My Blog-En-Provence: Dublin

I have FIVE days left in Aix-en-Provence. It's so bittersweet and I'm not sure I really realize it yet. Tomorrow we have our last program excursion, and Sunday a program picnic. I've been soaking up all the local things for the last few days. I finally walked around with a camera and took pictures of the things I'm surrounded by daily. Wednesday we were able to watch a live stream of the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival followed by Woody Allen's new film "Midnight in Paris" dubbed in French. Thursday Holly and I bought a HUGE chunk of one of our favorite cheeses and enjoyed one of our last cheese, baguette, fig confiture indulgences. Things like daily picnics are so easy to do here, and will be much different in the States. How easy is it to find fresh baguettes on every corner at home?

I also celebrated my 21st birthday last weekend. My friend Katie (who is mentioned often later in this post) came to visit, and we lived it up. What a wonderful place to celebrate a birthday!

However, I never informed everyone of my last long break, so here it is:

For the last two weeks of April, I explored the Northern Lands of Europe: Dublin, Ireland; Brussels, Belgium; and Amsterdam, Netherlands. I'll touch on Ireland for now.

Let's start from the very beginning. I actually spent a day and night in Nice before heading to Dublin. My flight took off from Nice and Holly's family, the Kellers, so graciously let me crash their day there so I could start my vacation early. We spent the day on the beach reading and luckily, Holly and I were both able to finish our books so we could swap before we headed our separate ways. We had a delicious supper and then retired as we all had busy travel days ahead of us. It was a wonderful pre-vacation-vacation.

Next stop, Dublin:
I flew in and found my way to the Citywest Dublin, just out of town, for the Irish Dance World Championships. I was to stay with my friend Katie and her mother for a few days, while they coached and I sight-saw. Katie is a friend from Rochester who is currently studying abroad in London. Her mother, a three time world champion Irish dancer, now owns an Irish Dance School in Los Angeles. Katie, a former championship dancer herself, also coaches at the school. When I arrived to the hotel I was able to obtain a copy of the room key with no proof of my stay (dangerous), and then slip in to the convention center practice area unnoticed. Really secure competition...
I spent my first day in Dublin soaking in everything I could about this subculture I knew nothing about. I watched the dances, talked to controlling pageant moms, listened to the various jigs, met Riverdance dancers, and attended an after-party catching a glimpse in to the Rock Star side of everything. It was really entertaining.

Katie, Maggie, and the Junior Team


The Main Stage

The next day Katie and I had a very early wake-up call. We needed to be in to the center of Dublin by 6:30 to hop on a “Paddy Wagon” to Northern Ireland to see the Giant's Causeway. We boarded one of those bus/van hybrid's for one of the most sickening rides of my life. Anyone that doesn't believe motion sickness exists should have been on that bus with us. Winding along the green coast of Ireland should have been a stunning experience that I soaked in every minute of. Unfortunately, I was sitting with eye's closed, breathing deeply to stave off huge bouts of nausea. We drove through Belfast, stopped at a rope bridge (which Katie was unable to cross), and then landed at the Giant's Causeway.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge


Katie and I

The Causeway

It was a really interesting sight to be seen. Honestly, it wasn't as grand as I expected, but it really was intriguing. These basalt columns really look like something that had to have been laid there. They fit together so tightly, and are quite symmetric, but alas, they were naturally occurring – perhaps a result of a volcanic eruption. After we had adequately explored the rocks we re-boarded the Paddy Wagon and headed to Derry.

Scenes depicted on building walls


The Death Mobile

Derry is a city in Northern Ireland which would rather have it's association with the Republic of Ireland. It's in rough shape in terms of residual violence. The entire trip was very interesting because our guide gave us lots of insight in to the struggles between the Republic and the Union – a topic which I am very unversed in. After Derry we headed back to Dublin. Midway through our trek I had to ask the little girls in front to switch bus seats with me for fear that my stomach would not remain very settled for long. They all look terribly frightened of me when I asked and agreed only when there mothers told them too. Oops

The next day I headed in to Dublin solo while Katie continued with the dance competition. I did a hop on hop off bus tour to orient myself, which ended up stirring up my stomach again. For the rest of the day I wandered aimlessly taking photos. It also happened to be Good Friday, so in Irish Catholic Tradition, all the pubs were closed – and even the Guiness Factory – so things were a little dead in town that day, but nonetheless, there was lots to be seen. I headed home around dinner time and retired to bed unusually early in order to be alert for my 3:45 am shuttle to the airport!