Galway.. Breathtaking

Two weekends ago,  a few friends and I went to Galway City.  It was about hour and half bus ride for 15 euros.  As we arrived in the city, already we knew that even though we were still in Ireland, this place was very different then Limerick and Dublin.  We walked through the city centre with our bags and maps, searching for our hostel.  We walked for about 10 mins before we saw this cute, little place down the hill.  Once we were settled, we went into town for dinner and ate at this cute restaurant in the city square.  Afterwards, we went to King's Head, a local pub.  At ten, a live band started playing.  They played some great oldies and we all had a total blast, of course being the Americans hogging the dance floor.

 The next morning, we hopped on a bus for a day tour around Galway.  The sights we saw were magnificant; everything I imagined Ireland would be.  At one of our stops, we could see off of the coast and the many islands the lay before us, beautiful and magical, absolutely breathtaking.  As we continued to travel higher and higher on a winding road up a hill, the fields of all shades of green spread in front of us, speckled with tiny white dots; grazing sheep, roaming higher up the hills in search of food.  Once we came to another stop, what lay before us was magnificent.  It was called 'Lough NaFooey'- Connemara's hidden valley that exposed a beautiful moutain, lake and valley scenery that could not completely be explained in a captured snap-shot, but the experience was so real and so incredible.  After the bus driver had to drag all of us out of that gorgeous sight, we headed onto Kylemore Abbey; Ireland's most romantic building, both Abbey and Castle, built in the late 19th century.  'The story behind this building started with Mitchell Henry, a doctor, Politcian and Pioneer, and his wife Margaret Henry.  They vistied Connemara while on honeymoon in 1850. Margaret fell in love with Connemara and as a gift for her, Mitchell bought the 15,000 acre estate and created one of Ireland's most iconic castles.  After having nine children and living a wonderful life, Margaret fell ill with the Nile Fever while visiting Egypt and died within 16 days, she was 45.  Mitchell had her body lay to rest in a mausoleum on the Kylemore grounds.  In 1920, the castle was bought by the Nuns of the Order of St. Benedict.'  The history and memories still surround the castle and strengthened its beauty from within.  Galway is a city that holds so many memories and also so much of Ireland's beauty.  Visitng here, has painted an even more beautiful picture of Ireland in my mind that I will never be able to forget.
Once we returned back to our hostel, it was an early night to bed, exhausted by all of the breathtaking moments in Galway city.

Ireland Weather.. Unpredictable but Beautiful

While being in Ireland, somone had told me that the unpredictability of Ireland's weather, describes the Irish as being 'Spontaneous'.  Since I have been here for 5 weeks, I can completely agree with this statement.  If you were to look up the weekly forecast in Ireland on a daily basis you would read this 'Between 4-10 degrees C (about 38-50 degrees F), mostly cloudy, fog in the morning hours and ALWAYS 30-60 % precipitation'. Yes, it rains ALOT here, and the worst thing about it is that you can wake up and it will be gorgeous outside, sun shinning, not a cloud in the sky.  Then, an hour later, when you walk out of class, it will be windy, pouring, and cold... Ireland.. quite unpredictable to say the least. 
However, today, I think I can make an exception.  Today the sky is so blue and so clear, it feels as if Spring is already decided to bloom.  The bright sun touches over everything ever so softly, just leaving behind a bit of warmth as the crinkled leaves swayed smoothly in soothing breeze.  Everyday, I walk over the 'Living Bridge' on my way into the center part of campus.  The Living Bridge is a beautifully build piece of art that twists, winds and moves are you walk over it, stretching above the flowing Shannon river.  Today as I walked across it, the water shimmered, as three graceful white swans swam, while bobbing their heads under the water.  Watching, from my room, as the light penetrates the hills in the distance, brining to life everything that was once covered with darkness, makes me realize that Ireland's beauty is sometimes hidden behind it's unpredicability and that because of this, it is very 'Spontaneous.'

Irish People :)

Oh, how Grande the people of Ireland are :).  They completely live up to their stereotype; welcoming, sarcastic, fun, out going, DRINKERS haha, just about the nicest people I have ever met (and to be able to say that about a whole country is a pretty big deal).  Imagine that you are in New York City (or any big, busy city) and you are very very lost, looking confused trying to read a map and looking for street signs. Now in a big city in the US, on most occasions, people will continue to walk right past you, pretty much pushing you out of their way because their schedules hold them on a tight leash and time is their worst enemy, they might even knock you down and kick you (ok, maybe not that extreme but you get the idea ;) ).  But here, you won't get 'pushed' around in a big city. We were walking around in Dublin during one of our first few days, completely lost/confused/ looking like complete tourists, and of course standing in the way of everyone around us. All of a sudden a girl probably in her thirties, stops what she is doing and comes over to us, asking if we are alright and if we need help getting somewhere.  Even for someone to do such a simple, considerate action, made me realize that I wasn't in America anymore.  Now, in Minnesota something like this would happen, the midwest is just full of friendly people.  But being a 'foreigner' in this new country, people knowing right away that we are American and 'don't belong there', this factor doesn't change their morals, their kind personality, and their generosity in helping others when they need help. 

There was another incident when we were in Limerick City, on our way back to UL, looking for the bus.  As we saw it come up to the stop, we all started running, however, once we made it, the bus driver informed us that this was his last stop and the bus wasn't running for the remainder of the night.  As we were about to get off, he said "I can drive you back to UL, you are our guests and we have to make sure that you are having a grand time here."  Hearing this, I about shit my pants! haha. This man was suppose to be done for the night, he was on his way home to his family or maybe out to the pub with some buddies, but he postponed his evening to drive us back to school. 

The people here in Ireland, are all truly one of a kind.  I have never felt so welcomed or so comfortable or so accepted by everyone that I meet.  This trait that the Irish people have is truly incredible and it unites them as a country and builds that pride and unity that they have been striving for since the 1900's, when they rebelled against the British and fought for 'Home Rule'.  Ireland has proven itself to be a strong, unique, kind country, and many places cannot express those traits.  I am so grateful that this is where I chose to spend 4 months of my life, growing as an individual and feeling prideful to have Irish running through my veins and being able to call this place home.

The Little Town of Emly :)

Passion, Faith, Tradition, Love, Warmth...  This is how I would describe my experience at the Breen's home in Emly, Co. Tipperary.  As our coach bus pulled to a stop, I could hear my heart pounding, anticipating who would be on the other side of the bus doors.  When Katie and I stepped outside, a sweet older women greeted us with a huge smile, her name was Sheila.  We drove through the darkened night, down the winding, twisting road, speeding past frozen trees and stretches of green fields.  Once we came to a stop, we stood in awe in front of a gorgeous, white home, that stood next to a quiet farm.  We were introduced to Sheila's husband, Peter and their daughter, Mairead (who has her own chiropractic clinic).  After a delicious dinner, Katie, Sheila, Mairead and I all sat at the kitchen table for hours, sharing stories, memories and laughs; Sheila was like a book, once you open it, you can't put it down, and everytime you turn a page, your anticipation grows as each new message is pulling at you to read more.  The next morning, Sheila was very eager to bring us to our first Hunt; this hunt took place in Elton (about 10 mins away).  As we waited for the hunt to start, men and women, old and young, all dressed in blazers, white pants, brown boots and black hats, continued to trot back and forth, on their beautifully groomed horses, waiting until the horn blew.  Once all 50 horses were lined up, they released the hounds.  About 30 dogs came rushing out of the trunk, barking and howling.  Then, as the horn was blown, they were off! Down the trail in search of those frightened foxes.  Once we returned to the house, we had a delicious, traditional Irish meal; ham, potatoes, cabbage and of course TEA. After dinner (lunch), we were given a tour of the farm, by their oldest son, Simon, who has a one year old, Julia.  He showed us their 300 cows, used for beef and dairy and also their cows that were expecting; there would be about 140 new calfs this spring.  After our tour, Katie, Buster (the dog) and I ventured out to their fields.  Their land stretched for miles as we walked along the dirt path, through the fields. As we came closer to the end of our path, we noticed that there wasn't an opening in the electric fence.  Katie, being her crazy, but brave self, saw what looked like a handle and pulled it off of the post.  Thank goodness it wasn't electric haha. We crawled under another fence and over another, finallly we were free.  Once we walked into the kitchen, warm scones were waiting for us on the table.  We had a hot cup of tea (probably already our 100th  haha) and ate our homemade, delicious scones.
The evening, Katie and I were invited by Mairead and TJ, their youngest son who is getting his PHD at Limerick, to go out to chinese with Mairead theatre cast and then to the local pub.  The people were so welcoming and so kind, as we sat around the table chatting about life. However, the chinese place must have been saving on their heating bill because the place was FREEZING! haha.  We were all ecstatic when we walked into the pub and there was a crackling fire waiting to heat our frozen hands.  Katie and I sat and chatted with TJ, learning all of the Irish ways.  We learned that the stereotypical America is annoying and fat, oh, and they say oh my god! way too much.. we got a kick outta that ;).

The next morning, we went to their local church, the church of St. Abigail.  It was a lovely sermon, the church filled with people from the town, all knowing each other by name and a little part of their own stories. After church, we headed home for dinner (lunch) and yet another cup of tea, followed by warm, homemade apple tart with cool, vanilla ice cream.  When it was time to go, Katie and I grapped our things and said goodbye to the sweetest women, with the biggest heart.  As we drove down the drive, we glanced behind us, still in awe of this big, gorgeous white home, filled with love, faith and tradition, all of which will continue to bind them together and never fade.