London

Last week I had my first violin lesson since about 8th grade and i've completely fallen in love with it again:) I could not be more ecstatic to bring this hobby back into my life. I also went to London this past weekend with a couple of my girlfriends. I have to say that the elaborate architecture is one of the most memorable things to me. We took a 48 Hour "Big Bus Tour" which had a blue and a red bus touring the city making stops everywhere, giving you a chance to hop on and off at your leisure. We also stayed at a swiss cottage hostel and this was most likely one of the nicest hostels around. I almost did not want to leave because the bed was even more comfortable than mine at my apartment! hahaha yes that made it hard. We also went on a ferry tour on River Thames where we went under the "London Bridge" saw the beautiful Tower Bridge, Watergate house, the Globe Theatre of Shakespeare!, and much more. The weekend was full of tours because we also went on the Harry Potter walking tour which gave us a lot of interesting facts. I had no idea that J.K. Rowling was three times as rich as the Queen in London. Good for her! Especially learning her background and everything that she had dealt with in the past. We also went on a Jack the Ripper walking tour around 6:45 as the sun was going down. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and humorous and it was neat to learn that he actually lives in the Tower of London with his family. We toured the streets of Victorian London and tread where Jack the Ripper, his victims, and the police once had. We also went to all of the different crime scenes as well as a couple bars in the area that were up in running back in 1888 that still are! Such as, The Princess Alice and The Ten Bells. I enjoyed my trip in London and hope to be able to go back some  day.

Kilkenny

This past friday on our excursion we went to the Kilkenny Castle, Smithwicks Brewery, and the Cathedral Church of St. Canice. The castle was beautiful overlooking the river and apparently the Butler family was the last family known to occupy the castle. Once they hit bankruptcy they fled and the castle was abandoned for thirty some odd years and left deteriorating. Many renovations were made with flooring, ceilings and interior decor. The pictures and paintings were all the originals and to me it was surprising to learn that the dog held such importance of symbolism in the pictures. For example, a larger dog would show strength, while when a woman had a dog in the portrait with her it usually symbolized fidelity. On our way to Smithwicks Brewery, I had the chance to experience an Irish funeral in process. I learned that the people will follow on foot behind the hearse without the use of motor vehicles, and the wake most often takes place in the homes of the families so they can celebrate around the body and cherish the life.
The brewery tour was wonderful, I truly enjoyed that there was a chapel on site, as well as my free pint of beer at the end:) The cathedral of St. Canice was also absolutely gorgeous with all of the history behind.

October

October is here. The leaves are changing just as they would back home. The past couple day's have been pretty good days... went to Glendolough, made some new friends, found out I got the internship I had hoped for!!! I think I would really enjoy going back to Glendolough to explore a little deeper as well as take a scenic hike through the mountains. Maybe i'll go tomorrow and see if any of the girls would like to join. Now that I am finally getting better I really want to get back into the swing of working out and experiencing as much as possible. Just the other day I bought grape fruit juices at Superquinn and a friend of mine said to me as we were cashing out, "Is it grapefruit juice that prohibits antibiotics from working to their full potential?" My jaw completely dropped at that moment. I went ahead and bought it anyways because we could not be certain at the moment whether it was antibiotics or the contraceptive pill. And now I am on a steroid so my tonsils will go down, I don't think the grape fruit juice is affecting that at least.  I guess the doctors didn't expect me to be chugging down liters of grape fruit juice though huh? hahaha wow... but all you can do is laugh.