IRELAND!

I have always dreamed of going to Ireland and envisioning everything around me to be emerald green. I was slightly disappointed when I tried to look up flights to embark on my Ireland adventure only to find out that flights only went to and from Florence to Ireland on tuesdays and saturdays. I had pondered it for quite some time because I would have had to miss two days of classes, but finally came to the conclusion, when would I ever had the opportunity to fulfill one of my dreams like this again. Needless to say me, Deanna, Megan, and Mia took the risk of missing classes and were headed to the land of the green! Our flight left out of Pisa left at 6:45am, which only meant we would have to get up at the crack of dawn in order to get to Pisa on time for our flight. Unfortunately, the trains from Florence to Pisa do not start that early so we came up with other scenarios. We traveled through the streets of Florence  as the dirty stayouts walked the streets at 3am in order to catch the bus at 3:40am to Pisa. I do not even think I slept for an hour the night before we left or for the rest of the trip for that matter. For the 5 days we were in Ireland we all toughed it out with just a backpack full of whatever we needed so we did not have to pay and check our bags. Upon arriving at the airport we went through customs and patiently waited at our gate for our plane to Dublin to board!  The flight was really smooth and I was able to see a beautiful sunset out the plane window. The views that I saw out the window of the plane while landing were absolutely incredible.  Once in Dublin, it was quite pleasant to hear people speaking English for a change and the Irish accents just made me melt into a bowl of mush.  We took the local bus to the temple bar area where our hostel was situated. 

Our hostel may not have been the best accommodations, but let's face it all we were going to be doing there was sleeping. After checking in we headed out to start exploring Dublin. But, our first stop was breakfast! We found a cute little cafe and had a traditional irish breakfast of eggs and coffee. Our next stop was Saint Patrick's Cathedral, which reminded me very much of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. We walked around the streets and headed to the Guinness Factory! The Guinness factory is the largest brewery world wide. The original lease for the building was signed for 9000 years for a site at the Saint James bridge. That sounds completely absurd doesn't it?  When you walked into the Guinness factory you were standing in the largest beer stein in the world. The  beer stein could hold 14.3 billion pints of beer if it was entirely full. There is over 3 million pints of beer are produced a day in the factory.  Guinness beer is enjoyed in over 150 countries world wide where the original recipe is still used! It was really fascinating to walk through the factory and museum to see how the process is done, what ingredients are used, and how long the entire process actually takes. Along the way  you had a guinness tasting and when you reached the top gravity lounge you enjoyed a pint of beer to yourself! When the bar tender handed me my pint of guinness he drew a shamrock in the foam that remained in the top of my glass. The view from the gravity lounge was an incredible overlooking all of Dublin. The room slowly rotated so you go a complete 360 degree view. After spending most of our afternoon at the Guinness factory our next stop was Trinity College where we saw the book of Kells.  After walking around Trinity College campus for a bit, we headed back to the hostel to freshen up before dinner. We walked around till we found an irish pub to eat dinner in and to listen to live irish music. For dinner we all enjoyed shepherds pie with irish cider beer as we listened to the irish band play guitar and sing along. After dinner we were on an Irish high and continued to walk through the temple bar area. We finally came across a pub called Oniel's where there was a live band coming on at 10. We found a table to sit and listened to the band. One of the members played a guitar and the other played a flute. They of course picked us americans out and continued to joke around with us throughout the night. Megan and Mia enjoyed Irish & Bailey's coffee. Deanna and I enjoyed some traditional Irish beer which  some nice Irish men kindly bought for us. The bar tender allowed us to sample several different beers before we chose which one we actually wanted. We were practically falling asleep at the table, but every time we would try to leave another good song came on or the band made another comment towards us. The night concluded with an irish river dancer showing us how to irish step dance and the band teaching us a traditional irish song. Needless to say, by the time we left the pub we had fallen madly and deeply in love with Ireland, the pub scene, and the Irish people. 

Guinness Factory

First Guinness

Ain't That The Truth

O'NEIL

The next morning we went on a tour of Wicklowt National Park. We were greeted by our tour guide Eamon, who was the cutest little old Irish man. We intently listened to him speak with his accent and when he tried to teach us some of the traditional Gaelic language. On our drive to the park, he gave us some history about Dublin and the land that we would be exploring for the day. Dublin has a population of 1.2 million people. Ireland has 3000km of coast land and 40,000 hectares of natural environment.  There are five national parks throughout Ireland. On first stop on the tour was an area of land which used to be an ice age valley from 12,000 years ago. The rolling hills went on for miles, as streams flowed through them, and wild flowers covered them. I have never seen so much green in my life. It was everything I had imagined it to be and more. As we drove through the park,  we made stops along the way and Eamon would enlighten us as to what we were looking at. Wicklowt National Park has been used to film a lot of movies due to the good tax regime. The movies that have been filmed within the park are Braveheart, Excaliber, and P.S. I Love You. I actually got to sit on the bridge where the movie had been filmed! Unfortunately, there were no "wild" irish dogs and a Jerry to come and save me. It was really cool to see that, considering Deanna and I had watched to move to prep ourselves for Ireland. We made a stop along a stream where we enjoyed coffee, tea, and cookies that Eamon had packed in a thermos for us to enjoy. After exploring some more we stopped for some lunch in an Irish pub. We enjoyed beef guinness stew as we sat around the fire place to get the chill out of our bones. Once our bellies were full it was time to explore some more! Next we stopped in Glendalough where Saint Kevin is believed to be buried. The remains of the church where he once was still stand there today. There is an old Irish myth that Saint Kevin is believed to be buried underneath the cross that remains there. If you stand facing towards his tower, wrap your arms around the cross, and try to have you fingers touch it is believed that you will be in contact with him and receive good lucky. Needless to say, I tried to do it and my short little arms were almost able to do it. There was also the rock that Saint Kevin used to sit upon where he would pray and look over Glendalough, the monastery, and the people. He prayed so hard that his finger prints are in the rock. Many people used to come to the rock on pilgrimage in order to place their hands where his once were.  Of course I placed my hands where his once were. Some of the views that we saw on the tour were some of the most beautiful landscapes that I have ever seen. The pictures that I took does not even do it justice. After a long day of venturing and hiking we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the Ingrid Michaelson concert! The concert was at a small theater in Dublin. Her opening act, Gavin James, was your typical red headed irish man who had the most beautiful voice. Ingrid Michaelson is a great performer and crowd pleaser too! She was really funny and even gave a shout out to her fellow Americans. Once the concert was over we got to meet the opening act Gavin James & got his autograph too. After the concert it was bed time because in the morning we were headed to Galway!

Wicklowt National Park

Tea & Cookies By The Stream

Gazing At The Beautiful Landscape

The Bridge From P.S. I Love You

Saint Kevin's Cross

Saint Kevin's Finger Prints

Meeting Gavin James

Ingrid Michaelson

Early the next morning we boarded a 7:00 bus from Dublin to Galway. I think I slept the entire way and woke up when we reached the bus station in Galway where Conor greeted us. While in Galway we were staying with some friends from SJU. Conor led us back to his apartment where we would be staying. After dropping our bags off we went to get breakfast sandwhiches at a little cafe. Galway is a tiny little fishing village on the west coast of Ireland. After breakfast we walked along the bay near the Galway light house. We spent hours walking along the shore line and writing things in the sand. After spending time on the beach we went to a coffee shop to have some bailey's cheesecake and a cup of tea to warm up. The weather was quite chilly in Ireland compared to our 65 degree whether in Florence. After warming up we walked through the quaint little town and went in and out of all the shops. After a day of exploring we headed back to Conor's apartment and all went out for dinner together. After dinner Conor and Andrew showed us a night out on the town Irish style. We pub hopped throughout the night and had a great time! The people at the bar kept calling me and Deanna leprechauns because we were so short haha! We got up early the next morning and headed to the Cliffs of Moher. Unfortunately, the weather was not in the best conditions for it. It was cold, rainy, and foggy, but the view was still absolutely incredible. I felt as if I were standing on the edge of the world. Standing on the Cliffs of Moher was the closest I have been to home since I left in August. I stood on the edge and called across the Atlantic Ocean to everyone at home. My voice just carried and blew in the wind. We also stopped at a family farm that overlooked the valleys of Galway. We concluded our final night in Ireland at a pub drinking bailey's and irish coffee while listening to a traditional irish band. After a long few days we headed back to the apartment to pack up our stuff and head home to Florence in the morning. We woke up early saturday morning and took the bus to the Dublin airport. The flight home went well and we were welcomed by the warm florentine weather once stepping off the plane. We headed back to our apartment in order to prepare for all our guests that would be visiting during thanksgiving week!

Writing In The Sand

Galway Bay

Sloncha!

The Farm In The Valley

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

I'm On The Edge Of The World!

Galway Bay

I would probably have to say that Ireland has been my favorite trip that I have taken thus far. The landscapes were absolutely beautiful. Every single person I met was cheery, happy, and friendly. Not to mention that their accents just swooped me off my feet. It was nice not to have a language barrier for a change. The pubs, the dancing, and the live music made the trip so enjoyable! As they say in Gaelic, Slancha, which is there version of cheers!