TWINS WIN!

Yes, I am halfway across the world right now but the Twins win today was the highlight of my night! Twins games are definitely one of the top ten things I miss about being home. I'll be sending all the luck I can to them on Tuesday against Detroit--Reilly just informed me he, Mag, and papa will be going to the game--I'm super jealous!

This weekend's excusion was to County Kerry. Although the excursion's planning was a bit frustrating at times, Kerry is a beautiful area and I got to visit alot of my favorite places from my 2007 trip. Our adventure began at 8 am on Monday with a 3 hour bus ride to the Shannon Estuary, where we drove our BUS on a BOAT and took an enjoyable 20 minute ferry ride from Killimar to Talbert. The excitement of the ferry ride was watching the ferry crew do a mock "man overboard" drill. From there we went to Tralee for lunch and a quick shopping stop. The next four hours were spent driving around the Dingle Peninsula and Slea Head, where we made one stop for photos and a little exploring around the rocks and cliffs. Next, we visited Gallarus Oratory, the best preserved clochan, or beehive hut, in Ireland. The hut has been standing for over 1300 hundred years and remains perfectly waterproof! From there we drove to Portmagee, our home for the next two nights. Portmagee: a quaint little town on the coast, probably a huge tourist destination during the summer when people visit the Skelligs off the coast, but not a great spot for 28 college students to spend two nights. Either way, we had a nice hostel and tried to make the most of our time there. We spent the majority of Friday at a photography workshop put on by two Norwegian photographers, who also happen to be our director's relatives. The workshop did give us a chance to take some fun photos and I took full advantage of the digital macro setting on my camera. That night we visited one of the two pubs in town, and although we were the only visitors under the age of 50, we enjoyed the traditional music and set dancing. Katie and I even got to join in the set dancing! The dancing is much different than the step dancing we're used to, but it was still so much fun!

On Saturday we said good bye to Portmagee and drove along the Ring of Kerry to Killarney. I remembered many of the viewing sites we stopped at, and the views were still breath-taking! *To my former Ireland travelers: check out some of my pictures from the weekend and I'm sure you'll recognize many of the places!* After stopping for lunch in Killarney, we visited the Muchross House and Gardens in Killarney National Park. The Muchross House is a beautiful mansion from the Victorian age and the gardens surrounding it are spectacular. Killarney National Park is gorgeous, although I was a bit sad we didn't have the opportunity to take a jaunting car ride--I really wanted to find Marc, our charming driver from my last visit to the park. Killarney was, and still is one of my favorite towns in Ireland. We spent the night at a hostel in the middle of the city and visited a few of the local pubs and clubs that night. Coming back from the club on Saturday night, Mollie, Katie and I met some nice hikers from Holland, and now have a place to stay if we ever want to visit Amsterdam.

On Sunday morning Katie, Megan, Maggie, Thomas and I went to mass at St. Mary's Cathedral--another place my former Irish crew will remember! For a second, I thought I was at the drive-thru mass in Killkenny, as mass only lasted 29 minutes! After church we packed up and drove back to Tralee to visit the Kerry County Museum. The highlight of that stop was the giant park full of rose gardens across from the museum--another perfect opportunity for me to use my digital macro!

Returning to the PLH tonight, I was happy to hear of the Johnnie's exciting homecoming win and did my best to cheer on the Twins over the computer. If anyone would like to send me a washing maching and/or dryer, I would greatly appreciate it--laundry is not one of my favorite things!