A Weekend in Ireland, Scotland's Celtic Sister

Lauren and I getting ice cream.

Well my last weekend overseas was spent in Ireland with my friend Lauren and we had a great time! Ah, that's so scary to say, my last weekend here, and it's already come and gone. We left on a flight Thursday night to head to Dublin. We arrived in Dublin around 10 pm and we took a taxi to the hostel. We had a hostel a block down from where we were supposed to meet for the three day bus tour the next morning. Let's just say our hostel experience that night was quite the experience. We had a shared room so when we got there, there were already other people in the room. The hostel was a bit sketchy and I am pretty sure we had every nationality in our room. I slept horrible that night because the hostel was loud, we were by a tram, and someone was outside jack hammering cement at 3am. I probably got three hours of sleep that night, got up at 6am and headed to our tour. It makes for an interesting story though. We loaded that bus along with 13 other people and away we went. There were a few Australians, Canadians, and Spaniards on our tour with us. It was so great to meet people from all different corners of the world, they were all so interesting to talk to. The first day we stopped in a few little towns to see some abbeys and took a short walk through a park. We ended in Galway for the day. In Galway we walked around the town, ate at a really good restaurant called

Cliffs of Moher

The Skeff, and went on a pub crawl with a couple of guys from our tour. Lauren wanted to do the pub crawl so I told her I would do it with her. I didn't actually end up paying for the tour. I just kind of tagged along. It was a lot of fun, met some cool  people, saw a neat town, and heard some live music. The town of Galway is so incredible and I loved it. And of course one of my favorite songs, "Galway Girl" was written about the city. I would recommend going there versus going to Dublin. One of the biggest differences I noticed between Scotland and Ireland is how everything is so much more colorful in Ireland. Yes they are similar in a lot of ways but Ireland is more rocky and not as hilly and mountainous as Scotland. Scotland has a lot more unique architecture and grey stone is used a lot. Our hostel in Galway was super nice, we even had our own bathroom! We shared the room with Hamige, the Australian guy on our tour and Bobby and Grahm, the two Canadians on our tour. They were a lot of fun and it was a good time because they are close in age to us. They all

Bob the horse and I. Carriage ride.

slept in boxers though, so it was kind of awkward in the morning running into them. I'll always have funny stories to tell from staying in hostels and I think it's something everyone should experience. On Saturday we stopped at a few lochs, a castle, and an Irish wishing well. Some people in Ireland are so superstitious they can't even drive by it without stopping to make a wish. That's one thing I learned about Ireland over the weekend. Like Scotland they are very superstitious and believe strongly in folklore and it's a huge part of their history. Ireland's history is just as morbid as Scotland's is. We visited a cathedral and it's said that 30,000 children are buried on the grounds in unmarked graves that dies during the potato famine. My favorite part of Saturday was our stop to the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs have been on my bucket list for a long time and I was so glad I could finally cross it off. The cliffs are just as grand as they look in the photos you see, even more so. They are so geographically amazing it just makes you sit there in awe, it's where land meets

Killarney National Park

the unknown. How lucky are we to live somewhere where as beautiful as the planet Earth. I don't know how anyone could ever not want to explore every inch of this magnificent surface. At the cliffs there is a memorial to all those who have lost their lives at the cliffs, whether it be they chose to take their own lives or they simply got to close to the edge. I thought that was pretty awe-inspiring. We stayed in a little village that night on the Dingle Peninsula called Annascaul. It was nestled in the mountains in a small populated town. There was a pub attached to our hostel so Lauren and I went there for dinner and a Guinness. I had to try a Guinness in Ireland, it's like a right of passage. Guinness in Ireland is a lot better than anywhere else, I guess that's probably because it's its homeland. At the pub we met a girl from New York who is studying abroad in Galway for the semester named Jess. We had a great night of playing pool(which I am godawful at), chatting, and listening to music. We all sat around, Bobby, Grahm, Jess, and I chatting. Jess introduced us to her friend from Australia who was working in the kitchen for the time being. I ended up talking to him for most of the night, he was so intriguing and I loved listening to his travels. He graduated in November and ever since he has been

Blarney Castle

traveling and so far has gone to 16 countries. He does a lot of volunteer work in the towns that he travels to and they give him a free place to stay or he stays in cheap hostels. His stories were so amazing and I was captivated by them. He was such a free spirit, something I hope I can become more of. He thinks life is too short to live in one place and even if he doesn't make money in his future he just wants to be happy. He was very inspiring and I think more people out there need to live life the way he has. It was a great night at the pub! That night Lauren and I shared a room with these two ladies in their 60's who are best friends. Neither has ever had children because they haven't felt the need to, but are both are married, love to travel, and are two of the funniest ladies. They kind of reminded me of my sister and I and how neither of us has ever been to keen on children. I could see us 30 years from now traveling and being those older ladies who are a riot. Our last day on the tour we went stopped in Killarney and went on a carriage ride around the national park. It was beautiful and we saw some Red and Japanese Deer. We also went to Blarney Castle. I know a lot of people have heard Irish drunks go and pee on it, but I highly doubt it. It is quite a hike up a long windy staircase that is very thin, so my shoulders touched the walls. It is said that if you kiss the stone you will be able to speak eloquently, maybe it takes a week to set in because I don't think it's working yet! You have to lay down and bend backwards to kiss it, while a guy holds you to be sure you don't fall over the edge. The weekend was a great one and I am so happy to be able to check Ireland off of

Kissing the Blarney Stone

my places I want to see in my lifetime. I will never understand how people can just stay in the same town all their lives. There are so many windows of opportunity presenting themselves for everyone to see the world. It has opened my eyes and made me want to go to every country and see how they live their life differently than me, Australia, Thailand, and  maybe even Croatia! Who knows where I might end up! My time is almost gone here and I can't believe it. It feels like just yesterday I was terrified to leave home and come to a place I didn't know and I didn't know a soul. I am so glad I jumped head first into this journey because it has changed my life, given me so much confidence, made me love myself, helped me see a different corner of the world, and opened my eyes to so much they were closed to before. I have my suitcase all packed up and my passport ready for Friday, under 50 pounds! Score! We are having a bonfire on the estate tomorrow night and I am looking forward too. It will be a wonderful night to sit around a fire with the people I call my second family. It will be one of the last times we are all together. As sad as it is that means one day closer till I see home. Iowa, good old Iowa. I cannot believe I will be seeing you, Iowa in a mere four days. How I have missed you so. I even miss your fields of corn! Miss and love you all back home and I am jumping with excitement of seeing you all!

Cheers!

Morgan