Arcadia Ireland

February was a month that was teeming with trips and excursions for all the Arcadia Ireland students.  Between subsidized trips organised by the Dublin centre and exploring the most beautiful cities Europe has to offer, we’ve had quite the month. 

We started with the venture out to the Wild West and a visit to Cnoc Suain which provided our Galway students with a real insight to old Ireland tying in nicely with our Imagined Ireland theme. Students got to make some St. Brigit’s crosses which were very apt for the day that was in it (we went on February 1^st which happens to be St. Brigit’s day- we did it on purpose I swear!!) We then learnt all about the famous Connemara bogland and went in to a traditional old Irish cottage to hear how Irish people lived for many years. Eating habits and socialising were discussed and we even did some social dancing of our own at the end with traditional Irish music and some ceili dancing.

Galway’s adventures were soon followed with a trip for all our food lovers. We used The Fab Food Trails in Dublin and Cork to show off Ireland’s culinary expertise and you can read the whole blog post about that here. In the same week and in keeping with the idea of Ireland’s more recent involvement in the Arts, our Queen’s University Belfast students had a wonderful night at The Belfast Opera House, seeing the ballet adaptation of Hansel and Gretel performed by a Scottish ballet group.  Not long after this, a lot more Arcadia students got to see what Belfast had to offer with our most popular trip. 57 students and two leaders headed northward for a weekend in Belfast and the Antrim Coast. Again, if you’d like another read, I’ve a full blog about this trip here.

After Belfast we regrouped back in Dublin for another incredible culture night. We met at Dublin’s weird and wonderful Spire on O’Connell Street and headed for Le Bon Crubeen restaurant. After a delicious and very filling meal we made our way to The Abbey Theatre to watch Irish playwright Enda Walsh’s ‘Arlington.’ I think in the aftermath we all agreed that it was definitely, eh, interesting! Even though we had a few English majors in our midst, none of us could really make heads or tails of the play, yet, we all managed to enjoy it immensely- it was a weird sensation.  We went our separate ways mulling over the evening’s entertainment.

Next on the agenda was something a little more active. At the moment Ireland is competing in one of the most important rugby events of the calendar- The Six Nations. Rugby is an incredibly popular sport in Ireland and we are very good at it for such a small nation (especially as there are our national GAA sports to compete with.) Jodi headed to Thomond Park in Limerick to watch one of our talented provinces Munster take on the Welsh Scarlets. Although Munster did not win (there was a very important Ireland match the next day so lots of the players weren’t available), the group had a great evening. They learnt about the respect rugby fans show for each other in all aspects, including the deathly silence that falls over the crowd as any kick for the post is about to be taken.

We had a much more local event on Tuesday which consisted of one of Ireland’s oldest Christian traditions. Pancake Tuesday is celebrated every year on the Tuesday before the start of Lent. Typically, lent is a time where people fast and try their utmost to refrain from anything too gluttonous. While that could mean any of our millions of consumer products now, years ago luxury items included eggs, butter and flour and if you have these, what better a way to treat yourself before lent than to make pancakes! At the Dublin centre we topped them off with Nutella, fruit and some maple syrup, but nobody was allowed to leave before trying the more traditional (and in my opinion best) topping of lemon and sugar. Simple and delicious!

In between these events there were students constantly popping  in to the Dublin centre to print boarding passes for several city breaks,  London, Amsterdam, Brussels and Barcelona to name a few. Having cheap airlines and being so accessible, Ireland really is a great base if you want to manage to explore all of it, and lots of Europe too.

March has crept up on us all quite quickly here and the word from students is they can’t believe how quickly it’s all going by- time flies when you’re having fun! Our first March trip sent a small group over to join Arcadia students studying in London and Scotland to explore the Scottish Highlands. With trips to Killarney National Park, the Game of Thrones Tour and a climb up Ireland’s famous Croagh Patrick still to come, March has lots to offer and we can’t wait to jump right in.