Ireland

Theme song(s) for this trip: Mumford & Sons- Little Lion Man, Steve Earle- Galway Girl 

Just got back from Ireland yesterday, and I am already missing it! Wow what a great weekend I had in Ireland. I went into this trip not knowing much about Ireland but mainly went because I have many friends with an Irish background and wanted to see what Ireland has to offer. I went on this trip through the study abroad travel service that many study abroad students use called "Bus2Alps." I am very glad I did this Ireland Coast 2 Coast trip because they don't offer this trip a lot.  I ended up going on this trip by myself and was one of only two guys on this trip (lucky me!). I met a lot of really cool girls from the South, Midwest and East Coast.  The places that our group visited were Dublin, Cliffs of Moher in the county of Clare, and Galway.

Dublin: 

I arrived Thursday night and knowing me, I already made friends with the other American looking study abroad students on my flight from Rome to Ireland.  We stick out like sore thumbs because we are usually giants compared to the small Italians with black hair. Anyway, we eventually arrived at the hostel around 10 30pm and decided to go out with our trip leader/guide, Lauren.  We went to this bar (of course) in the Temple Bar area.  We were able to relax and got to know one another over a few beers.  I forget the name of this pub but I really enjoyed it because of the live music. The musician who was playing the guitar was excellent, and it helped that he played some classic rock songs as well.

Friday:

Friday, our group took a Dublin history and city tour.  We saw the government/parliament buildings and saw the City hall of Dublin. I learned a lot about the history of Ireland and how they were able to become free from the British Crown. This is also why there is a difference between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland today.  We also walked through the courtyards of the prestigious Trinity University in Dublin. This was a very beautiful campus and I would not mind going to school there!

After getting a crash course on the history of Ireland and Dublin in about 3 hours, our group went back to the hostel where we would get ready to go see the Guinness factory. But first, here are a few pictures of Dublin:

Dublin City Hall

Pour your own Guinness at the table

Trinity University

Guinness Factory:

       Before coming to Ireland, I hated Guinness beer. For some reason or another I just did not appreciate the taste of Guinness. My favorite Irish beer was Harp before coming to Ireland. Now Guinness is giving Harp its run for the money as my #1 favorite Irish beer.  The Guinness Factory was huge and you could smell the Guinness being made as you walked into the factory.  Guinness has a very distinct taste and smell due to the burnt flavor from the roasted unmalted barely. Just talking about Guinness makes me want to go back to the factory were it was flowing fresh off the tap! The end of the Guinness tour ended at the top of the factory which had a 360 degree glass window view of Dublin where the bartenders were serving endless Guinness. I don't know what Heaven is but this was pretty close to it. Here are pictures and a video of the Guinness Factory: 

Getting ready for Mustache March

360* view at the top of the Guinness Factory overlooking Dublin

Cliffs of Moher:

This was probably the highlight of the trip for me.  The Cliffs of Moher are one of the most visited places in Ireland by tourists. These cliffs rise 700 feet high and are located in the County Clare.  The drive on the bus from Dublin to the Cliffs took about 2-3 hours but sleeping and waking up to beautiful green scenery helped pass time! I could not believe how green Ireland was. I will never forget passing through these towns with small but old brick looking houses.  They were very unique looking and complemented the scenery and confirmed what I imagined about Ireland. 

After the long but scenic bus ride, we finally arrived at the cliffs. The Cliffs of Moher are the most exposed part of Ireland so it is very common to have high winds.  The winds were so strong on this day that I almost lost my hat and camera trying to take pictures multiple times.  It was actually pretty funny to see people struggle walking against the wind. It was so strong that it would push people around and almost knock them over. Back to the Cliffs...

These Cliffs were extraordinary.  There is no way I can explain how beautiful these cliffs were.  It almost seemed fake the way the cliffs lined up; Unreal! We lucked out on the weather too as it was supposed to rain all weekend and only rained the night before. Since there was so much wind, the mist from the waves crashing into the Cliffs would rise up. It was a crazy sight to see water flowing up towards the sky instead of coming down as it normally does.  I traveled off the beaten path and even walked along the cliffs where there was no guard rail. Before walking on these paths, there was a plaque to remember all of those who have lost their lives falling off the Cliffs...  I eventually mustard up enough courage to walk along the cliffs with no guard rail and got very close to the edge to get a few pictures looking down on the ocean.  After I got a few pictures and actually sat down to take in the scenery, it was time for me to go back towards the gift shop and get lunch. I could go on and on about the Cliffs, but here are a few pictures and a video where you can hear the wind howling to help put my thoughts into perspective:

My Video at the Cliffs of Moher

 Trip to Galway: 

After we saw the Cliffs of Moher, we then made our way towards the city of Galway.  We did not get to see much because we had to make it back to Dublin, but Galway was great. During my trip to Ireland, everyone was extremely nice.  They did not care where you came from and always had some sort of joke to say.  Sometimes you could not understand the thick Irish accents but that was always part of the fun.  I thought the Irish accent was awesome and I had a lot of fun talking with the Irish locals over a pint of Guinness.

 Friday Night Bar Hop: 

          I know this is out of order but oh well. On Friday night, our whole group did a bar crawl in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. This is where everyone goes out to drink and socialize at night.  I have to say that the live music that was being played in the pubs was excellent. I was highly impressed with the musicians and their music.  Even if they were playing cover songs, they put their own twist to the songs and made it their own. I will forever have the song Galway girl stuck in my head when I think of Ireland. I had never heard it before I went to Ireland but it was always being played by the musicians at some point in the night. 

          I met the most beautiful Norwegian girl named Johannah (spelling?). She was a tall, blonde hair, blue eye girl. That was the American version of her name as I could not pronounce her name in Norwegian.  It was fun hanging out with Johannah and her two friends and the night eventually ended and I gave Johannah a goodnight kiss. I also met another very nice and pretty girl named Sonia who studies in England. We met on the Pub Crawl and ended up dancing the night away. This trip has made me realize that I have been missing out on life and that American girls can be overrated! Sorry American girls haha.

Videos of some of the songs that were being played in the Pubs:

 Mumford & Sons- Little Lion Man cover by Irish Musicians

Irish pub music

Galway Girl song cover

Last Thoughts:

I would love to go back to Ireland someday.  The countryside was so scenic and everyone was a pleasure to talk to.  This was definitely a spontaneous trip for me to take but I am glad I made it. I am also happy I went on this trip by myself because I met a lot of people from different backgrounds, universities, and countries. Good thing I went to Ireland not on St. Patrick's day either because I feel like I got to see more of the true Ireland and their culture rather than just getting drunk. Guinness beer is like religion in Ireland and they take it seriously.  Maybe I will play Gaelic Football for the Celts in San Francisco and take my buddy up on joining the team so I can go back to Ireland again! Cheers