Monday, November 14, 2016

Just a wannabe Galway Girl.

Whoops. 

So much has been going on that writing this blog, honestly, was the last thing on my mind. Which I guess is a good thing, means I am taking full advantage of my limited time in Ireland and exploring as much as I can.

Since my last post I have gone on a few trips with the International Student Society (ISS) and celebrated Halloween.
Galway trip 2k16


October 21st-24th, 2016: Overnight trip to Galway.

Out of all the places I have traveled to Galway is one of my favorite if not my favorite. I am not sure if it was the group of people I went with, the activities planned, or that it was the first trip I went on but I fell in love with Galway. I told everyone if I ever made it back to Ireland to visit Galway would be the city I go to. We left CIT on Friday and started our 3 hour drive to Galway, making one bathroom break at castle. It's weird to say so nonchalantly that a bathroom break was taking at a castle, that's Europe for you though.

Day 1 Friday: We arrived at Galway around 7:00pm and had a bar crawl organized for all of us. Due to the large amount of students on this trip we were split into two teams: Blue vs. Red. If we had a yellow team it could have been an impromptu Pokemon Go battle. We ended up going to 4 bars and one night club, which was American Themed. The Coyote were decked out in American flags and license plates from every state placed around the walls. Obviously, the Blue team won in the end.

Not a sight you would expect to see in Ireland. 
Day 2 Saturday: After a fun night out it was actually surprisingly easier to get up for an 9:00am bus departure when you have an amazing day planned ahead. I guess that's the cure to a hangover: have fun activities planned. The second day we drove through Connemara, visited Kylemore Abbey, and hiked through Connemara National Park.
One of the many breathtaking views.
Connemara was absolutely stunning, mesmerizing. You felt guilty taking your eyes off of the horizon to take photos. Seeing the landscape through a 4-inch screen does not do any justice for the natural beauty of Connemara. We drove through Connemara on our way to Kylemore Abbey.

Kylemore Abbey was another breathtaking place. This 'castle' was built by Mitchell Henry as a private home for his wife. After this trip you know every female is going to be comparing and searching for her Mitchell Henry; quite the standard to reach fellas. Not only did this estate hold a beautiful house but it also had a private garden and church.
The house a man gifted to his wife....


Day 3 Sunday: THE CLIFFS OF MOHER ! I still don't know the correct pronunciation of the Moher part but I do know this is my favorite place I have been to in all my travels. I'm getting ahead of myself though. Before out stop at the Cliffs of Moher we visited the most quaint island called Inis Oirr. This island is only reachable by plane or boat and the population is a staggering 250....
Inis Oirr, island of 250. 

The tractor gang: USA, Canada, France,
Holland, and Finland represent
I said the whole time we were at this island that I would move there. I loved the closeness and simplicity you could feel while roaming the streets and taking in the sites. The island had a small grocery store, school, hotel, and bar; really what else do you need? The only downfall would probably be the strong, unforgiving winds. We spent a few hours touring the island in whatever way you wanted to. Some walked others opted for biking, some others and I decided on taking a tractor ride. The trait of laziness was definitely prominent when this decision was made. After touring the town we all boarded the ferry and headed towards the Cliffs of Moher, seeing them from the bottom and then driving to the top.
Even growing up in Maine did not prepare me for this boat ride.
Describing the Cliffs of Moher and portraying the beauty I think is unachievable at least for me, maybe Mark Twain, Ernst Hemingway, or even Dr. Seuss may be able to think up a cool rhyming book to describe it, but I can't. Cliffs of Moher was the #1 attraction I wanted to see during my time in Ireland. I looked up photos on the internet and sent them to my family with the reply "what's so cool about them?" Which I guess is an appropriate reaction, they are just cliffs after all. But once you are standing on the edge looking down at the waves crashing, the ragged cliff face, or just the massiveness of the cliffs you're opinion will change forever. The Cliffs of Moher is one thing that you can't truly appreciate until you are there in person.
Boat view of Cliffs of Moher
Just living life on the edge.
There were no guardrails.


This trip will probably be the highlight of my trip here. I can confidently say that I will most likely return to Ireland hopefully with friends or family and take them to Galway.

Halloween

Halloween ended up being a two-night celebration. It started off with a pub crawl organized by the International Student Society, which also involved the competition of two teams supplied with tasked to finish through the night with predetermined points.
Halloween night one. 
The pub crawl was my first actual time experiencing the nightlife in Cork, which is totally different from Bangor, Maine. The diversity between bars/clubs is amazing, there is something for every type of taste you can dream of. It's also always nice to hangout with the other International students, everyone is here away from home experiencing Ireland for the first time. It's always easier to relate and talk to others going through the same thing as you so even if you are shy hanging out with the International Students is by far the most easy going/ carefree attitude of people I have ever met. We all com from all around the world: USA, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, yet we all have the similarity of being foreigners in Ireland.
International Society takes on Halloween.
The second night of the Halloween festivities is when we all dressed up. The nights started off with meeting at a friend's place where 10-12 of us International students hung out and then trekked downtown. Dressing up wasn't as big as a deal over here though as compared to the USA. It was mostly just our group dressed up, but it was well received.
Anyone need a doctor?
There's really not too much to say about Halloween, it was fun to experience it in a different country but it didn't really feel like Halloween. I mean I only ate like 3 candies bar that day. Haha... All in all it seemed like a costume party that us International kids definitely demolished the other competitors but was a great time to bond and get to know one another better. 


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