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I didn't have my every other week Thursday class until 2pm today so I was able to sleep in and then spend some time getting ready and packing, went to class and then headed back to my room to grab my stuff and head on my way for my weekend trip with Jessi!
We took seperate ways to get to Dublin and met up there so I was on my own until then. My train left from Belfast Central Station at 6:10pm and I needed to be there about 20 minutes before that so I could pick up the tickets I had ordered online. I was a little nervous to take my train to Dublin as I hadn't done it before and was doing it all alone but it was very easy. I rode the train from Jordanstown to Belfast Central (which I've done many times to go into Belfast) and then got my ticket at the ticket counter. The lady that helped me was able to tell me which platform I needed and where to see what time it would get there and I still had 20 minutes before my train so I was able to sit down and get a tea and sandwich while I waited. The train ride was very comfortable and took a little over 2 hours. I just listened to my ipod and read my book.
Jessi had been to Dublin before and said she could easily get to the train station from the bus station so the plan was for me to sit and read my book at the train station when I got to Dublin for awhile until her bus got in and she found me just fine. We walked around a little and found a Subway and split a footlong which was VERY tasty (Subway here is like the only place you can find ranch...amazing) and then we caught a taxi to Matt's apartment. When we got here we had some big problems trying to get ahold of him because for some reason my phone won't call his but we were able to go into the lobby and the security man called him for us and we got in no problem. We didn't get into the apartment until about 10pm and we have to be up suuuper early tomorrow and so we are just about to crash in Catherine's bed (she's gone in France for the weekend) and I have my alarm set for 5:30 in the morning...ugh...but soooo excited for the weekend!!!
Friday, November 11th
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This morning was a very early morning. We had to be at the bus pick up place at 7am and google told us it would take us between 10-15 minutes to walk there and so we decided to leave at 6:30am to give ourselves plenty of time. We tried for a while to get through the directions we wrote down, but we got a bit worried that we weren't going to make it there in time (the street signs in Ireland SUCK) so we ended up getting a taxi. We made it and got on the bus and passed out for the entire two and a half hour bus ride to Galway. Once we got to Galway we stayed on the bus to continue on for our tour of the day which was for the burren and the Cliffs of Moher. It was a LOT of driving but the bus driver (Aden) made it better by telling us different interesting folklore and stopping lots of times to check out different places along the way.
We went to TONS of little places that showed ruins of castles and houses and different stuff that all kind of runs together for which was where and so I'm not going to really write about that stuff. I have pictures on Facebook showing more than this blog will show...mainly I just want to show the coolest things here.
Today was The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher tour. The Burren comes from the Irish word Boireann which means "great rock." It is a karst landscape in Couty Clare in Ireland and is the largest karst landscape in Europe.
The main point of the day, and really my main point of this entire trip was to get to see the Cliffs of Moher. For those who don't know a part in The Princess Bride and a part in Harry Potter were filmed here and it was incredibly breathtaking. Our whole day was GREAT and it didn't even rain on us!!! The only thing is that it was incredibly INCREDIBLY windy at the Cliffs of Moher, which you will see in these pictures.
Once we got back from our day tour it was around 6pm and we checked into our hostel, Snoozles! The room was just two bunk beds and we roomed with two other girls, Julia and Sarah, who were with our same tour group and are studying this semester in Spain. Jessi and I were very hungry and Rachel had told us that while in Galway we HAD to go get fish and chips so we asked the lady at the front desk where to go. She told us and it was really really good! After we ate we found a cute little jewellery store and I was able to get my claddagh ring!!!!! Jessi got one too. :) After that we decided to go into a pub that we could here live music playing to have a cider and that was a lot of fun too.
Now, I'm back at the hostel. Sarah and I are ready for bed but Julia really wants to go check out the pubs and thankfully Jessi doesn't mind going along with her. It sounded like fun but I'm really tired and have a pretty yucky headache and am just ready to lie down and call it a night. We don't have to be up as early tomorrow, we have to meet at the bus at 10am. The hostel has free breakfast that ends at 9:30 so we're just going to wake up at 9, go eat some breakfast and then come back up and get ready to go! Tomorrow is Cong and Connemara, no idea really what either is so it's a surprise!
My nickname of this trip from the bus driver has ended up being Miss. Rua. Apparently a long time ago in Ireland redheads got the nickname Rua placed in front of their first name and, being the only red head on the tour, he was a fan of calling me this.
Saturday, November 12th
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Breakfast at the hostel was very simple but still hit the spot. I had some orange juice, frosted flakes and toast. It was nice to get to sleep in a little. Cong and Connemara were very fun. Cong was just a little village where a movie called "The Quiet Man" was filmed. We spent about 40 min there and checked out a little park. Connnemara is a castle that is out on the same exact road where I did my Killary weekend just a little farther!!! It was crazy...I just assumed I would never see that area again and I did! The castle was gorgeous and so were the gardens. There was also a gothic church that was very impressive. Once again the day was a lot of driving as nothing is right next to each other but we had another driver today (Micheal O'Mally) who made it a lot more interesting, and just like yesterday we got to see other fun things along the way and he also told us many different interesting facts.
I'm standing in two different Counties!
Stopped by a monastery...I'm taller than Monks!
Me and Joey, a Connemara Pony...I'm not a big horse fan if you can't tell.
Fact: Bears are extinct in Ireland...accept for the Audra Bear ;)
When we got back to Galway from our day tours we were given about an hour and a half in Galway to look around and get food and then at 6:30pm we were to meet back up at the bus station to get back on the bus to Dublin. We went back to the jewelery shop with Julia because she really liked our rings and wanted to get one and then we decided to be cheap and easy and get Subway again which was just as great as always. Slept most of the bus ride back to Dublin. Jessi and I were able to find our way with our directions to Matt's apartment and we also found a grocery store along the way to get some popcorn (we had a little craving) and some breakfast for tomorrow morning. Now we're in Matt's living room wrapped in blankets and watching Sex and the City, eating popcorn and relaxing!
Sunday, November 13th
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My train and Jessi's bus didn't leave Dublin until 4pm so we let ourselves sleep in this morning which was really nice after our long weekend. We had set an alarm for 11am so that we didn't sleep too late but we ended up just waking up about 10:30 because there were bells outside playing and NOT on the hour...they were pretty much just constant. Terrible. We ate our breakfasts, watched some TV, got ready and headed out. We walked to Trinity College because we wanted to go see the Book of Kells. We got there and realized it cost money to see so I can now say I've seen the entrance to the Book of Kells haha. Since we had extra time we went and sat on a bench in St. Stephen's Green and read our books and wrote in our journals. We also fed some pigeons a few of our chips which was very fun. After about an hour and a half of soaking in the beauty and peacefulness of the park we headed up to our departure points. We were early enough to grab a sandwich so we didn't get hungry on our trips.
I sat next to a very nice lady that talked to me a lot and was very interested in my studying abroad and asked a ton of different questions. We both sat across from a man who smelled like BO so incredibly badly...ew. The two hour train ride went pretty fast and I got off the train, hung out at the station for about an hour to wait for the next train to Jordanstown and got home around 7:45pm. Jessi and I swapped photos and so I now have a total of 628 pictures from our weekend!!! I only posted a very small portion on here and 146 onto facebook. A lot of the pictures are of the same thing with just different angles so I tried to cut back on the duplicates I posted but they all turned out amazingly well. I've been going through them all for the past couple hours and now it's about time to go to sleep since I have class at 9:15 in the morning. :P Great weekend!!! :)
My souvenir of the trip...my claddagh ring. :) Almost didn't get one because this one was the only style I actually loved and they were completely out of size 7 in it since it's like the most common ring size for girls. But, the lady working there thought to check the front display window at the end and it was a size 7!!!!! Therefore, this ring was meant to be mine. :)
"A unique Irish symbol of love. The hands of friendship, crown of loyalty and the heart symbolising love. The tradition dates back to the 16th century when a native of Galway City, Richard Joyce was captured by Algerian Corsairs on his way to the West Indies. When he eventually returned he settled in the small village of Claddagh just outside the city of Galway where he crafted the first Claddagh ring. Worn on the left hand with the crown pointing away from your heart, tells all you are spoken for. Whilst worn on the right hand in the same fashion suggest love is being considered. If your heart is not spoken for, the ring should be worn on the right hand with the crown turned to your heart."
~McCarthy's Claddagh Shop
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