Ireland, here I come...

[tommy]

This Thursday, my school band is going to Ireland for our Easter/Spring break... We're going to a town called Mullingar where families will host us in their houses, and we'll be playing in numerous concerts, and our jazz ensemble will be playing in pubs on some nights, too!

I wish for TWO things: 1)That they don't hate Americans, and 2)That NHL playoff hockey somehow even appears on the radar over there.

I'm not sure how often I'll be able to get online to check on scores, etc., but at least I'll be having fun over there, right?

So from Thursday until Friday the 25th, I probably won't be on here much, but I'll still have hockey on the mind!

[tommy]

This Thursday, my school band is going to Ireland for our Easter/Spring break... We're going to a town called Mullingar where families will host us in their houses, and we'll be playing in numerous concerts, and our jazz ensemble will be playing in pubs on some nights, too!

I wish for TWO things: 1)That they don't hate Americans, and 2)That NHL playoff hockey somehow even appears on the radar over there.

I'm not sure how often I'll be able to get online to check on scores, etc., but at least I'll be having fun over there, right?

So from Thursday until Friday the 25th, I probably won't be on here much, but I'll still have hockey on the mind!

[SouthernHockeyChick]

OH!!! I WANNA GO!!!! I am SO homesick for Ireland! (Not actually from there but it feels completely like home to me) You are gonna have SO much fun...especially if music is involved!

I can assure you that they do not hate Americans....actually most of them love Americans...they love everybody! What part of Ireland is that town in?

[SouthernHockeyChick]

OH!!! I WANNA GO!!!! I am SO homesick for Ireland! (Not actually from there but it feels completely like home to me) You are gonna have SO much fun...especially if music is involved!

I can assure you that they do not hate Americans....actually most of them love Americans...they love everybody! What part of Ireland is that town in?

[tommy]

It's about 50 miles northwest of Dublin; it's a relatively small town, according to my band director, who has been there a few times before.

(P.S. Glad to hear they like Americans! :D)

[tommy]

It's about 50 miles northwest of Dublin; it's a relatively small town, according to my band director, who has been there a few times before.

(P.S. Glad to hear they like Americans! :D)

[hyena]

can i go too? :angel: i went to ireland last year (it was my first trip out of the country), and absolutely *loved* it. and i didn't even see any of the countryside, i only saw Dublin. i couldn't get over how friendly the people were. the only thing i would change is the weather! :D

[hyena]

can i go too? :angel: i went to ireland last year (it was my first trip out of the country), and absolutely *loved* it. and i didn't even see any of the countryside, i only saw Dublin. i couldn't get over how friendly the people were. the only thing i would change is the weather! :D

[SouthernHockeyChick]

It's about 50 miles northwest of Dublin; it's a relatively small town, according to my band director, who has been there a few times before.

(P.S. Glad to hear they like Americans! :D)

Oh yeah! I knew it sounded farmiliar but counldn't put my finger on where exactly it was. That is not my favorite part of the country but I've been all over it and never found a part that wasn't beautiful! Hope you love it!

[SouthernHockeyChick]

It's about 50 miles northwest of Dublin; it's a relatively small town, according to my band director, who has been there a few times before.

(P.S. Glad to hear they like Americans! :D)

Oh yeah! I knew it sounded farmiliar but counldn't put my finger on where exactly it was. That is not my favorite part of the country but I've been all over it and never found a part that wasn't beautiful! Hope you love it!

[Jeff O Rocks]

Have a great time Tommy...travel safe.... and enjoy the beauty for all of us!! Represent the Caniacs well...are you taking any Canes apparel?? ;)

[Jeff O Rocks]

Have a great time Tommy...travel safe.... and enjoy the beauty for all of us!! Represent the Caniacs well...are you taking any Canes apparel?? ;)

[Stormbringer]

Have a great time Tommy...and may the luck of the Irish be with you! :spin:http://smilies.crowd9.com/ups/DeNiro/irish.gif

[Stormbringer]

Have a great time Tommy...and may the luck of the Irish be with you! :spin:http://smilies.crowd9.com/ups/DeNiro/irish.gif

[Turbulence]

You lucky, lucky person. I've always wanted to go to Ireland....or New Zealand. And on a school trip too...should be fun. My school trip to Germany was awesome. I'm sure you'll enjoy it! And bring us back some Lucky Charms.


What airline are you flying? :p

[Turbulence]

You lucky, lucky person. I've always wanted to go to Ireland....or New Zealand. And on a school trip too...should be fun. My school trip to Germany was awesome. I'm sure you'll enjoy it! And bring us back some Lucky Charms.


What airline are you flying? :p

[talkingcanes]

Have a great time. It is a beautiful country. Everyone was friendly and my 2 weeks there was great. I've always wanted to go back.

Have fun :)

[talkingcanes]

Have a great time. It is a beautiful country. Everyone was friendly and my 2 weeks there was great. I've always wanted to go back.

Have fun :)

[MCAngel]

:D

[MCAngel]

:D

[crazy4canes]

Have a great time tommy! :D Tell us all about it when you get back.

[crazy4canes]

Have a great time tommy! :D Tell us all about it when you get back.

[moonstomper]

Word up Tommy, did you say jazz? what do you play?

[moonstomper]

Word up Tommy, did you say jazz? what do you play?

[tommy]

Word up Tommy, did you say jazz? what do you play?

I play the tenor sax.

and of course I'll be bringing a few of my Canes longsleeve shirts.

[tommy]

Word up Tommy, did you say jazz? what do you play?

I play the tenor sax.

and of course I'll be bringing a few of my Canes longsleeve shirts.

[Guyute]

very lucky indeed!! Ireland is on my top 3 list of places to go. wish I had family there I could hit up. lol

have a blast Tommy!!! and travel safely.

knock back a few pints o tha black far me would ya laddy?

[Guyute]

very lucky indeed!! Ireland is on my top 3 list of places to go. wish I had family there I could hit up. lol

have a blast Tommy!!! and travel safely.

knock back a few pints o tha black far me would ya laddy?

[tommy]

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaack!!!

Ireland was freakin' awesome... I went with my high school band, and we had such a blast!

After arriving in Dublin on the first day, we took the afternoon/evening to tour the city and get some food to eat. I am really fascinated by the huge number of bars/pubs! The city is beautiful obviously, and I wish we could have spent more time there, but we had a schedule to go according to.

We drove to Mullingar, which was about a 50-mile bus ride. When we got there, their town band, who we were playing with, greeted us with a medley of American songs, which was fun to hear. We then got our "room assignments"... every two members of our band were staying at a certain house of one of their band members. I stayed at a house with three great kids and their mother, with my friend who plays the trumpet. They had a 9 year old, a 12 year old, and a 14 year old. I felt SO spoiled by them... they gave us the best meals, I thought I was in heaven! My friend and I played soccer with them in their backyard for a few hours, and we went to bed pretty early because I had, with the flights, only gotten 2 hour of sleep in the past 1+ day. Playing with their band was a lot of fun... they were very talented, and probably better-behaved than ours, lol.

We stayed with the host families, but we also went out to do some touring with our own group.

My personal favorite was climbing Croagh Patrick, which is a mountain trail of pretty much loose rock, and it takes the average person 3 and a half hours to climb up and down again, according to the person who oversees everything there. Two of my other friends and I were the first people up, and then we enjoyed the view for a little while from the top, and managed to get back down in 2 hours 45 minutes. The record time is 43 minutes. Guess I have some work to do. We got walking sticks there to climb it, and enough people kept them that we taped them together and actually got them in as checked luggage on the way home!

We also saw the Cliffs of Moher. They are absolutely stunning. It was a cloudy, drizzly, very windy day up there, so the conditions could have been better, but it was still an amazing view. Our bus driver said that there are records of a small number of people falling off in recent years!

Before this, though, (sorry for the out of order sequence!), we went to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone! On the way there, we stopped to see the Rock of Cashel Castle. We got to see the inside of the castle, on a large hill, and there was this one very cool part where, on the ground outside, a huge slab of rock was still there, and you could see where it had fallen off of the castle. There were a ton of gravestones as well, but very few of the older ones were read-able. After that we went into the town there for lunch, and departed for Blarney Castle.

Blarney Castle is gorgeous, and it is very spread out, as well. We saw the dungeons, which you have to bring a flashlight for, as well as the many other areas of the castle grounds. We went into the main part of the castle so that we could go up the stairs and actually kiss the stone. And man, I thought those steps would never end! (I have a wee fear of heights.) But we got to the top at last, and got our chance. There is an opening on the far wall on the top, and you actually stick your head down and underneath it, and kiss the stone from the bottom, while being held onto by a supervisor, and holding onto two rails. I had a total deathgrip on those rails! It certainly was an experience!

As for the band, we played at a few events. We put on a concert for the town of Mullingar in a church, which was well attended, and we also played for their Easter mass, which was a meager 40 minutes long. (Although certain people certainly didn't seem to mind THAT!) We also played a concert in the Galway Cathedral, which was not only beautiful, but the sound quality was top notch! We played for another mass in Clifden, and that crowd was the most appreciative, especially when our jazz ensemble played... Every time we played, they LOVED the jazz! The jazz ensemble played in pubs a number of times, and boy was THAT fun! I did not play in it, but it was such a blast dancing to it and having a good time! They also played the final two nights in the lounge of our hotel, and THAT was one of my favorite parts of the trip... we had such a blast listening to them and going crazy on the dance floor to the rock'n'roll they played... Boy it was great!

I'm still kinda jet lagged, so if I remember some extra stuff later, I'll tell ya!

[tommy]

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaack!!!

Ireland was freakin' awesome... I went with my high school band, and we had such a blast!

After arriving in Dublin on the first day, we took the afternoon/evening to tour the city and get some food to eat. I am really fascinated by the huge number of bars/pubs! The city is beautiful obviously, and I wish we could have spent more time there, but we had a schedule to go according to.

We drove to Mullingar, which was about a 50-mile bus ride. When we got there, their town band, who we were playing with, greeted us with a medley of American songs, which was fun to hear. We then got our "room assignments"... every two members of our band were staying at a certain house of one of their band members. I stayed at a house with three great kids and their mother, with my friend who plays the trumpet. They had a 9 year old, a 12 year old, and a 14 year old. I felt SO spoiled by them... they gave us the best meals, I thought I was in heaven! My friend and I played soccer with them in their backyard for a few hours, and we went to bed pretty early because I had, with the flights, only gotten 2 hour of sleep in the past 1+ day. Playing with their band was a lot of fun... they were very talented, and probably better-behaved than ours, lol.

We stayed with the host families, but we also went out to do some touring with our own group.

My personal favorite was climbing Croagh Patrick, which is a mountain trail of pretty much loose rock, and it takes the average person 3 and a half hours to climb up and down again, according to the person who oversees everything there. Two of my other friends and I were the first people up, and then we enjoyed the view for a little while from the top, and managed to get back down in 2 hours 45 minutes. The record time is 43 minutes. Guess I have some work to do. We got walking sticks there to climb it, and enough people kept them that we taped them together and actually got them in as checked luggage on the way home!

We also saw the Cliffs of Moher. They are absolutely stunning. It was a cloudy, drizzly, very windy day up there, so the conditions could have been better, but it was still an amazing view. Our bus driver said that there are records of a small number of people falling off in recent years!

Before this, though, (sorry for the out of order sequence!), we went to Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone! On the way there, we stopped to see the Rock of Cashel Castle. We got to see the inside of the castle, on a large hill, and there was this one very cool part where, on the ground outside, a huge slab of rock was still there, and you could see where it had fallen off of the castle. There were a ton of gravestones as well, but very few of the older ones were read-able. After that we went into the town there for lunch, and departed for Blarney Castle.

Blarney Castle is gorgeous, and it is very spread out, as well. We saw the dungeons, which you have to bring a flashlight for, as well as the many other areas of the castle grounds. We went into the main part of the castle so that we could go up the stairs and actually kiss the stone. And man, I thought those steps would never end! (I have a wee fear of heights.) But we got to the top at last, and got our chance. There is an opening on the far wall on the top, and you actually stick your head down and underneath it, and kiss the stone from the bottom, while being held onto by a supervisor, and holding onto two rails. I had a total deathgrip on those rails! It certainly was an experience!

As for the band, we played at a few events. We put on a concert for the town of Mullingar in a church, which was well attended, and we also played for their Easter mass, which was a meager 40 minutes long. (Although certain people certainly didn't seem to mind THAT!) We also played a concert in the Galway Cathedral, which was not only beautiful, but the sound quality was top notch! We played for another mass in Clifden, and that crowd was the most appreciative, especially when our jazz ensemble played... Every time we played, they LOVED the jazz! The jazz ensemble played in pubs a number of times, and boy was THAT fun! I did not play in it, but it was such a blast dancing to it and having a good time! They also played the final two nights in the lounge of our hotel, and THAT was one of my favorite parts of the trip... we had such a blast listening to them and going crazy on the dance floor to the rock'n'roll they played... Boy it was great!

I'm still kinda jet lagged, so if I remember some extra stuff later, I'll tell ya!

[Jeff O Rocks]

Tommy..glad you had a blast and got home safe!! Thanks for the report! :D ;)

[Jeff O Rocks]

Tommy..glad you had a blast and got home safe!! Thanks for the report! :D ;)

[Stormbringer]

Glad you had a jolly good trip, Tommy! Enjoyed your report...thanks for it! :)

[Stormbringer]

Glad you had a jolly good trip, Tommy! Enjoyed your report...thanks for it! :)

[Shell]

Excellent Tommy!!! Glad you guys had a great time! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

[Shell]

Excellent Tommy!!! Glad you guys had a great time! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

[SouthernHockeyChick]

I knew you'd love it! Was it too cloudy to be able to see the Aran Islands from teh Cliffs? Only once when I've been to the Cliffs has it been real cloudy but we were still able to see the islands....they just look like huge big slabs of rock from the Cliffs. Which, I guess they sorta are. Great cliffs on the islands too.

Didn't you love Clifden? You were about 10 minutes from the best view in all of Ireland, IMO, when you were there but you can't take a bus down the road it's on I bet.

Thanks for the report! Glad you had a great time! I'm SO ready to go back now.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

I knew you'd love it! Was it too cloudy to be able to see the Aran Islands from teh Cliffs? Only once when I've been to the Cliffs has it been real cloudy but we were still able to see the islands....they just look like huge big slabs of rock from the Cliffs. Which, I guess they sorta are. Great cliffs on the islands too.

Didn't you love Clifden? You were about 10 minutes from the best view in all of Ireland, IMO, when you were there but you can't take a bus down the road it's on I bet.

Thanks for the report! Glad you had a great time! I'm SO ready to go back now.

[Turbulence]

Sounds like you had a great time!...though hopefully not a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Good report!

Makes me want to jet over there!

[Turbulence]

Sounds like you had a great time!...though hopefully not a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Good report!

Makes me want to jet over there!

[Alicia]

Glad to see you had a good time tommy...welcome back! :D

[Alicia]

Glad to see you had a good time tommy...welcome back! :D

[Lady J]

I knew you'd love it! Was it too cloudy to be able to see the Aran Islands from teh Cliffs? Only once when I've been to the Cliffs has it been real cloudy but we were still able to see the islands....they just look like huge big slabs of rock from the Cliffs. Which, I guess they sorta are. Great cliffs on the islands too.

Didn't you love Clifden? You were about 10 minutes from the best view in all of Ireland, IMO, when you were there but you can't take a bus down the road it's on I bet.

Thanks for the report! Glad you had a great time! I'm SO ready to go back now.

:cry:

Oh man, Chickie, take me with you. I miss being there. :( Hey! You could come and stay with me and my friends near Belfast if you like ( although it's COLD, but it's still nice ). Just say the word, and I'll climb in to your luggage and we're off!

[Lady J]

I knew you'd love it! Was it too cloudy to be able to see the Aran Islands from teh Cliffs? Only once when I've been to the Cliffs has it been real cloudy but we were still able to see the islands....they just look like huge big slabs of rock from the Cliffs. Which, I guess they sorta are. Great cliffs on the islands too.

Didn't you love Clifden? You were about 10 minutes from the best view in all of Ireland, IMO, when you were there but you can't take a bus down the road it's on I bet.

Thanks for the report! Glad you had a great time! I'm SO ready to go back now.

:cry:

Oh man, Chickie, take me with you. I miss being there. :( Hey! You could come and stay with me and my friends near Belfast if you like ( although it's COLD, but it's still nice ). Just say the word, and I'll climb in to your luggage and we're off!

[crazy4canes]

Glad you had a good time, tommy, and thanks for the report. :D

[crazy4canes]

Glad you had a good time, tommy, and thanks for the report. :D

[nccanes]

Thanks for the report Tommy. I somehow missed this thread until today (was out of town when you left and was out of town when you returned, 2 different trips to nowhere as wonderful as Ireland), so thanks for Crazy and Lady J bumping this today!

I SO want to go to Ireland. I'm mostly Irish and some of my family has been a few times (and obviously my lgc.com family is well traveled to Ireland). Hopefully one day!

[nccanes]

Thanks for the report Tommy. I somehow missed this thread until today (was out of town when you left and was out of town when you returned, 2 different trips to nowhere as wonderful as Ireland), so thanks for Crazy and Lady J bumping this today!

I SO want to go to Ireland. I'm mostly Irish and some of my family has been a few times (and obviously my lgc.com family is well traveled to Ireland). Hopefully one day!

[Lady J]

Thanks for the report Tommy. I somehow missed this thread until today (was out of town when you left and was out of town when you returned, 2 different trips to nowhere as wonderful as Ireland), so thanks for Crazy and Lady J bumping this today!

I SO want to go to Ireland. I'm mostly Irish and some of my family has been a few times (and obviously my lgc.com family is well traveled to Ireland). Hopefully one day!

Well, I do believe there's room in the luggage .... lemme just scooch over here, and voila! a spot just for you. :X