A BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE

                                             THE EMERALD ISLE

This summer I  went abroad for the first time in my life, and I can say that's been the most beautiful experience of my life!
 I spent two weeks in Cork, in the south of Ireland, for a study-holiday,as I wished to improve my English and to travel.

I took the plane with three friends of mine, but as long as we landed, I became friend with many other guys and girls from all over Italy, and I met a lot of nice people during my stay there in the college, and we're still keeping each other in touch  :) 

Ireland is called the "Emerald Isle" and I could check that the nickname was correct: from the plane, from the coach,I saw so many fields of a bright green colour interrupted only by the black and white of cows herds...

This was a world completely different from mine, for example in Cork there were cosy little cottages provided of coloured entrances and gardens full of flowers, which are named as "Ellesmere" or "Valhalla" and reminded me of fairy tales and old myths...
This fantastic perception was rinforced by the continuous hearing of the English language (with Cork accent) and the look of Irish people,most of which have blonde or red hair, light blue eyes and a very white skin.
I was thrilled,not scared of these differences.
Irish are very polite,friendly and helpful, and I tried to take advantage of every single occasion to talk with them, despite a bit of shyness..
Kevin, my teacher who looked like Santa Klaus, told most of Cork people have a big smile on their face,talk very fast and are similar to Mediterraneum people, as long as they love enjoying life. :D 
I soon became fond of Irish traditional music and of gaelic fairy tales: Ireland , which in Gaelic is called Erin, is a land of dances, elves, witches ,leprichauns and surely it's famous for Guinnes beer! :D 
these links are  for Irish dance and a tipical song:
http://youtu.be/eJwC9jPhuY4

http://youtu.be/HgGAzBDE454

In two weeks there, I had a lot of fun trying some new and original (for me!) sports such as climbing wall, hip hop, boxe. ;)

We visited Cork and Limerick city centre (Limerick is "nonsense" in English, but this city's name derives from the gaelic "desert swamp") , Bunratty Castle, Murdock House with its Victorian atmosphere, Killarney's tipical old farms , Cobh's marvellous gotic cathedral and his harbour (the last fascinating port of call of Titanic) and many museums.
But the thing I enjoyed most was the afternoon spent in a park watching street-artists performances. They came from Ireland, Turkey, Australia, and were able to dance,sing,make very nice baloons for kids,contort themselves and put sharp swords into their throat.
I also took a photo with a mad who had got a full-body tattoo,so that he had green skin and his tongue had two tips like a reptile's one.
I put myself into the heart of Irish big crowd and I loved listening to their comments, speaking to some of them and thrilling at the shows with them: and I felt in direct contact with them, as long as I laughed at the same remarks they did.:D

I didn't love just two things of Ireland: food (much better Italian cuisine!) and weather, which was almost always rainy, even if I miss it now! but rain is indispensable for the emerald isle.

I won't ever forget that little bit of Irish life, and I'll return there one day.