Cliffs of Moher

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We had some friends visiting last week and ended up doing a few day trips with them.

I think the Cliffs of Moher/Burren Trip was my favourite so I thought I'd share some photos here. :)

We really lucked out and got a beautiful (if a bit windy) day.

Dunguaire Castle

We actually visited this place twice to see how much the tides change. It was much prettier during low tide, but I don't have any good photos that show the castle....

I have lots of other photos, but most of them have people in them, so I don't think I'll post them, but here's some from Trim instead. This was a separate trip to the Hill of Tara and Trim (and a bunch of other places) but I don't really think it needs a separate post.

Trim Castle
I think this was a dining hall of sorts?

Supposedly part of Braveheart was shot here?

I think Trim Castle was the most interesting castle I've visited so far, but I'm told Blarney is better, so maybe we'll have to trek up there to see for ourselves.

Wake up! Time for School!

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Classes have finally started!

Well, technically they started two weeks ago... but I'm going to pretend those last weeks never happened and that Trinity got timetables out to students before the third week of classes, that I didn't miss two Monday classes and have to redo my schedule three times because the general lecture timetables were easily available and correct, that I have access to the reading lists and online components for all of my classes instead of just 2 and that I was able to get my super important form signed and mailed on time because I totally wasn't running around trying to correct all these issues.

Yes.

That's what I'll pretend. -_________________-;

Anyway...!

Needless to say, all of this crazy has severely cut into my sewing time, but I have been slowly picking away at shirts...

I've also been working on a few new things for Tobi because she's been spending most of her time recently dressed in SM clothes or Mali's things and I was really wishing she had some things of her own.

They're actually a paler yellow than they look here.

I commissioned some printed T-Shirts for her in August, but I'm doubting they'll get here any time soon, so she's commandeered a shirt Mali never wears, Mali's long socks that she also never wears and the almost-finished dragon/dinosaur hoodie. Then I made her some cute yellow shorts to match since the failury pink skirt prototype from years ago just wasn't cutting it.

Now she just needs some shoes of her own and she'll finally have her own full outfit!

Giant's Causeway

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Giant's Causeway is Northern Ireland's National Heritage site. It's a lovely hillside (cliffside?) filled with all sorts of volcanic formations, the most famous of which are the hexagonal pillars found all over the area.

I was amazed at how big they were. The main pillars were so tall that the people walking on the top just looked like tiny ants.

In addition to the pillars, there were also volcanic boulders (that were surprisingly spherical). I think they were my favourite part.

There was an art installation on the hillside by some English(?) artist whose name I forget. Everyone I was with was complaining about it and saying it was horrible, but I kind of like it.

Not the best picture for showing them, but the best one I have.

It was a bunch of red and yellow flags positioned so that the whole thing looked different depending on where you were standing.

We spent most of the day wandering around The Causeway and I think it was my favourite part of the trip to Northern Ireland. It's really amazing natural area.

Northern Ireland

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We spent last weekend in Portrush, Northern Ireland.
I've been told Northern Ireland is the most beautiful part of Ireland, and after spending a few days there, I wouldn't hesitate to believe someone who told me that again. Although it does smell much like cow.

The first day we visited Dunluce Castle, and the second was spent at Giant's Causeway and touring the Bushmills Distellery. I brought Mali with me both times, but not many of the photos turned out, so I doubt I'll post them.

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Dunluce Castle is supposed to be one of the most scenic castles in the country, and I will say it is quite lovely, but I don't know if I would give it that distinction just yet. It was built on a cliff-island thing, which, if you know anything about erosion is probably the best place ever to build a house if you want your kitchen to fall into the sea: which it did.

Most of my photos came out sort of boring, so I'll update this post later when I have access to other peoples' shots.

I did get one of Mali that's not too bad, but unfortunately you can't see any of the castle.

I've been taking so many back-of-head shots lately :/

Dinner was at 55°-North in Portrush, and I would highly recommend it if you happen to be in the area.

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I have a lot of photos from Giant's Causeway, so that will be it's own post, but I did find something unexpected in a grocery store, so I'll leave you with a photo of that. ;)

Tim Horton's tea and coffee (I assume), but regular Spar doughnuts

Cork

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I am back from my weekend away in Cork, and I must say, it was quite fun - minus the 5 hour bus ride.

That was less fun.

It also disoriented me rather thoroughly for my school orientation sessions... but they turned out okay-ish in the end I guess.

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Cork itself is a big city and since we were only there for effectively a day, due to travel times, I didn't get to see much of the city proper.

We did visit University College Cork, which I must say is a lot prettier than Trinity, and is probably the nicest university campus I've ever visited.

We also made it out to Blackrock Castle, which is very pretty as well.

It's also an observatory, science museum and a bit under construction apparently, so the tour was... odd... to say the least, but I enjoyed it and wish I could have stayed longer. The Castle Café was excellent as well. Probably the best food I had in Cork.

This boat was tethered off the side of the castle. I assume it must be reachable when the tide is low otherwise I have no idea how they managed to put it there.

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I wish I'd had a bit more time to explore Cork and I would have liked to get a few more doll photos, but I did enjoy everything I did manage to see, so I shouldn't really complain.

There are a few more orientation sessions this week, and I have to figure out how to register for classes before teaching starts Monday (why we weren't allowed before I'll never know), but we're off to Belfast this weekend and I'm really looking forward to it. I think it will be the nicest place we've visited yet and plan to bring both Mali and Tobi, so perhaps I can make up for lost photos there. :)

I hope everyone gets a chance to go somewhere different soon!

I'll post an update when I get back from Belfast, but posts will probably slow down once classes start.