We <3 Ireland Part 1: Cork

We're in Cork, Ireland! Yay!

Hey everyone! Susan here. We've been in Cork for two days now, and I just got back from my first ceili, a celebration of traditional Irish music and dancing that was held in our hotel this evening! I think speak for many choir members when I say that this was one of the best nights of tour yet! The St. Olaf Choir loves Ireland!!!

For our first morning in Ireland, we took a tour of the West Coast , stopping at the towns of Bantry, Glengarriff, and Kenmare along the way. Below is a picture of street in Glengarriff.



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We stopped along the slopes of the nearby mountains and were amazed at the view, complete with rolling hills, water, rocks, and , of course, SHEEP!

If you look close, you can see them! They are quite agile on the rocks according to our bus driver.

Wow...that's all I can say.


Daniel Greco '09, Elizabeth Kerstein '11, Sam Willodson '11, and Miranda Lubarsky '09 are take a break from snapping pictures.


Narrowly avoiding vehicles along the side of the road...

We saw Celtic crosses like this one, near in a church in Kenmare, all over the countryside.

After a long day of traveling and dinner at the hotel, we returned for the Ceili! Here's a picture of some of the band members and dancers! This absolutely amazing groupsomehow turned a bunch of Oles into a half decent mob of dancers.

Here we are trying out a couples dance. Derek Trayling '09 and Meg Granum '11 are in the front. Note the intense concentration...

In a wonderfully spontaneous moment, Dr. A led us in a performance of "Danny Boy" and "Loch Lomond" for the band.
Above is Jeff Krusack '10 belting out the opening solo of the Scottish folksong. This was one of my favorite moments of the entire year.
In between dances, Lauren Vick '09 gives Dr. A a little love.



Sweaty and exhausted, we headed to our hotel rooms tonight, ready for our first concert in Ireland tomorrow! More later...