Hey everyone! This is most likely my last blog since we are coming home on Sunday, but Mom wanted me to write about our experiences with them so here it is. They arrived on Wednesday night, we met them at their bed and breakfast and then we went to dinner. The next day was Thanksgiving, so we took them to our apartment, showed them around, and then Mom and I went to the grocery store while Janelle took Dad to her Irish class so he could see how speaking Irish really is. I helped Mom cooked dinner and everything turned out really well. All my roommates were there, Alison's father who was visiting, Sarah's boyfriend, and a guy from Germany named Pascal--Kate's friend who wanted to experience a real American Thanksgiving.

The next day we went to Blarney. It was an absolutely beautiful day so everything was perfect. Mom, Dad, and Janelle all kissed the Blarney Stone, which was very surprising...haha, though it took quite a bit of convincing for Mom to do it.










The next day we went to Cobh. Mom and Dad went into the museaum, saw the harbor where the Titanic was, and went into the lovely cathedral.




Sunday, we finally did the beautiful Ring of Kerry. Unfortunately, it was a very cloudy day, so there were a lot of things we couldn't see, but what we could see, was gorgeous. And yes, we even saw sheep in the middle of the road.



















On Monday, both Janelle and I had class pretty much all day, so Mom and Dad went back to Blarney so they could go into the gift shop, which is the best in Ireland. It is about 3 stories and they have everything you could want from Ireland. We met for dinner that night and then we went to the pub An Spailpin Fanach so we could hear some traditional Irish Music. I posted a video with the music here, but I don't know if you will be able to view it. Let's hope so.


On Tuesday, Janelle and I had class again, so Mom and Dad went to Kinsale and saw the neat old battle fort.




On Wednesday, their last day here in Ireland, we met them at 9:30 to do the bus tour of Cork. We were on a double decker bus that takes you all through the city so you can see all the important things. Then, we went to their hotel to have "tea" which was really fancy with pretty little desserts and such. After that, it was time for them to leave, which was sad, but we had such a good time having them here and I heard they had a fun time being here as well.

That is it for Mom and Dad's visit, but there is one more thing to add to this blog: Killarney. That was our last excursion here, and it is a beautiful little town that is famous for being both the start of the Ring of Kerry and having a famous, huge National Park. We were there for two days. On the first, we wandered around the National Park. It was beautiful. The weather, however, was dreadful, but it was kinda fun because there was thunder and at one point we even had hail. Then, we wandered around the city and then went to a pub famous for their traditional music. The next day we went into the National Park in search of Ross Castle. It is a lovely little castle situated right on the lake. We wandered around a little bit more and then went back to the town and did our last minute gift buying for friends.







Alright, that is all. I hope you enjoyed all my blogs. I will see you all when we get back.

Jennifer

Viva la France!!

So, we just got back yesterday after spending almost 5 days in Paris and it was incredible. I went to France once before years ago but we were only there for about a day and a half and it was really stressful so Paris didn't leave a good impression on me, but it is soooo much better than I remember. The city itself is architecturally (spelling?) beautiful and there are so many old lovely buildings and Parisian streets. It has a romantic, artistic charm about it, and since I LOVE art and am a total romantic, it was perfect.

We got there on Friday and went on a night boat cruise on the Seine River and then had dinner in a fancy restaurant up inside the Eiffel Tower :)


The next day we went on a 2 hour bus tour around Paris. That allowed us to see all the famous sites around Paris all at once, and then we could decide which places we really wanted to go to. Here are some pictures of Paris I took while on the tour.









After the bus tour we decided to go to Sacre Couer, a famous beautiful cathedral where you have to walk a whole lot of stairs to the top. At the top you can look out over the city of Paris. It was wonderful. Inside, the nun choir was singing, which was gorgous.


After that, we went to a huge elaborately beautiful cemetary where some famous people are buried and then Notre Dame, which was neat, even though I saw it the last time I was in Paris.



We spent the rest of the day just roaming around Paris. We ate at a Parisian sidewalk cafe, had a french crepe, etc. When they talk about French pastries being incredible, they weren't joking. All over Paris they have pastisseries filled with elaborate DELICIOUS pastries. If I lived in Paris I would get fat because there are so many good things to eat here.

We spent alot of time the next day in the Louvre. It was so wonderful. I wasn't rushed this time and I could go see all that I wanted to see. I skipped the exibits that didn't interest me, such as the Egyptian artifact...boring...and instead saw all the sculptures, all the paintings,including the 4 or 5 other Da Vinci paintings besides the Mona Lisa and Napoleon's quarters when he lived inside the Louvre. Let me just say, that I want to live inside there. It's gorgeous.












After the Louvre, we went to Saint Chapelle, a cathedral that is known for its stained glass, and we weren't disappointed.




The next day was just strange. Apparently, on Monday, many things in Paris close down. We went to Versailles, it was closed. We tried to go to a museum, it was closed. We got all dressed up to go to a play in a Paris theater that was listed in the paper as playing that night, it was closed. So, we hardly saw anything, but instead, we wandered Paris, which was still very fun.

We left on Tuesday at almost noon, but before we left, Janelle and I wanted to go to the museum we had tried to go to the day before, called the Musee d'Orsay, because we heard it was supposed to have some famous paintings in it. That is an understatement. All the paintings I love were in this museum. It was the best art museum I have ever been to. The originals of Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh...all there. And, to all the Mr. Bean fan's who watched Bean the Movie....The Whistler's Mother. I almost died of laughter when I saw it because all I could think of was Mr. Bean and that dreadful movie. I took a picture of every famous painting, but since there were so many, I'll just show you the ones that are my favorite. I appologize for the quality of the pictures, flash photography was not allowed.








So, in conclusion, if you ever get the chance to go to Paris, GO!!! It is incredible and you won't regret it.