Somewhere over the Rainbow...

I have accomplished another of my goals in Ireland: seeing an Irish rainbow. Three in fact, and all within the 48 hours I was outside Dublin this weekend, travelling around the country on motorcoaches, ferries, and a six-euro rented bicycle. Suffice it to say, this is what I remember loving about Ireland.

For those of you non-Facebookers, I've posted pictures (including the rainbows) in a new album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2062934&id=1304250202&l=b9457ea5e3
We woke up EARLY Saturday morning (15 of us in all) to catch the 8:15 bus out of Dublin to Galway City, which is directly opposite of Dublin on the western coast of Ireland (check out http://www.geographicguide.com/pictures/maps/ireland-map-2.gif for a map). About 2.5 hours later (yes, it only takes that long to cross the country), we reached Galway and immediately caught another bus to the ferry which took us to Inis Mor, the largest of the three Aran Islands off Ireland's west coast. These islands, per the guidebook, are a blend of Irish tradition and modernity - they are one of the few places in the country where Irish is spoken fluently by all the residents (they call it "Irish" here, even though other people call it "Gaelic"), and like many rural areas in Ireland, the hillsides are patterned with ancient stone walls marking property lines and containing the cattle herds. I saw a LOT of cows over the course of the trip, though surprisingly very few sheep, which was too bad, since I don't get to see them as much in the states. I feel like such a city kid, getting excited about farm animals...


Having only a few hours to roam the island, we opted out of a "professional" tour and rented bikes instead, riding along the narrow roads on the coastline, hiking up the hills, and eating wild blackberries that were perfectly ripe and delicious (having picked blackberries before made me feel less like a city kid). Two of my friends didn't get bikes - instead, they rented a horse-drawn buggy with a friendly old Irish man as their tour guide. That's definitely going on my Ireland bucket list.


After finishing our brief biking adventure, the group split and five of us hopped on a ferry to Doolin, a small village in County Clare which has made its place on the map as the traditional music capital of Ireland. We walked the majority of the length of the town two or three times over the course of and hour or so, looking for a place to stay. We were about to give up and settle for a somewhat more commercialized motel, when two of my friends made a chance encounter at a pub: they had been inquiring about the B&B above the pub when a man sitting next to them said "hang on, let me give my friend a call," pulled out his cell phone, and called up his friend who runs a bed-and-breakfast down the street. Fifteen minutes later, we were settling into the Doolin Cottage B&B, a cute Irish home run by a lovely woman named Carol who not only had space for all five of us but fixed us a traditional Irish breakfast the next morning of bacon, eggs, and toast (and also corn flakes, though I'm not sure how traditional that is). To add to my traditional Irish food experiences, I had some of the most delicious fish and chips I've ever tasted at O'Connor's Pub (one of about three pubs in Doolin) Saturday night - most likely caught fresh right off the Doolin coast - followed by a fantastic apple crumble at Fitzgerald's Bar down the street, accompanied by an Irish man singing and playing the guitar, with all the locals singing along.


Sunday morning we caught yet another bus and ventured out to the Cliffs of Moher, one of the greatest sites I have yet to see in Ireland - huge, sheared cliffs on the western coast looking out over the Atlantic. Photos really can't capture the height and massiveness of these cliffs - they've had to build walls in the past few years because there have been so many fatalities... not to worry though, we all made it out okay ;) Two bus rides, a sourdough breadbowl of Irish beef stew with mashed potatoes in a pub in Galway called Fibber Magee's, and one more bus ride later, I made it back to Dublin, and crashed until class the next morning.


I can't believe I only have two more days of the Semester Startup Program, and then on to Fresher's Week! Think Freshman Orientation all over again, without the stress of being a clueless freshman, and with a week-long activites-fair-on-steroids. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but the Societies at Trinity (aka clubs/student groups) are the major venue of social activity (no Greek life here), and they will be recruiting members all week and holding themed parties every night. Sounds like good craic.


...that means fun, not the American word pronounced the same but meaning something totally different


Congrats to all of you who made it though that entire entry. I didn't even get a chance to mention the excellent field trip to Trim Castle and the Hill of Tara with the SSP group on Friday, but there are pictures at the end of my first album (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059313&id=1304250202&l=f1da465f6c), and it's worth taking a look. Until next time - cheers!