The Jameson Experience - Midleton, Ireland

Over the weekend, we headed out on an early Saturday morning to the Cork train station. It was a very brisk morning, overcast as usual and I was regretting not bringing a jacket. Sometimes I forget that I'm not in California anymore...

The train station was brick on the outside and modern on the inside with ticket machines and all that jazz. Jason was very fascinated by trains so we spent a few minutes before meeting the others to take pictures around the station.

The ride to Midleton was approximately 25 minutes with a roundtrip ticket costing about 7 euros per student. I've noticed that students get a lot more discounts at various venues and businesses here than they do back in the States, no complaining there.

The train ride was moderately paced and we got a good look of the countryside and greenery.

After arriving and finally figuring out the orientation of the city map poster at the train station, we headed to Main Street, which leads to the Jameson distillery. A quick word about Jameson- Jameson is a well-known Irish-produced whiskey. It has two branches, one in Midleton where the whiskey is made and aged, and one in Dublin where the whiskey is bottled and shipped out.

Before arriving at the distillery, however, we got sidetracked by the local farmer's market on the way. Here, we found small booths of ice cream, smoked salmon, meats, curry, produce, chocolates, and even flowers. Many of the booths allowed us to sample their products, which were all heavenly since we are a group of starving college students. I was lucky to sample a bite of brownie, which I can't remember if it contained caramel or not, but was the most scrumptious softest brownie I have ever had. I also tried smoked salmon and chili smoked salmon. Since we were very short on money I didn't get to buy a fillet of the chili salmon that I had really enjoyed, but more to come about that later ;)  Melina ended up getting a bowl of curry, which looked delicious and smelled even better. Jason and I shared a bowl of irish cream liqueur and brown bread ice cream, which is really quite amazing and much better than you can possibly imagine. The boys all got a nice hunk of dark chocolate to chomp on, and Alex and Andrew got a good hunk of blue cheese as well.

When we finally arrived at the distillery after much food adventures, the admission was ten euros for each of us, and after some time, we met up with our tour guide. She led us through the various distillery buildings, summarizing what goes into the whiskey, the triple distilling with the giant copper pot distillers. At the factory, each Jameson cannot be bottled and shipped until it has been aged for at least 4-5 years on average. Though a whiskey must be aged at least 3 years to be called a whiskey. Jameson also makes a special 12-year-old whiskey, which is offered exclusively at the distillery. Jason and I got a small bottle of the special 12-year-old whiskey that came in a fancy case for only 4.50 euros. The cashier dropped the case into the bag rather hard though, so neither of us know if the bottle inside is actually still intact since it's too special to open just yet. After our tour, we all received a complementary whiskey drink. I chose a mixed drink of Jameson whiskey with gingerale and lime, which tasted very well together. The guys chose to sip their whiskey neat, which I think is good too but a bit too strong for me to handle in the middle of the day...

This is me being standard tourist in front of a copper distilling pot. They had a bigger one inside that was the original. In fact, our tour guide said that the entire building had to be built around that one pot since it was so big!

So. Much. Whiskey.

Whiskey chandelier! Hope those are empty...

A look at the inside of one of the mills...

This is the water wheel that helps to power the mills. It is powered by the stream that runs under it, which you can't see from the picture.

At last our drinks! Mmm

After the distillery, we had some time to kill before heading home on the train, so we checked out a few local businesses. Mostly art galleries and antique shops. We stopped at a bookstore on Main Street for a while, where Melina and Jason read up on some Irish history and I found a good book on Irish cooking.

"All you can eat data!"---- if you say so!

Later that night after we were back in Cork, we met up later for a round of beer at The Francescan Well, a microbrew pub that is literally a five second walk from my front door. I tried my first Friar Weiss and it was absolutely the most delicious beer I have ever had. For the first time in my life I could finally understand how some guys could crave beer. I had to make sure I didn't drink it all too fast because the microbrews are quite pricey and I wanted to savor it all!

With lots of happy nommings and love- come back for more foodie adventures later!

Cheers to the Man Behind the Pint!

In case I forgot to mention this...I am VERY behind on my blogging. Therefore Arthur's day (named after Arthur Guinness, the man that founded Guinness) was actually September 27, not the posting day, October 5th. 

We both had class on Arthur's day, so here are some pictures from lunch to walking to class!

On a side note, on campus while walking to class today, Jason and I saw a fox, yes you read that right. a FOX by some bicycle racks looking rather skimpy and hungry by the food science building. We were very taken aback, and so was the Irish girl that happened upon it after us. Naturally we all pulled out our iPhones and took pictures of the poor bastard. It looked a little too hungry for us to stay longer than we had to.... 

Arthur's Day fell on a Thursday this year, and of course we all went out to celebrate. The "To Arthur" cheer was at 5:59 PM, chosen because the year was 1559. However, due to a poor sense of direction, everyone in our group missed it. We did pass by a few pubs on the way to the meeting place, An Brog, but did not hear anything significant at 5:59PM. We ended up meeting outside the post office instead on Oliver Plunkett Street, where we headed to Melina and Andrew's apartment to chat and wait for Alex until the bands started playing at local pubs. 

Typically at the pubs here, local bands come to play on various days around 10pm or later. For Arthur's Day, however, many pubs participated in a surprise guest band, where no one will know who is performing where until the night of Arthur's Day. We ended up going to Crane Lane, a quaint cozy pub in the city centre, but could not get in to see the guest performer, whom we later found out to be Ellie Goulding! I am soo incredibly sad that I was only one wooden door from Ellie Goulding! :( :( :( At the wine bar, they had a fancy automated wine dispenser that you is touchscreen. All you have to do is insert your wine card (purchased at the bar) and choose the drink! However the minimum amount to put on the card was 20 euro, and since I wasn't too educated on wines, I decided to save wine tasting for another occasion. 

I did get some lovely bruschetta instead of wine, which was absolutely delicious!

We did end up at The Oliver Plunkett (the pub this time, which is located on Oliver Plunkett street, coincidentally) where we heard some local bands perform. After sitting downstairs for the first performance, Melina and I discovered that the upstairs was much less crowded with a dance floor as well. We then moved to hear the band upstairs, which turned out to be a great idea. Many of the younger crowd, approximately around my age, started some folk dances/swing dancing, which was great fun. We did a train throughout the entire upstairs and danced for quite some while before retiring for the night. It was definitely one of the best cultural experiences in my life, one that I will hopefully remember for a very long time.

All in all, I quite enjoyed Arthur's Day. I of course had a pint of Guinness and then had a Smithwick, a red ale that tasted in between a light and dark beer. I liked the taste of it. However, I don't think I remembered to take a picture of it... :( More adventures to come! :)

First Day of School

School started today... I guess I have some mixed feelings about this. Part of me is glad that it started so that I can remember that I am still a student, but the other part of me is not looking forward to the tests and homework. My first class was at 9am for a computer class (the first ever computer class I have ever taken in college). Originally I had signed up for applied psychology classes to fulfill requirements for a psychology minor back in UCSD. However, the department did not approve my classes with the excuse that I did not have any previous background in the subject to take 2nd and 3rd year classes of psychology at UCC....

Anyways, back to the computer class...This was an introduction to C programming course, with mainly freshmen in the class. The class was held in the Western Gateway Building (WGB), and thankfully the room was the first one I saw when I entered. The room and everything appeared normal, and the professor was very nice. I could understand him just as if he was teaching in the US. The only bad part of this class was the material....

The story goes like this. Let's pretend that a computer's language is like many criss crossing railroad tracks that has switches that can be either 0 or 1. To get the train from one destination to another, you can flip the switch and change the tracks with 0 or 1. This all made sense to me, but what didn't make sense was when we added up the paths. Apparently in computer science 1+1 is 10....not 2..... For the next 30 minutes I tried to wrap my brain around this but realized I can't....This is why I will remain forever tech unsavvy, but that is perfectly okay with me. I will always have biology! :)

Much to my relief, Jason realized this class does not count as any credit for him since he's taken it already so we didn't have to take it anymore! PHEW!

The next class on the list was structural biochemistry. One weird thing about classes here is that they are in 1 or 2 hour blocks just like at home, but there is not much of a passing period to get to your next class. This is because in Ireland, most students study only one concentration instead of having a more liberal arts focus of a little of this a little of that such as kids in the states. This means that most students have class in the same building, therefore if class ends 3 minutes before the next class is supposed to start, it wasn't a big deal. However, structural biochemistry ended up being very far away from WGB, so Jason and I had to half speedwalk to the Kane building, which we got lost halfway there since we could see the building but not a clear path to get there.

We arrived 5 minutes late to the structural biochemistry class. When we entered, it seemed like the entire lecture hall turned around to look at us. Looking in desperation for any two adjacent open seats, we scrambled to get ready for class without disturbing others. The professor was still introducing the course and was just about to begin by the time we arrived, luckily for us. We started with amino (pronounced ah-mine-no) acids and their structures from amino acid to peptides to polypeptides. The professor also pronounced methyl groups as mee-thyl groups with a long e sound. Both Jason and I found this to be hilarious as we finished organic chemistry with a professor at UCSD that was very angry with students when they mispronounced chemical groups.

After the biochemistry class, my sense of normalcy was restored from the abrupt glass-shattering computer class earlier in the morning. We ran a few errands on campus afterwards, then headed home for an easy night in.

I hope that my classes work out and that I will do well in them! There is a myth on campus that if one steps on the school seal printed on the tile floor in the main quad, that person will become either pregnant or fail their classes. Fortunately I haven't stepped on it since I have become aware of this...though I can't be too sure before they told me. Personally I don't count it if I did step on it ;)

The next few pictures were taken around campus. The greenery pictures were taken on walks that were on the edges of campus that eventually led to the main campus. There are also some pictures of cafe serendipidy- me and Jason's favorite cafe to go to when we are in the area!

This is one of my favorite views from campus. So gorgeous. I am lucky to have found such a wonderfully beautiful campus!

This is Jason's favorite dish- seafood chowder! It was so choked full of 3 varieties of fish and the chowder was a very light cream that was absolutely delicious. It comes with a slice of whole grain Irish soda bread with .... BUTTER! :)

Kiss the rock!

After waking up after a lot of sleep at a late 11 am, we headed out to meet Alex at the bus station. The bus station was similar to a greyhound station with labeled placards and an electronic screen displaying the bus stopping by each placard with its respective time. While waiting, something strange happened. All of a sudden I saw a seagull flying above and heard a splat. Looking down, I see a demolished apple  strewn in its juices on the ground. People near me all noticed the splat and we carefully inched towards it to see if it actually really happened. Needless to say we all stood under the covered parts of the bus stop after this in case another seagull felt like attacking...Personally, I think the seagull was carrying more than it could handle, therefore dropping it midair!

The buses here are very nice and are much nicer than the MTS buses back home. They're clean and the seats are comfy. Instead of the yellow pull cords, there are "STOP" buttons on the poles by each seat, which made me feel a bit like I shouldn't press it since it's a big square red button and all...Luckily for me, the bus drivers usually announce the stop since you have to tell them where you want to stop prior to boarding the bus.

The entrance fee to the castle was ten euros, which wasn't too bad. We all got sucked into the touristy visitor's shop before even getting to the castle, but thanks to our limited funds, I only got a souvenir penny (I collect those wherever I go).

As we approached the castle, I noticed how green the grounds of the castle/estate was. There were giant grass lawns and trees everywhere. We first entered the dungeon of the castle, which was literally carved into the rock. The total opening was only about 4 feet tall, so we all had to crouch to get through to the end. Inside the dungeon/cave was colder air and some leftover puddles from an earlier rain shower. After the dungeon we got out and went into the actual castle, which was much bigger than I had expected. Perhaps the coolest feature of the castle for me was the stone staircase that was carved out of stone. The steps were polished and slippery from the usage by visitors. There were many bedrooms and out-jutting of windows and the occasional bedroom.

After much stair-climbing that got narrower as we went up, we finally arrived at the blarney stone! The story of the blarney stone is that whoever kisses the stone will be blessed with eloquence- I certainly hope this comes true for me! Luckily for my group, there was no line when we arrived, most likely due the fact that it was close to closing time.

Alex went first, followed by me and then Jason. We all placed aside loose articles of clothing/pocket accessories/etc before kissing the stone in case it fell down the 3 or 4 stories down. We lied on the rubber mat that was placed right before the opening facing up at the sky, grabbed the two metal bars attached to the wall behind us and was lowered down by an elderly gentleman. It doesn't seem far when others are doing it, but when I did it, I was oddly surprised by how low I had to reach before I could get close enough to kiss the stone. Good thing there was someone holding onto me!

We later went to the Rock Close, the name of one of the grounds by the castle. I must say that this is by far one of the prettiest places I've seen since being in Ireland. There were waterfalls, streams, trees galore, flowers, moss, water lillies, walkways and wooden bridges. Words cannot describe how breathtaking this place was. I felt like I could stay there forever, taking it all in, and secretly wished I didn't have to return to California where everything was yellow/brown and dried up. Hopefully the following pictures will help your imagination along!

After the Rock Close, we realized we had barely missed the 215 bus that had just left as we were crossing the street. Since we were all pretty hungry by now, we stopped by the Muskerry Arms Restaurant. I had the roast of the day, which was beef that day. Jason and I tried our first Beamish that night, and I think I like Beamish more than Murphy's. Though maybe it was just because I was hungry and thirsty... We all shared dessert afterwards, consisting of chocolate cake with ice cream and a Bailey's cheesecake (both were very delicious). Hope you enjoy the pictures :) Once again, I am quite behind on blogging and feels like I am leaving out a lot of adventures, but maybe I will write all the random tidbits up in a separate blog sometime. :)

Culture Night

On Friday was Cork's annual culture night, a night where museums, pubs and various attractions offer free admission, live music, free food, etc. The festivities started at 5 pm, but I didn't arrive at the butter museum until nearly 6:20 pm. Yes you heard that right...the BUTTER museum. Indeed it is a museum of the cultivation of butter through the years of Irish history. It showcased many types of churns and methods of making the butter as well as what butter used to be compared to now. Butter back then was more of a currency/measure of wealth for the folks, it could be used as almost a lottery ticket. Depending on the region of Ireland, there were different shaped churns. I didn't get to finish looking through the entire butter museum, however, as Jason wanted to go to the St. Ann's cathedral bell tower ringing which began at 7pm. We went at 6:50 pm and there was already a big line of excited people waiting before us. There were people of all ages, from six-year-olds to sixty-year-olds. The wait seemed to take forever, but when the great big doors were finally opened, we were let into the musty hallway to line up for the ascent to the ringing of the bells!

The staircase was narrow, allowing only one at a time, and there were multiple floors of the tower, naturally. The stairs were made of stone, and as we went up and up, we could see more of the various gears used to ring the bells. When we reached the level of bell ringing, we all played a song from the book adjacent to the bells, which were marked by numbers next to their respective ropes. The 8th bell was the heaviest and hardest to pull. I've never rang church tower bells before, so this was all very exciting for me. I wish I could have been at the top of the tower to hear what I was playing while I was playing it though because much of the sound was muffled by the stone walls of the tower.

Afterwards the others and I went up to the top-most floor, with our red and squishy ear muffs on our heads to protect against the loud ringing sounds of the bells. When we arrived at the top, we were amazed by the view that was waiting for us. It was just after sunset, and the city's night life was just about to begin. From the top of the tower we had a 360 view of the entire city! It was so beautiful and amazing. I could see my house from up there, along with the streets I walk on during the day. There were also many cathedrals about, Jason and I counted 8 just from one side of the tower.

When we were finally finished watching Cork come alive at night, we stopped at The Four Liars bistro. The bistro was next to the cathedral, painted red with a glowing warm atmosphere. The quick story of why the bistro was called the four liars bistro. It was actually named after the church tower as it had 4 faces with a clock on each face. However, each clock had a different time than the other, earning itself the four liars because one could never tell which was the correct time!

At the bistro, it was cute but also fancy with candlelight and 40 euro suppers. However, I ordered the smoked haddock bruschetta, which ended up being smoked salmon as the kitchen ran out of haddock for the night. It was quite delicious and very filling. The service was great and we all had a fantastic time. Along the walls of the bistro were endless bottles of white and red wines, which I found to be interesting. I've also noticed that many restaurants and pubs put candles in the wine bottles to light the tables.

After eating, we proceeded to attempt catching the last culture night bus number 1 to the observatory for stargazing, but the bus stop was at the other side of the town, and unfortunately we did not make it in time. :( The chase for the bus led us to the Cork City Hall, which also had some culture night events. by this time it was 10 pm and we decided it would be worth a shot to see what film the city hall was featuring. Much to my fears, it ended up being short, 15 minute horror films. I've never seen a horror film, quite definitely because of the word 'horror,' as I am more of the happy-romantic-comedy type of girl that doesn't like nightmares right before bedtime... Since I've never seen it before, I figured it would be unfair to completely rule it out.

Taking a deep breath, I sat through the first 15 minute film. It was not good. I mean sure it was probably a good horror film but it was not good in that it was really scary!! Basically the storyline centered around a worker that was working late night hours. He got curious and walked about the warehouse-like place, in which he found a mysterious box that was the size of a bookshelf. However the box only had one small opening and when he peered into it, he found nothing. He decided to then get a furniture mover dolly device to move the box, in which after he rolled it out, a scary monster looking face suddenly looked out the back. Keep in mind this was all filmed with a countdown, so the scary scene of the worker opening the box wasn't supposed to happen for another 5 minutes, but the face appeared much before then, unexpectedly, and much of the audience gasped. The next film I only half-watched as it was much too gory and frankly I only sat through half because I was trying to figure out anatomically how the blood was dripping down the wrong leg, etc. (bionerd for life...)

Post the traumatic experience, I was very freaked out, but good thing I was with Jason and Alex and it was still pretty well lit. We attempted to meet up with Melina and Andrew at the Oliver Plunkett pub, but unfortunately barely missed them. The pub was featuring a band of which I have never heard of, but was quite good. Jason and I tried our first Hoegaarden. It was a very citrusy, light beer that came in a very stocky pint glass. I thought it was very good, but it was a bit too much for me to finish. It looks red in the picture but the pub lighting was very dim so it came out poorly in the picture. The actual beer is a light bubbly yellow. It came with a lemon slice each.

After Oliver Plunkett, we headed to Crane Lane, which was a half-outdoors-ish pub that seemed to connect to 2 other pubs. After showing the bouncer our UCC IDs (my picture is still derpy), we mingled with the crowds in an attempt to find Andrew and Melina. We finally bumped into them at the dance floor. It was very warm in there despite it being half outdoors, but there was more room on the dance floor to move around and everyone was relaxed and having fun. I don't think I have ever seen a couple as cute as Andrew and Melina except in Hollywood movies. We all danced (and Jason attempted to) for a while until it was about 1 am.

Overall I think my first culture night at Cork was fantastic, and I can't wait to try all the other festivities the city has to offer later on in the year! (Ahem to Arthur's day on Sept 27!)