We started driving into the mountains and it turned out being a beautiful drive. Shaking, fast, and hard to hold on, but beautiful scenery of hill sides covered in flowers, trees and big boulders. Not to mention many, many sheep! It got be really excited to see the sheep dog herding demonstration.

We stopped at Saint Kevin’s Monastery on the way to Cobh and strolled around and ate lunch. I was impressed by the church’s architecture. You could see the old stones on the bottom as a foundation were still there when they placed a new stone structure on top. They held the stones together with mortar.

The next two hours to Cobh I slept and slept and slept. When we got into town, we saw an awesome scenic view. We joked no one had their camera ready but when we pulled over, it was actually because that was right where our hotel was! We are up from the ocean, you can see out very far.

We did a Titanic walking tour that took us down the hill to the ocean and back up the other side. It was beautiful weather and very interesting to hear about Cobh and their involvement in the ships history. Michael, the tour guide, was very knowledgeable and has actually published books on the subject, placed placards around his tour walk and created and wrote this tour.

Tonight we have a group dinner and tomorrow off to kiss the Blarney stone!

Steve was kind enough to drive us to the beach, something I really wanted to get to do and see but didn’t really have the means. In retrospect, I would have not made it on foot because at the end of the Key, there was no public access. Instead we got an awesome ride out to the other side of the bay where there was sand and rocks and you could look in and see Dublin. It was such a nice day! Beautiful weather and a great experience that we stumbled upon.

Today sadly is our last day in Dublin but I’m excited to see what’s next!

While there we met Gerry Patterson at the Belfast Telegraph. He was extremely nice, young, and outgoing. His lecture was right up my ally talking about the integration of the news to the internet. I was surprised to find out that unlike Southern Ireland and its lack of broadband and need for fast internet, Belfast was basically all broadband. He said everyone has an iPhone, a laptop, the new technology but they often hide them away until they are behind closed doors. Interesting!

After we returned on the last train into Dublin, we cleaned up and when to the Temple Bar which is an area of pubs and night life. It was a lot of fun and nice to relax after a someone strange day in what felt like a different universe. Dublin felt comfortable and more like home.

Well, we did manage to find a Dublin bar that played the Pens game. It was a tough loss but a great night! We sat with a few Canadians that made the game more interesting. All in all it was a fun time filled with dancing and singing and talking to other people about their travels. I enjoy hearing where everyone has been and their favorite places to visit and see. It makes me hopeful for my future travels.

Today we went back to DCU to hear Roderick Flynn again speak about the internet and its place in Ireland. It was shocking to hear about how Ireland has just received Broadband not that long ago and that many people still have dial-up connections. I think that America would lose their minds if they were to not able to load a webpage is less then one second.

Photocall was our next stop, which turned out to be completely different from what I was expecting. They were an agency that supplies I believe about 30 publications with news photos. They have many assignments daily and at the end of the month also receive a sum for monthly contracts. It was like freelance work but structured! They also have been hit by the economy, and have made their way into the PR industry, shooting more assignments and more editorial. It seemed like a great place to work and a way to stay afloat as a working photography.

Finally the photographers met with photographer Paul Kelly in the back room of his favorite pub. He brought his book and a lot of commercial work to show us and was very easy to talk to and ask questions. His work was not only amazing, but also shot on both medium format film and digital. How fantastic! He also had great advice about the business and how to establish yourself as a name in the industry. It was very similar to that in America. I plan to keep in contact with him in the future and keep looking at his work.

Tomorrow we’re off to Belfast for a day trip and tonight after a few songs at karaoke, I am ready to get some good sleep.

Next we went to the US Embassy visit with Ambassador Rooney, Karyn Posner-Mullen, Director of Public Affairs, and John Murphy, Press Assistant. It was fantastic! Rooney was gracious and friendly and loved the Pittsburgh presence. Something that was said about him that I enjoyed was that when he came to Ireland, he wanted to go to every country in Ireland to meet with the locals. You can tell that he is for the people and about the people and he really enjoys his job. He also gave us America/Ireland pins as a gift. Secondly, the Director of Public Affairs spoke and it was evident that she was very intelligent and well spoken. She represented Rooney and spoke highly of him. Finally, John Murphy spoke and honestly blew me away. He’s 23 years old and juggles many jobs in the Embassy. I enjoyed his stories about what goes on in the building and inside scoop on Rooney, passed Ambassadors, and other people and issues of Ireland. Something that was great to hear that he said was that Ireland loves Obama and wants to work with America. It’s a nice change from the Bush administration. That was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget!

Finally, we finished up the day with a Lecture “Irish TV Drama – a Society & its Stories” by DCU Professor Helena Sheehan. She spoke about soap opera’s, Ireland style. She really knew what she was talking about and had a very deep history. It was also cool that she was in the U.S. in the 1950’s to see America’s TV and have a knowledge of that period of time.

Now after a group meeting and a quick nap, I’m looking forward to another guarantied delicious meal and maybe a glimpse of the Penguin’s game tonight.

Today Gerry Davis, Chief Executive of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland spoke to us about PR. He was very friendly and the one point that stood out to me was that he didn’t have a background in PR. He was in the army for years and he played a large role in strategy. This helped him in his profession today.

Next we went to  Ogilvy & Mather and spoke with an Account Planner and also a Digital Media specialist. It was great to hear Jo talk about her daily job in the agency and I could compare it to Smith Brothers Agency. Ogilvy & Mather also works for Heinz in Ireland. It was cool to see the comparison between their work and the work that Heinz has in Pittsburgh. Also, Claire spoke about Digital Media in their agency and it shocked me as to how far behind they are from the United states. Just beginning to put together a digital team and talk clients into a move to the internet.

After we had the rest of the day to eat, nap, and do whatever we chose. We wound up eating delicious Italian and then going to O’Shea’s to have a few drinks. The night turned into singing and dancing with the locals as a band played. They taught us Irish set dancing and we sang to American song’s for them. I felt very accepted and that by the end of the night, that we made a good impression on them. That was one of the best times so far.