O'Conaill's...Again

On Thursday, I decided I would be productive.  I woke up (relatively) early to meet Jane and her three HC friends to walk int town.  Jane's friend, Emily, wanted to get O'Conaill's one last time (and I never say no to O'Conaill's), and I needed to buy Lindsay a birthday gift!

I keep trying to get something different when I go to O'Conaill's because there are so many flavors.  This time, I got the dark chocolate praline with ginger.  It wasn't my favorite, but nothing is ever bad at O'Conaill's, so I obviously drank the entire thing!  After O'Conaill's, we walked around the city for a little while.  It was a dreary day, very grey, and it definitely looked as if it was going to rain all day.  But, I would not give up, I was looking to find Linds a birthday gift, and I think I found the perfect one!  It was a silver knot bangle.  Something simple and she could wear it all the time. 

After perusing the city, Jane and I had to get back to class.  We have the same class on Wednesday, which makes it  much easier to get through!  We have this class twice on Thursdays, and when we went to the second one, we completely got stuck in the rain! We were not prepared for the weather at all.  My lecturer was surprised to see that people even showed up to class in the rain.  I guess rainy weather means don't go to class in Ireland?  I don't think that would work at HC!

Later in the evening, I needed to finish up packing and get homework done.  I studied for a few hours and got some work for HC done.  I had an early, early, wake up call on Friday morning, so I kept it a low-key night.  

Be back soon with info about England!

XO, 

Caitlin 

I do not get tired of this view.

Blue skies vs. grey skies! 

Wacky Wednesday

Wednesday was the craziness weather I have ever seen!  It went from cold, to hot to pouring, to beautiful.  I think this changing of the seasons is starting to bring in the weird Irish weather...

I had a pretty quiet day on Wednesday.  I needed to really get my act together and get organized on my school work.  I've seriously gotten into the routine of not having a lot of homework, which is great, but not when I actually have work to do!   I am not really thinking about my work until I get back from England this weekend.  Friday was quickly approaching!

In between classes, I ran down to the City Centre to pick up a birthday cake for Julia.  It was her 21st on Thursday, but she and some of the Holy Cross girls were going to Portugal for the weekend, so Jane and I wouldn't be able to celebrate with her.  I love birthdays so much, so picking out a cake and candles was fun for me.  I got a chocolate and vanilla mousse cake with berry topping.  The girls all came to my apartment later that evening to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat lots and lots of cake.  It was our first birthday in the HC group!

After the birthday celebrations, I got some work done.  I checked out book for the first time in college, ever!  At Holy Cross, you can get anything you need electronically, so it was definitely a learning process, but I successfully picked up three books!

Back to packing to get ready for York, England to see Lindsay!

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

When the weather was sunny!

Happy birthday, Julia!

We Really Love the Franciscan

On Tuesday, I told myself I would be more productive, and I really was not.  I do not know what will make me get my work done!  I swear I will Wednesday...you can hold me to it!

It was a grey day in Cork, which is the type of weather that makes me want to stay in bed and watch Netflix all day.  However, I can say I did not give into that temptation!  After classes, I caught up on a lot of FaceTime calls I have been trying to make.  I got to talk to Allegra for almost two hours and hear about her life!  It was so good catching up with her, hearing how break is, and being filled in of our off campus housing details for senior year.  We had a little bit of a house crisis yesterday, our landlord gave our house away!  Thankfully, Allegra is organized and was on top of it.  She found us a house we are even more excited about :)

I had a new dinner I was going to try tonight, one I found on Pinterest.  It was a quinoa with chickpeas, spinach, avocado, tomatoes, honey mustard, and lots more delicious ingredients.  I had to substitute some of the ingredients, but it still came out very good!  I have become a quinoa lover while abroad, and it is so easy to make.  Luckily, there are plenty of leftovers to last me a few days!  After dinner, I went to Jane's to catch up with her and the HC kids, Emily and Marty, I needed to hear about their adventures!  We also were trying to plan what we were doing that evening.  None of us had any burning desire to go out to the bar, so instead we decided on the Franciscan.  You can never go wrong with the Franciscan, and it is definitely a place you need to try when you visit Cork.  We met up with Grace there, and the four of us ended up staying for hours!  I told myself it would be and early night...oops

The night was a lot of fun.  I never get tired of talking to Holy Cross students about HC, I really love it and everything it as to offer!  Grace probably wanted to die hearing us talk about it ad nauseam...

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

The finished product of dinner! 

What I am eating/drinking as I write this-- hot chocolate and Trader Joe's cookies!  Feels like I am home...

Back in the Groove

Monday was a day of getting back to reality.  No more meals out with the family, everything paid for, and definitely no more skipping class (well, maybe a little).  My family was flying out of Dublin on Monday, and it was so hard knowing they were in my country and I was not with them!  But, I was excited to get back into my routine in Cork.

I went about my normal Monday activities, I got up, got a little organized, and went to class.  Every time I come home from class I tell myself I will do homework, but that has yet to happen.  I really, really need to get to it!  After class, I went into town to do some grocery shopping.  I am running very low on food because I have not had to cook for myself in so long!  I decided I would walk into the city and go to Marks and Spencers, well, that is what I planned on doing.  For some reason, the grocery stores close before 7 PM, and I found myself in the City Centre at 6:30.  Marks and Spencers was unfortunately closed, so I went to SuperValu.  I was so proud go myself because I had a list of meals I was going to cook and get organized this week in the kitchen.  In my first five minutes at the store, someone comes on the loudspeaker announcing the store is closing!  I was running at this point to find some food to make enough of a meal for that night, let alone my entire grocery list!  How does a store close so early?! Do people have jobs pas 6 PM in Ireland?! I was able to pick up essentials so I knew I could get through the morning, but it was such a nice night out I wanted to continue walking.  I thought I would walk by Tesco, for the heck of it, to see if that was still open.  Thankfully, it was!  I was able to finish my shopping, and I was very excited for my upcoming meals.   Monday night's menu option:  beef and vegetable stir fry!

After grocery shopping, I stopped by Jane's with my dinner.  She has two Holy Cross friends visiting this week because HC is on Fall Break.  I decided I would pop in to see how their time was going and how they were liking Cork!  It was really nice catching up with fellow HC-ers and hearing about their year so far (and also reaffirm my happiness I am abroad after hearing how much work everyone has had at HC).  It definitely made me miss Holy Cross, but I have to say, I could not be happier to be in Cork this year.

I'll let you know how m new dinner dish turns out :)

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

Sunset in Cork

Dinner!

See Ya Later!

Sunday was my last day with the family until December!  It was so bittersweet leaving them.  I am really excited to still have the year left here in Cork, but there is something about the Fall in New England that I really miss.  But, we had a great last day together!

We began the day by having breakfast in the hotel, and then we were off!  Our first stop was Hatch and Sons, a coffee shop right next to the hotel that had great reviews. I decided to try a flat white, which is similar to a latte (which I love), and it ended up being pretty tasty.  Really, any coffee drink tastes good to me!  Hatch and Sons is also famous for their bread, Blaa.  It is a special bread made only in Waterford, Ireland, and it is delivered to the store everyday.  We saved the bread for our picnic we were planning later in the afternoon!

The weather was beautiful, again, so we walked to the train station to buy hop on hop off tickets that would take you down the eastern coast of Ireland.  Mom and Dad could not stop talking about how pretty these sights were, and we are all beach lovers, so we had to do it!  Our first stop was in Bray, Co. Wicklow.  Bray was gorgeous!  The beach was all stone, and it looked like it stretched on for miles.  Bray was famous for a mountain you can hike (which wasn't too big), and gives you gorgeous views of the sea.  We did not do that hike on Sunday, unfortunately we were not dressed properly.  But, the walk was very pretty!  We then go back on the train and headed to Dalkey, Co. Dublin.  This was an adorable town Mom and Dad stopped in on Thursday, and they loved it.  We went to the grocery store and a little market to grab some items for our picnic, and walked to the harbor sitting area.  The views reminded me of Italy, it was breathtaking!  Standing on top of a stone area, you looked right out to calm water.  Our picnic workout out very well, and it was a great way to end my time with the fam.

We were then off to Dublin so I could grab the train back to Cork!  See you in seven weeks, Spalluto family, thank you for a great ten days!

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

 Bray. Co. Wicklow

Dalkey. Co. Dublin

Thanks for the great trip :)

A Saturday in Saint Stephen's

Saturday would be a day of exploring Dublin for the Spalluto family.  We woke up, had a lovely breakfast at the hotel, and got ready for the day.  Dad had a lot of great things planned for us!

Our first stop was the Little Museum of Dublin.  This was an great museum right next to our hotel.  The Little Museum was in an old family home on Saint Stephen's Green in Dublin, filled with items of the 20th-21st centuries, donated by the people of Dublin.  It was almost like a pop-culture museum of Dublin, and the entire top floor was dedicated to U2.  It was a really neat place, and a lot more interesting, in my opinion, than old historical museums.  After the tour of the museum, you were given a tour of Saint Stephen's Green.  It was a beautiful day out, we were very lucky!  We had an adorable tour guide who knew so much about the Green, and loved sharing his knowledge with the crowd.  After the tour, we were in dire need of a caffeine fix.  Dad and Care looked up some local coffee shops that were supposed to be good, so we set out for Kaph.  The lattes were very good, and it was a neat, modern place.  I have to say, I have been pretty impressed with the coffee in Dublin!  Once we rejuvenated, we set out for our next mission, finding the Temple Bar Food Market, a great outdoor market with different vendors and food stands from the area, but we had a little pit stop.  As we were walking around, we found a massive sale going on in a Patagonia outlet.  The prices were crazy cheap, and there was a lot go nice quality stuff!  We shopped around a little, stocking up on various Christmas and birthday gifts for people.  Shockingly, when we were in the store, who do I run into, but, Grace!  It is such a small world that I run into her in the biggest city in Ireland!  it was a nice treat seeing her.  After our shopping break, we headed for the market.  When we got there, Care and I both said that it reminded us of Smorgasburg, in Brooklyn.  This was a very good sign to us!  Care and I ate at Karuna's Kitchen, a vegetarian tent, and Mom and Dad ate at Crepes in the City.  There were so many options it was hard to choose just one place!  Carolyn and I shared a kofta wrap, which was a wrap filled with a falafel-like food, and also a curry and rice dish.  I could have eaten so much of this, it was incredible!  I then got some hot apple cider and an apple, making me feel a little at home with the Fall favorite.

Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped at a store Mom was looking for, Kilkenny.  This store has a lot of beautiful gifts and trinkets unique to Ireland.  Mom needed to pick up a few things, and Care and I wanted to explore the store.  We were in here for a while, and then headed back to our hotel, we had a dinner to make!  I could not believe we were going out to another meal....

Our dinner reservation was at a place Care found in the New York Times, called, L. Lulligan Grocer.  This restaurant is known as a "gastro pub," something Irish venues are starting to adapt to.  Pub owners are taking their quaint pubs and making restaurants with gourmet menus.  They keep the atmosphere of the pub, but enhance the food.  I had a wild boar burger with pumpkin pesto (another Fall-like food), and celeriac fries.  It was a spin off of a normal burger, and it was the best one I have had yet in Ireland.  To end the great meal, we had Irish coffees, my first one so far in Ireland, actually, my first one ever!  I had one of their famous ones that had a carmel taste to it.

Once again, my family has set me into a food coma!  I was ready to sleep and prep for the next meal ;)  But, Dad wanted to bring us to a pub with some of the best trad music in Ireland, Cobblestones.  You know the music must be great at the pub when it is hard to get in the door.  It was a very good find by Joe!

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

The Park-Keeper's house on Saint Stephen's Green.

Beautiful day!

Kaph

Me and Care at the Food Market

YUM

There was a protest going on in Dublin concerning the new water tax, with about 50,000 people!

Cheers to Irish Coffee!

Third Time's a Charm

Carolyn and I had a lot to do in Cork before we left for Dublin!  There were so many sights I felt were key for her to see during her visit, so there was no time to waste.  We slept in a little bit, and packed up our stuff for Dublin, and we were off to explore to city.

Carolyn is an iced coffee lover, which is not a common thing in Europe (let alone coffee in Ireland, at all).  Thankfully, one of the cafes in the City Centre does in fact make iced coffee, so that was our first stop of the morning.  I think I have mentioned this spot before, the Wholy Grain, it has really good coffee and baked goods.  We restrained ourselves from the baked goods, which was a hard task because they looked so delicious, but, we were on our way to brunch!  After our coffee break, we walked across the street to Liberty Grill.  I have not been back here since one of my first weeks in Cork, so I was very excited.  We did not have to wait long to get in, you unfortunately cannot do reservations, but it is so worth the wait.  To start our brunch, Care and I shared a scone and had some (more) coffee.  As my dad says, the scones in Ireland really are the best.  I think this past week with my family here, I ate enough scones to last me my entire year here.  But, I cannot get enough of them! For breakfast, Care had the vegetarian breakfast, which was two poached eggs with sourdough toast, and your choice of two vegetarian sides.  She had avocado, and Liberty Grill's famous maple fried bananas.  They were out of this world.  I had the breakfast special of the day, Merguez Benedict.  This was like an Eggs Benedict, but instead of ham/bacon, there was Merguez sausage, a spicy lamb sausage.  I have a theory that if an item is a special, the restaurant is using their best ingredients, therefore you have to get the special.  I may sound crazy, but my theory was right for this meal!  It was so yummy!    

After brunch, Care and I headed to the Shandon Bells.  This was my third time going to the bells, and second this week, but I really a cannot get enough of the view.  We weren't going to do this, but,  luckily we had enough time.  I really think it is one of the best spots in Cork.  It did not take us long to get to the top, which I was shocked with Care's broken foot!  She played two song when she rang the bells, Here Comes the Sun, and Freres Jacques.  She sounded like a professional :)  We then headed back towards my apartment to get ready for the train to Dublin.  But, we had to make a pit stop at the English Market, we needed scones for the train ride!  I need my guests to get as many scones as they can while they are here!

We grabbed our bags and went to the bus stop that would bring us to the train station.  While we were waiting for the bus outside UCC, there were people arriving for a wedding in the UCC Honan Chapel.  The bride came in in a white antique car, she looked gorgeous!  It was a prefect ending to Care's time in Cork.

When we got to Dublin, we headed to our hotel to get ready for dinner.  Dad had made a reservation at a place called The Winding Stair.  It was a cute pace that looked like an old book store.  I followed my theory about specials again, I had the chicken special with kale mash potatoes and black pudding.  Once again, my theory worked!  For dessert, we all shared a whiskey bread pudding, so good!

At this point, I was in a food coma and ready to sleep.  We had a big day of exploring on Saturday!

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

Breakfast!

Care at the Shandon Bells.

Care and myself at The Winding Stair.