And the bad luck just keeps on coming. I was very excited for this weekend's trip to Galway because I haven't put up pictures for a while and I knew there would be some great ones from Galway. Unfortunately, my camera is broken. But I'm getting ahead of myself here...
Megan and I joined the International Student Society from UCC on a weekend long trip to Galway and neighboring locations. We left on Friday morning at a bright and early 8:00 am (yes, that's early in Ireland). After a four hour bus ride, our first stop was the Cliffs of Moher. I cannot even begin to describe how beautiful it was. Just as I was about to pull out my camera to capture the breathtaking view, however, I discovered that my camera was broken. Terrific. It all worked out though--Megan had her camera and the weather was absolutely perfect; although it was cloudy, the sun did peak out every once and a while, which illuminated certain spots of the cliffs making it all the more beautiful. This is definitely my recommendation for going there if you ever find yourself in Ireland. The cliffs are 600 feet high and probably are what you picture when you think of Ireland.
The next stop on the trip was the Ailiwee caves (I hope I'm spelling that right!). The caves are not something that I would have done on my own, but I'm so glad we went! We got to go about a half-kilometer into the cave (about 400 feet underground) and see some great waterfalls and rock formations, including one that looked like a set of praying hands. In addition, our tour guide turned all of the lights off at one point on the tour so we could see what it would be like to discover a cave. It was really dark (a huge understatement).
Of course, Megan made friends with our leader from UCC on the bus. She loves taking a leadership role, so between the two of them, they decided to mix up the rooming assignments so that people wouldn't choose to live with only people from their home countries (e.g. Americans with Americans, Germans with Germans, etc.) So Megan and I ended up rooming in a cottage with two Finnish students and two German students. The cottages were wonderful! They were much bigger than what I was expecting and very comfortable. We had warm water too, which is always wonderful. The only negative was that we had to pay for electricity. It cost 2 euro to keep it going for about 45 minutes.
In typical Irish fashion, the International Student Society hosted a party that night as well. It was fun to chat with some of the other international students from UCC. I talked to another American student and we were comparing which pubs were the best in Cork. I definitely think that I've been missing out, and I can't wait to try out some of the pubs she recommended.
After a semi-early night, we woke up the next morning to catch the 10:30 ferry over to Inis Mor. Inis Mor is the largest of the Arann Islands, just off the west coast of Ireland. That was another fantastic part of this trip--I finally got to see the ocean! It's about time, right? Anyways, the trip over to the island made quite a few people a little sea-sick. I managed to fare okay, though. Ireland is not necessarily a place I would recommend for those people who get motion sick easily. Between all the roundabouts and rocky countryside, it makes for quite the adventure. Back to the island: We took a bus tour for the first half of the island and got quite the view of the coast of the island. We stopped to take pictures of seals too! They looked like blobs out in the middle of the ocean. We also stopped for a couple hours at a tourist spot which has a fort (Dun Aengus) overlooking some of the cliffs on the eastern coast of the island. Although only half the height of the Cliffs of Moher, we were able to walk up to the very edge of these cliffs. Once again the weather was perfect, so it made for a beautiful sight. Megan and I did some impulsive buying at this location, as well. After our stop, we finished the bus tour and learned a little bit more about the island. Inis Mor is a perfect place to see all of the rock walls so characteristic of Ireland. The walls were built to divide the land between children and also as a means of fencing for animals. In addition, Inis Mor was originally very rocky land so it was a way to clear the land for the animals to graze. You'll have to see my pictures on facebook to see what I mean! There's a couple of thatch-roofed cottages on the island, too. I don't think I'm giving the right impression when I say its touristy either--the population on the island is very small. It's also a strong Irish speaking population. Even though I'm taking an Irish class, I definitely didn't understand most of what they were saying. We also learned that the island didn't have electricity until 1973! And we were complaining about paying 2 euro for our cottage electricity...After the bus tour, Megan and I warmed up with some Bailey's and coffee before getting on the ferry for the return trip. We talked to a native of the island who told us that the island is a good place to get engaged (it was Valentine's day, after all), and then we met a couple who did get engaged on the island!
That evening was spent getting to know our roommates. We had some great conversation about our home countries, universities, and pretty much everything you can imagine. There was another party that night, hosted again by the International Student Society. It seems as though the 45 students on the trip definitely were interested in getting to know each other, which is always good.
This morning we went into Galway city to explore a little bit. Galway is much bigger than I had imagined! It was a great city, though. It's only about half the size of Cork, but seems just as big, as they have a university there as well. Megan and I did a little perusing of the shops and ate lunch outside, as again, we were fortunate enough to have fantastic weather. I think everyone was anxious to get home, however, and we arrived back in Cork late this afternoon.
It was fun to be back out traveling again. I haven't been for a couple weeks because of homework. Luckily, Megan and I have another trip coming up! We'll be heading to London on Wednesday to spend a few days there, so you can plan on another post coming in about a week! Also, I just discovered how to view the comments on the blog, so I apologize for not having seen those sooner! I hope everything is well where you are... Slan.
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