities form all over Ireland but the big teams will be Queen's University from Belfast, DIT Dublin Institute of Technology, NUIG, and perhaps DCU or UCD (I always confuse the two) Dublin City University or University College Dublin.
Depending on the group draw for play on Friday we should have an ample shot at progressing pretty far into the tournament. There are some teams there we know we can beat and some we know we can atleast keep up with so the matches should be great. And for all else, The night life in Galway is brilliant.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
First International Water Polo Debut
Today I played my first international match in Water Polo
I am playing for the University of Limerick as Mary I (my college) is an affilliate school of UL so I'm elligible to play on their teams.
We traveled to Galway today to play a match against Blackrock which is the third division team for Corrib Water Polo Galway.
We won 12-9, chances are looking good for a top 4 finish in the league this season. They are now on a 3 win streak and we have two games next weekend at home they think we will win both.
In Galway we had only 8 players, leaving one sub, but at our home games we'll have a full team.
I am playing for the University of Limerick as Mary I (my college) is an affilliate school of UL so I'm elligible to play on their teams.
We traveled to Galway today to play a match against Blackrock which is the third division team for Corrib Water Polo Galway.
We won 12-9, chances are looking good for a top 4 finish in the league this season. They are now on a 3 win streak and we have two games next weekend at home they think we will win both.
In Galway we had only 8 players, leaving one sub, but at our home games we'll have a full team.
Monday, February 9, 2009
One (top left): Audrey, Tiphanie, Oscar; France France Portugal
Two: Me and Juan (Spain)
Three: Me and various Erasmus students plus Jen (girl next to me) she is Agathe's flatmate from Cork Ireland
Four: Erasmus students at birthday for Mylene (girl in middle with teal shirt looking to her left shoulder)
Five: Erasmus group at beach near Cliffs of Moher
Six: Agathe and Christopher both from France
RAG Week Day 1
Today was the beginning of our school RAG week
my friends and I went to our morning classes, which was only one for me, then skipped those in the afternoon and went out to the pubs near campus
There were hundreds of students at Scotts bar and the surrounding area. There was 9" pizza for 2 euro all afternoon and the off license (liquor store) next to the pub had all sorts of deals for the students, so everyone just spent the afternoon and early evening there. There was live music in Scott's pub and in between a few DJ's from our school spun music.
This evening however, I had training for water polo. I got back around 11:20pm and everyone was just heading out for the night to Trinity Rooms (night club) as there was a student event tonight and a local hip hop group is performing. In sold my ticket to my friend Audrey (France) as I was going to be far too tired to go out after training tonight.
my friends and I went to our morning classes, which was only one for me, then skipped those in the afternoon and went out to the pubs near campus
There were hundreds of students at Scotts bar and the surrounding area. There was 9" pizza for 2 euro all afternoon and the off license (liquor store) next to the pub had all sorts of deals for the students, so everyone just spent the afternoon and early evening there. There was live music in Scott's pub and in between a few DJ's from our school spun music.
This evening however, I had training for water polo. I got back around 11:20pm and everyone was just heading out for the night to Trinity Rooms (night club) as there was a student event tonight and a local hip hop group is performing. In sold my ticket to my friend Audrey (France) as I was going to be far too tired to go out after training tonight.
Ireland Wins!
Saturday was the beginning of 2009 Six Nations Rugby
Ireland V. France in Dublin
Ireland Wins 30-21!
The match was brilliant and the craic at the pub where we watched was massive.
(craic, pronounced 'crack' means fun) I'm sure there's an accent on craic but I am not sure how to type it on here.
Ireland V. France in Dublin
Ireland Wins 30-21!
The match was brilliant and the craic at the pub where we watched was massive.
(craic, pronounced 'crack' means fun) I'm sure there's an accent on craic but I am not sure how to type it on here.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Maxwell! You need to get fit.
I began water polo this week. I am playing at University of Limerick. Technically my school is part of UL and then as such I am a UL student I am eligible to play for their club. I went to the first training Thursday of last week but was not ready to play, I was exhausted that day and dehydrated, on top of that we mostly just swam that training so I looked pretty bad. The coach said to me, "Maxwell! You need to get fit."
However, things picked up after that, I started this week fine with training on Monday. I was rested and hydrated and played well. I think I am a bit out of shape conditioning wise compared to many of their players but am on par skill wise or above most of them. We have a few really good players but overall there is a lack of cohesion on the team. Enough people do not know whats going on that when we scrimmage it pretty ugly and mainly just involves a lot of swimming back and forth due to turnovers.
Beginning on Valentines day we have matches each week. We have 2 club matches for the first 2 weeks then Intra-Varsity matches begin between the universites. UL Mens' Polo is National League D3. Their Womens' Polo is D2 and at that they are easily the best in D2 and should win it all this season.
The team is also trying to organize a tour for a few games on the Continent in possibly Poland or France against a foreign club.
However, things picked up after that, I started this week fine with training on Monday. I was rested and hydrated and played well. I think I am a bit out of shape conditioning wise compared to many of their players but am on par skill wise or above most of them. We have a few really good players but overall there is a lack of cohesion on the team. Enough people do not know whats going on that when we scrimmage it pretty ugly and mainly just involves a lot of swimming back and forth due to turnovers.
Beginning on Valentines day we have matches each week. We have 2 club matches for the first 2 weeks then Intra-Varsity matches begin between the universites. UL Mens' Polo is National League D3. Their Womens' Polo is D2 and at that they are easily the best in D2 and should win it all this season.
The team is also trying to organize a tour for a few games on the Continent in possibly Poland or France against a foreign club.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Weekend of Exploring
Most of the Irish students took off for the weekend to go home to work so once again it was the internationals who banded together. Friday night Agathe cooked a carrot-coconut soup and I made a veggie Curry to go with it. After dinner we decided to go to 2 pubs we had not been to yet. I wanted to go to W.J South's because it is a bar mentioned in Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt which is set here in Limerick.
South's turned out to be a really nice place, very swanky, we felt a bit under dressed. It was very low key in comparison to the other pubs we usually frequent. It was nice to be able to sit with just the group of 4 of us and have a conversation without shouting; so in that sense I feel it was a great place to begin the night at for a casual pint. And about the pint, it was rumored that South's was where you could get the best pint in Limerick. The verdict is that yes indeed that was the best pint I've had since I've been here however the only way to see if it is the best is to go to every pub in Limerick.
After South's we went to a pub called The Bank, one we have always walked past but never ventured into. The Bank had really great music; the band even did requests so of course we had them play Galway Girl. Towards the end of the night the group played an epic song that took maybe 15 mins to complete which had just about one verse from every popular Irish song from Whiskey in the Jar to Irish Rover to I'll Tell me Ma.
It was here at the Bank I realized that they don't do whiskey sours here which is unfortunate though probably better for my bank account.
I called it an early night becasue I had to get up quite early in the morning the following day. I met my friend Maggie Faul (from STL studying at Univ. of Limerick) and her friend Maura (from Jersey) at the bus station where we caught a bus to Cork City, the second biggest city in Ireland. We explored the Cork City Centre for a bit under 2 hours before catching a bus to the nearby town of Blarney. Here we toured the castle and kissed the blarney stone. then we did some hiking around the castle grounds where the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. We did a tradition there called The Wishing Steps, which is a very steep, slippery, long set of stone stairs where they say if you can walk up and down them backwards with your eyes closed while thinking only of your wish then it will come true. The three of us each did it, I will keep you posted on if my wish comes true or not.
We ate lunch which we packed for the trip in the town of Blarney then headed back to Cork where we were just in time for the next us to Limerick.
South's turned out to be a really nice place, very swanky, we felt a bit under dressed. It was very low key in comparison to the other pubs we usually frequent. It was nice to be able to sit with just the group of 4 of us and have a conversation without shouting; so in that sense I feel it was a great place to begin the night at for a casual pint. And about the pint, it was rumored that South's was where you could get the best pint in Limerick. The verdict is that yes indeed that was the best pint I've had since I've been here however the only way to see if it is the best is to go to every pub in Limerick.
After South's we went to a pub called The Bank, one we have always walked past but never ventured into. The Bank had really great music; the band even did requests so of course we had them play Galway Girl. Towards the end of the night the group played an epic song that took maybe 15 mins to complete which had just about one verse from every popular Irish song from Whiskey in the Jar to Irish Rover to I'll Tell me Ma.
It was here at the Bank I realized that they don't do whiskey sours here which is unfortunate though probably better for my bank account.
I called it an early night becasue I had to get up quite early in the morning the following day. I met my friend Maggie Faul (from STL studying at Univ. of Limerick) and her friend Maura (from Jersey) at the bus station where we caught a bus to Cork City, the second biggest city in Ireland. We explored the Cork City Centre for a bit under 2 hours before catching a bus to the nearby town of Blarney. Here we toured the castle and kissed the blarney stone. then we did some hiking around the castle grounds where the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. We did a tradition there called The Wishing Steps, which is a very steep, slippery, long set of stone stairs where they say if you can walk up and down them backwards with your eyes closed while thinking only of your wish then it will come true. The three of us each did it, I will keep you posted on if my wish comes true or not.
We ate lunch which we packed for the trip in the town of Blarney then headed back to Cork where we were just in time for the next us to Limerick.
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