Confession

Ok, I've done something a bit rash. Although, it's something I hoped to plan while here. It's just that I went from idea to completion within a couple of hours. I was looking over my calendar and realized that while I'm over halfway through my classes here, I have yet to plan a single trip in or out of Ireland. This is not to mention the fact that my mum is visiting next week, middle brother and best friend are coming in late April, and dad and little brother are coming in May. I realized that if I wanted to go anywhere, I better get to booking.

As luck would have it, there was a big sale at Ryan Air. This intra-Europe discount airline actually advertises some fares as "free" excluding taxes and fees (read a news story about them here - thanks coz!). Included in this bunch was Shannon (Ireland's major west coast airport) to Glasgow for 7 euro. I'll buy that baby. So I did. In late March I'll swing over for a quick weekend. Total price with taxes and fees 38 euro (about $45) round trip.

Then I started trolling for bigger fish. I could get in a 5-7 day drip after classes ended. I noticed Rome was on the list. Alas, there were no similar super deals to get there. Looked like 110 euro each way was the cheapest. After kicking the idea around a bit via IM and email with cousin and best friend, I was turned onto the idea of trying to get to Florence instead. Noticeably cheaper, too, at about 50 euro each way. But I was torn; I wanted to see Rome, even though my aforementioned contacts, who had been to both, had said Rome was touristy and could be done in well less than 7 days. Then it hit me - why not both? So check this out: just after Easter I'll be flying out to Florence, spending 4 days there, then taking the train to Rome for 2 days, then flying back to Ireland. Total price was sure more than the original "free" that was advertised, coming in at about 230 euro (about $280). But the "glass is half full" way to see this is: I'm going to see three European cities, including lodging, for about half a grand. Drinks EXcluded, of course. Still, that is a steal.

Now for the last bit: when middle brother and best friend get here, we'll be renting a car and exploring the Northwest of Ireland. But one sight I realized would go unseen in my two trips to Ireland was the Queenstown Experience down south in Cobh, County Cork. This is where the vast majority of Irish-Americans emigrated from. It was also the last port of call for the Titanic and Lusitania. My understanding is that they recreate what it would be like to be an emigrant at the time of the potato famine. And as luck would have it, Msr. French Professor will be travelling to EU headquarters this coming weekend and has cancelled EU Law II, my only Monday class. So to round out my travel plans, I'll be taking the five hour bus ride down to Cobh Sunday afternoon, staying in a B&B there and then hitting the museum first thing in the morning. Maybe if I get lucky I'll fit something else in down there, too.

. . .

One quick aside about my French professor. Like I said before he's got a pretty good sense of humor, but it got tested in class yesterday. He was nice enough to cancel class last Thursday for RAG week, although one wonders if that was because he was being nice or just realized he'd be lecturing to an empty theatre. Well, yesterday, being the first day back from RAG week, the theatre looked like Gold's Gym on January 2nd. New resolution - no more skipping class. I would think that typically we get around 50 students for this class. I'm going to guess that we had over 80 yesterday. Filled almost every seat. And half of them were sick. The reason I knew this was because they were coughing and sniffling (yes I'm taking my vitamins). And the other half were reconnecting with others they hadn't seen. The reason I knew this was because they were whispering to each other. Which of course made for a room where it was really tough to lecture or listen in.

You could tell Msr. French professor was getting irritated, but he was sort of trapped. He did pause a couple of times and say he had lost his train of thought or was distracted, and also said we needed to take better care of ourselves during RAG week. But he could hardly tell everyone to stop coughing. Then four students came in around 20 after the hour. I think even this would have gone unnoticed except for the fact that they were loudly chatting and laughing as they entered. That was enough. He stopped in the middle of a sentence and looked up at them.

"Please, why don't you join us. It is only," he checked his watch. "Heighteen past the our." He waved grandly to some open seats. This is how much of a nerd I am, I was thinking yea, you tell 'em Frenchy! It actually was the most at home I'd felt in class here. Professors calling out students - sweet.