"And I lost my heart to a Galway girl"

Well, I lied...that previous post is apparently not my last post. :) Although the Roman Greco program has come to an end, as sad as that is to say, I had one last Eupropean adventure before succombing to coming home to bleak Minnesota (that's another lie, I love Minnesota!) My final days in Europe were spent galvanting around the beautiful country that is Ireland. For the record, I am going back to Ireland as soon as I can, just to let you know. I fell in love with that country: the culture, the people, the pubs, the accents...everything!

Because of all the riots and protests happening in Athens, public transportation was conveniently experiencing yet another strike on friday, December 17th, the day of departure, so calling a taxi in advance was probably a smart thing to do. We arrived awfully early at the airport but better that than running through to your gate in hopes of not missing your plane. Kelsey, Meghan, Beth, Julie and I camped out in the airport for a few hours before we could even check in our luggage. We were all tired already but I pulled out my deck of cards to play a game of solitare. A few minutes later the cutest, most fashionable little boy comes up to me and asks if he can play cards with me while his mom waited in line to check their luggage. So he sat down and took the cards and dealt them out. We played something of some sort, but I have no idea what it was. I think he won though. He didn't speak the best English so we did our best and he seemed to enjoy himself for a few minutes! Glad I could help :)

It was eventually time to board our first plane of the first leg of our trip to Dublin. Athens to Barcelona! It was a beautifully smooth flight (except we were deprived of any sort of refreshments on the plane) But other than that, we had an on time flight into the amazing airport of Barcelona with plenty of time to spare before our next flight to Dublin!

This is Dublin! I'm in love already!

The 5 of us arrive into Dublin pretty late at night and struggle to find some sort of transportation to get us into the city center so we can get to our hostels (which were conveniently all really pretty close to each other!) We finally find this huge tour bus the brings us right to our street (or so we thought) And it was our only option anyways. We head down to the city center and get off at O'connell's street. Well, now where to go. We start wandering and dragging all of our luggage down the streets, probably getting a few strange looks in hopes of finding our hostel. We at least know all of ours are in the general area. Well after I don't know how long, we find the Abraham house and finally get checked in. Little did we know we had to drag our bags up 3 flights of stairs and down through the skinniest hallways I have ever seen. We actually never got to see our room during the day because we'd always return after dark and the rest of our roommates were sleeping already. Oh well, it was at least a place to sleep, or try anyways...



Trinity College!



First full day in Dublin. I could not be happier. We all kept thinking "We are in Ireland right now." We all had to take a few reality checks and keep pinching ourselves. I had been anticipating Ireland for the longest time and to finally be here felt surreal! We had a lot on our list of things to see: Trinity College, Dublin castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral etc. First stop: Trinity College and the Book of Kells! Ok, for one, the campus is beautiful! It reminded me a bit of St. Ben's/St. John's (I can't wait to get back on campus again!) We go inside to see the book of Kells which is an ancient manuscript of the 4 gospels. Absolutely stunning! Each book is individually hand bound with a leather binding and looks exceptionally amazing! After going through the gallery, you go up a flight of stairs to the long room. Picture the library in Beauty and the Beast; the one in the castle. This is what the long room reminded me of, just on a bit of a smaller scale. Old, leather bound books from floor to ceiling and a spiral staircase to boot!



Kelsey and I got mittens!



We had a mission: to find ourselves some Irish knit sweaters (we heard they were the big thing there and wanted find them!) I think we all had a certain vision of what they were going to look like and fit like and unfortunately we didn't find those visions of ours. So instead I found some Aran knit mittens! They certainly served their purpose well over the trip. It was freezing!

Next thing you know, we stumbled upon St. Patrick's Cathedral and park. Such a gorgeous church; the largest in Ireland. And the fountain was still running! the pond was definitely frozen over though. We tried to go see the inside of the cathedral but conveniently provided us with an enterance fee so we decided to go to the service the following morning (which I might add was non existent: we tried to go to the service, but again, no go. No one was there)



St. Patrick's Cathedral!

 Christ's church was right down the road. Another beautiful church. And we went there are a very good time. There was a Christmas market happening in the basement of the church, so we decided to check it out.  It was so cool! Everyone had their vendors set up in what felt like the crpyt of the church. We found a vendor selling claddagh rings and of course we all got sucked into buying some. The couple we extremely generous. After buying our rings, they give us all a free Christmas CD of the Christ church choir. Sweet! It was a 10 euro CD we got for free! Now who doesn't like free stuff?! This couple also told us the legend behind the claddagh rings and how we should wear them: They are considered "loyalty rings." Those that are dating someone (or "have their heart taken") should wear it on their right ring finger with the crown facing outwards. (Inwards if "your heart is free") And if you are engaged or married, it goes on your left ring finger with the crown pointing outwards.



Dublin Castle!



Shortly afterward, we wandered to the Chester Beatty library where they had an incredible exhibit explaining and introducing different religions. From Christianity to Hinduism. Very interesting. Along the way we also were able to see the Dublin Castle!

Arlington beef and Guinness pot pie!

By this point we were all getting really hungry and rather cold. Pubs and restaurants are all over the place, so take your pick! We chose the Legends Pub. And I would definitely say it was a great choice! Picture this: It's cold, cloudy and windy. What better way to warm up then with Arlington beef and Guinness pot pie?! Holy guacamole! Out of this world! And it sure hit the spot!

Next stop: Guinness storehouse. We were all looking forward to this for the whole day, we couldn't have been anymore excited. We have heard nothing but fabulous things about the Guinness brewery! And I like Guinness, so even better! It was definitely one of my favorite things we did in Dublin! It was more of a self guided tour/museum taking you through the whole process of how this wonderful thing called Guinness is made!

 At the end of the tour we were given a glass and learned how to "taste" Guinness properly. I think it's safe to say that we are all pros at tasting Guinness! Then after that we climbed to the very top level to the Gravity bar that overlooks all of Dublin. It reminded me of the Radisson hotel with the rotating restaurant on the top. There we were complimented with a free pint of Guinness! So between enjoying each others company and enjoying the free pint of deliciousness, it was a fabulous evening. But the night was still young...

We were all full of Guinness, but we conveniently passed a milkshake bar. Nothing sounded better at the moment. We had been talking about ice cream and milkshakes earlier that day so we had to stop. Best decision ever. They had sooo many different varieites of milk shakes. I got myself a twix shake. oh yum!



Milkshakes!

By this time we were all full and exhausted. We had to sleep this off for a bit. What better way than with a nap?! We had to recuperate a bit before taking in the pub life which we were not going to pass up while in Ireland :)

The Celt is where we ended up for the remainder of the night. You definitely can't beat the pub life. Real, live Irish music, such interesting people to meet and talk to, good company with an Irish cider in hand. The music was so fun to listen to. You couldn't help but nod to the beat of it. Plus the young Irish guys playing fiddle and singing...come on! We all couldn't help but smile. I think we all wanted to explode with happiness. This is exactly how I pictured a pub in Ireland! We even had some Dutch guy buy us a round of ciders! Sweet!

The Musicians:)

The next morning we had planned to go to church at St. Patricks before Julie and I headed down to Galway for the last half of our Irish exploration. Well we tried but failed. No one was anywhere around or in that church. Who knows?! Well, A for effort, no? Instead we found a little cafe and enjoyed a real Irish breakfast with eggs, toast, bacon and black and white pudding. Aka: blood sausage (yea, definitely was not aware that's what it was until after the fact, which is probably a good thing) It was delicious though! Top that off with some tea and you got yourself a fabulous Irish breakfast!
Shortly after, Julie and I said our farewells to Meghan, Kelsey and Beth (they would be staying in Dublin) and we sadly parted ways. But we had a bus to Galway to catch! I was sooo excited to see the country side of Ireland! So we dragged our stupid suitcases to the bus station and hopped the bus. Unfortunately I slept a good portion of the way there. I was exhausted!


The litte town of Galway!

After a 3 hour bus ride we final arrived in Galway. What a beautiful town! Very quaint and small and again reminded  me of home. I definitely think Ireland was a great transistion before arriving at home home. The streets were decorated with lights and people were running around last minute Christmas shopping. After checking in to our co-ed hostel we explored more of Galway. There were some amazing Irish bands preforming along the streets so we had to stop and admire their music and their good looks as well! :) We found a Christmas market right by the bus station. Too cute! People selling their goods and crafts and delicious looking food all over the place! We passed a burger stand selling Kangaroo burgers?! yea, my thoughts exactly. I wasn't brave enough to try kangaroo, so I settled with a venison burger with fried onions on top. Wow... I know I've said this a million times but I have to say it again: there has not been one food item that I have tried and did not like! Same with the venison burger!

It was getting late enough to start checking out the pubs in Galway. Julie and I decided to have our own, unofficial pub crawl, checking out the different pubs in Galway. Our first stop: The Spanish Arch, seriously 2 doors down from our hostel! It was a very cozy atmosphere, fireplace in cluded! Started off the night with Bulmer's cider (I know, not Guinness!? I was lovin the cider though too!) I was getting hungry again (surprise, surprise haha) so we hiked all over creation in search of a restaurant to eat at. Most places only serve food to a certain time and by this time, most, if not all had quit serving. Finally, we randomly stumbled upon a little place called "Kettle of Fish" fish and chips? I think yes! And not surprising again, it was amazing! We got a mountain of chips and very delicious fish! I'm glad we found this place! Then we ended up at the Dail Pub and enjoyed some more live music and more Bulmers before calling it a night. We had an early day the next day.

I woke up the next day with the realization that we will be seeing the Cliffs of Mohr that day. I was so darn excited! These cliffs have been on my list of things to see for such a long time; ever since watching the Princess Bride (yup, the Cliffs of Mohr are the Princess Bride's Cliffs of Insanity!) There were others things to see as well of course! We had such a fabulous tour guide as well! Desmond. I think anyone who has been on the Galway Tour company tours probably has met Desmond. And he sure knows St. Ben's/St. John's. I have had multiple friends that have met him. He actually took out a list of names he's kept with him and asked if I recognized anyone's names. Well, I sure did of course! What a small world. He liked to call me and Julie "Da Bennies" or Minnesota girls! He is such a hilarious man. He would repeat everything multiple times! "The Cliffs of Mohr on your right. On your right are the Cliffs of Mohr if you look to your right." Too funny! And he can say "I Love you" in about 15 different languages and we were privledged to hear him recite every single one of them! He truly made this tour as fun as it was!


This is Desmond

We traveled through a good portion of County Cork, and the Burren which is the vast limestone landscape along the Atlantic coast line. We were able to see the Dungaire castle that overlooks the city of Galway,

the Corcomroe Abbey (we couldn't go inside though) as well as the Ballyalban fairy fort. According to Desmond, it is currently inhabited with leperchauns. So he brings out his too stuffed leperchauns that accompany his tours and puts them in the ring and proves this fact true I suppose. 

We also stopped at the Poulnabrone Dolmen or the Portal tomb, which is an ancient tomb that is dated to be older than the Egyptian pyramids! Cool! And it was set on the most beautiful landscape! Not to mention Irish cows were everywhere! Des said that the brown ones drank Heinenken and the black ones always drank Guinness. So they are referred to as the Heinenken and Guinness cows :)

We had such a beautiful day for this tour. It was freezing, but the sun was shining and the breeze was calm. Before heading up the the Cliffs of Mohr for sunset, we stopped for lunch at Gus O'connors pub where I had the most delicious vegetable soup and warm brown bread!

Well, let me just say the Cliffs of Mohr completely blew me away! (No pun intended, but it actually wasn't windy at all!) It was such a clear day and we could see for miles in all directions across the ocean! What a spectacular sight. I honestly don't think there are words to describe the beautiful sight that are these cliffs. You just have to put the camera away and just enjoy the pure sight of the majestic view! It could not have been anymore beautiful especially with the sunset across the water and the full moon rising on the other side. We had a gorgeous ride back to Galway, along the coast line watching the sun set and the full moon get higher and higher in the sky. I could not have asked for a better way to end this 4 month experience abroad!

Time to pack my life back up in my suticase and head to the Shannon airport. We actually had to bus it there after our day tour because there weren't buses early enough the next day since we had early flights to catch. So we spent our last night at the Park Inn right across from the airport which worked very nicely! I didn't exactly want to spend the night in the airport and could really use a nice shower and good night sleep before my more-than-24-hour traveling day I had ahead of me. I'm so glad we stayed at the hotel and not the airport! It was wonderful!

With all the weather delays most of the UK was experiencing I was hoping and praying that we could at least get out of Shannon without any delays. Luckily we did! Thank goodness! That was the only flight that was actually on time! It was a 7 hour flight but didn't actually feel that long. Maybe it was because I watched movies the entire time haha. But I finally arrived in Newirk, NJ where my flight to Chicago got delayed because of weather and even the last flight from Chicago toMinneapolis got delayed for numerous mechanical reasons, which is always comforting. The last leg of the trip was the longest, of course. It never felt more wonderful to finally land on home turf! I finally came to the sad realization that this trip is officially over and that I am HOME.