National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation has been a holiday classic at my house for as long as I can remember. The movie follows the family of Clark W. Griswold during the Christmas season and all of the complications and unexpected cousins they encounter. Chevy Chase and his holiday misadventures is a never ending supply of laughs for the whole family.
On Christmas Eve, the whole family sits down at a beautifully set table to eat their Christmas dinner. A beautiful, golden-brown turkey sits in front of Clark, who is poised to carve the mouth-watering main course. As he sets his knife to the crispy skin, the body of the turkey pops open, revealing a hollowed-out, stringy carcass with no meat to be seen. Cathrine, cousin Eddie’s wife, breaks out in sobs, exclaiming that she put the turkey in for too long. The family calms her down and ends up gnawing on bone-dry bits of turkey for the duration of the meal.
This Monday for our Gaelic and Irish Culture class, cottage six was pulled aside and learned how to make an Irish meal with one of the Park Loge Hotel’s owners. They made a roast chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, stuffing and scones for each cottage, much to the rest of the group’s delight. My cottage and I brought our dishes back to Cottage 4 and prepared to eat. I was the one carrying the chicken, so I ended up with the knife to carve it.
Luckily for me, I have watched my dad carve numerous rotisserie chickens and Thanksgiving turkeys, so I was somewhat prepared for this. However, as I put the knife to the skin of the chicken, my mind’s eye flew to the catastrophic turkey scene in Christmas Vacation. I couldn’t help but crack up and hope that our chicken fared better than that poor turkey. In the end, we all enjoyed what I viewed as the best meal I’ve had since getting here (partly because I didn’t have to cook it OR pay for it). Props to Cottage 6 for the outstanding meal.
Since my last blog, only three days have passed, but I did go on one of the best adventures I’ve had so far. Siera, Cait, Brittany and I went to our first live rugby match on Sunday, and we had a blast! The game was between Connacht (the team from the province in Ireland that we’re staying in) and Treviso (an Italian team), and I’m glad to say we brought home the win. It was like going to a Bronco game, except I didn’t understand all the rules at first. Luckily, after a while, I finally caught on and was able to keep up with what they were doing (mostly because of Siera’s very logical guesses).
We got to stand front row in the bleachers and cheered along with the Connacht fans. Though it was cold and pretty windy, Siera and I toughed out the whole game (a whopping 80 minutes, compared to our 3+ hour long American football games) with only one hot chocolate run. It was so worth it to get the full experience of the game. Afterwards, we all went to a fast food version of Papa John’s, and I finally got the pizza I’ve been craving for the past couple weeks.
On Christmas Eve, the whole family sits down at a beautifully set table to eat their Christmas dinner. A beautiful, golden-brown turkey sits in front of Clark, who is poised to carve the mouth-watering main course. As he sets his knife to the crispy skin, the body of the turkey pops open, revealing a hollowed-out, stringy carcass with no meat to be seen. Cathrine, cousin Eddie’s wife, breaks out in sobs, exclaiming that she put the turkey in for too long. The family calms her down and ends up gnawing on bone-dry bits of turkey for the duration of the meal.
This Monday for our Gaelic and Irish Culture class, cottage six was pulled aside and learned how to make an Irish meal with one of the Park Loge Hotel’s owners. They made a roast chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, stuffing and scones for each cottage, much to the rest of the group’s delight. My cottage and I brought our dishes back to Cottage 4 and prepared to eat. I was the one carrying the chicken, so I ended up with the knife to carve it.
Luckily for me, I have watched my dad carve numerous rotisserie chickens and Thanksgiving turkeys, so I was somewhat prepared for this. However, as I put the knife to the skin of the chicken, my mind’s eye flew to the catastrophic turkey scene in Christmas Vacation. I couldn’t help but crack up and hope that our chicken fared better than that poor turkey. In the end, we all enjoyed what I viewed as the best meal I’ve had since getting here (partly because I didn’t have to cook it OR pay for it). Props to Cottage 6 for the outstanding meal.
Since my last blog, only three days have passed, but I did go on one of the best adventures I’ve had so far. Siera, Cait, Brittany and I went to our first live rugby match on Sunday, and we had a blast! The game was between Connacht (the team from the province in Ireland that we’re staying in) and Treviso (an Italian team), and I’m glad to say we brought home the win. It was like going to a Bronco game, except I didn’t understand all the rules at first. Luckily, after a while, I finally caught on and was able to keep up with what they were doing (mostly because of Siera’s very logical guesses).
We got to stand front row in the bleachers and cheered along with the Connacht fans. Though it was cold and pretty windy, Siera and I toughed out the whole game (a whopping 80 minutes, compared to our 3+ hour long American football games) with only one hot chocolate run. It was so worth it to get the full experience of the game. Afterwards, we all went to a fast food version of Papa John’s, and I finally got the pizza I’ve been craving for the past couple weeks.
Because of birthdays and extended deadlines, there wasn’t much of a chance to do anything between the last blog and this one, but I still managed to fit in a great experience. I can’t wait to get to live hurling and Gaelic football matches, and after the rugby match, it is definitely a must. There’s still plenty of time to get to those matches, and I’ll make sure to let you know how they go. This weekend is our trip to Westport, and that guarantees some great stories to share with you.
Until next time!
Until next time!