Ireland!

I’m a little bit late on this one, but my blog wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t write about one of my favorite places I’ve seen so far, Ireland! I went last weekend with my new great friend Michelle from New Zealand, and my best old friend Hannah, who I hadn’t seen in almost a year. The trip started out with a little bit of a hiccup (I think I’ve come to grips with the fact that every single trip I’ll go on will have some sort of incident like this, because we’re in college and amateur travelers….) Anyway, Hannah ended up missing her bus to the Madrid airport and her trip got delayed a little bit. Thankfully she rescheduled her flight and was able to meet us in Dublin on Saturday night. Michelle and I flew into Dublin Friday and took a train to Galway, which is on the other side of the country but only took 2 hours to get there.

It was such a precious little college town, and we were able to go out that night and then explore a little the next morning. It was POURING on Saturday morning, but by some miracle it slowed down and we had really nice weather for the rest of the trip. This is a really, really big deal- it had been flooding throughout the UK for 7 straight weeks, and apparently nice weather is hard to come by in Ireland. We even got to see a rainbow- I think that’s one of those events that you don’t think to add to your bucket list until it actually happens. I may add “seeing a rainbow in Ireland” to mine just so I can cross it off. Unfortunately, we never found any Leprechauns or pots of gold at the end of that rainbow, but the trip was enough of a reward in and of itself.  

Anyway, Michelle and I took a bus tour on Saturday throughout the countryside and to the Cliffs of Moher- what an experience. We stopped at a family farm on the way there (in a village with seven houses) and climbed up a tiny little mountain to see a really beautiful view. The tour guide’s fiancé had her own chocolate shop inside the little country house, and the whole thing was pretty picturesque. From there, we went to the Cliffs, which I honestly cannot believe I hadn’t heard of before we planned this trip. I would go to Ireland just to see them- I felt like I was in a movie. They were HUGE, and there was a beautiful lighthouse at the top. We almost got blown away and half the time I couldn’t see anything because my hair was in my eyes, but even the wind made the experience a little more authentic.

 

 

The bus stopped at an Irish restaurant on the way back, and then we stopped at a castle before going back to Galway. Right away, we got on a train to Dublin where the highlight of the trip was waiting- HANNAH DONOHUE! My little Irish friend had some back to the homeland to trace her roots. It was so, so good to finally see her. That night, we experienced the Irish pub scene firsthand and went to the Temple Bar district- Ireland had just won a really important rugby match against Wales, so everyone was going crazy and it was so much fun. The nightlife is very different in Ireland than it is in Spain, and people were showing up the pubs to party with their parents. Definitely an interesting mix of people.

 

The next day, we explored charming little Dublin- everything was what I had imagined and more. We could walk almost everywhere because the city really isn’t that big, and we were able to see a bunch of different cathedrals, Dublin Castle (which was a little smaller than expected),Trinity College, Stephen’s Green, and some other little sights that I honestly can’t recall at this point. Michelle and I went to a service at St. Patrick’s cathedral, and it literally took my breath away at certain points. There was an all boys choir that sang, and just so much tradition and beauty in the church. That night we went out for another Irish dinner, and explored some more Irish pubs and clubs- such a fun experience and just a totally different feel than any other city I’ve visited. For our final day, we went to the Guinness Brewery and meandered around the city for a while before catching our planes home.

It was a great weekend, and I hope to have many more adventures with each of these wonderful girls in the months to come!