Cliffs of Moher

From the moment I boarded the tour bus, I knew I was in for an exciting day. The tour guide, Mike, was lively, funny and knowledgeable. The tour was arranged for Arcadia students through Galway Tour Company. 

I really liked that the bus stopped at multiple locations throughout the tour because it didn't feel like we were hurtling past the scenery. Because we weren't rushed, I was able to take in the incredible sights without looking through my viewfinder before snapping some pictures. 

Our first stop was Dunguarie Castle. I know absolutely nothing about this castle other than it sits on a beautiful bay. 

Standing next to the castle, looking over the blue water, I desperately wanted to jump on one of the moored boats and enjoy the views of the nearby small town and castle from the bay. 

However, I kept my feet planted firmly on solid ground and explored the grounds of the castle instead.

Even with my new castle knowledge from my class on castles, I was more interested in the view from than the actual building. But can you blame me?

We departed from Dunguarie and made our way into The Burren. The Burren is a naturally formed, sparse and incredibly rocky, yet absolutely stunning area in County Clare. 

This Poulnabrone Portal Tomb in The Burren was built sometime between 4500 BC and 2000 BC during the Neolithic Period (according to Wikipedia...). From what I have learned, how these complex tombs were built is still a mystery, but an impressive feat nonetheless. 

See that road there? Yes, that skinny, two-way road. That's just one example of the narrow roads the bus took all day long. And that's probably a tame example. At one point, we were driving around a mountain on a thin road to get to the Ailwee Caves.

Galway Tour Company doesn't usually stop at the Ailwee Caves, but because Arcadia organized the tour, the caves were included. However, I can see why the company doesn't usually make the stop; the caves were pretty underwhelming. The whole tour felt fake and theatrical due to the lights, stairs, and railings throughout the caves.

Before reaching the caves, we stopped for lunch in Doolin. The town of Doolin was small and picturesque, but the line of tour busses is a dead giveaway that it's a tourist destination.

Finally, we pulled into the Cliffs of Moher parking lot. It was windy, lightly snowing, and freezing cold!

But, only minutes after our arrival, the sun broke through the clouds, pushing them and the snow out of our way.

Being risk-takers and rule-breakers, we hopped the fence and ventured out near the edge.

Don't worry though; the 'edge' is actually really far away! It's on a different level so it looks like we were a lot closer than we were.

Soon, the sun was out and the sky and water were amazing shades of blue and teal.

Here we are, back on the safe side of the dividing wall! The twinge of fear in my stomach while I was on the edge was totally worth it though!

O'Brien's Tower looked so regal as it stood proud above the Cliffs.

I took in the sights and couldn't stop smiling at the gorgeous view in front of me. Being near the ocean will always make me happy!

Everyone has seen the postcard-perfect pictures of the Cliffs, but the backside of the Cliffs is totally underrated. The brownish-green of the fields gives way to the teal of the water and then to the deep green of the small mountain in the distance. 

Here, I was walking along the actual cliffs themselves.

From this side of the Cliffs, the view is just as stunning!

The stone walls eventually stop, providing the perfect photo opportunity! We posed for group and solo photos.

All too soon, it was time to board the bus again to go home. We couldn't resist one last picture before hurrying back to the parking lot.

On the way home, we stopped at the "Mini Cliffs," but I was too tired to take decent photos. I guess those will have to wait until the next tour! My friends and I had so much fun, we went on the Connemara Tour the next day, but that's a story for another day!

The Haleys Come to Ireland

This morning, I watched the cloudy and unimpressive sunrise through a dirty, rain-streaked window. But, this will be totally worth it when I see my parents and brother in less than half an hour! 

We will be in Dublin for the weekend and then back to Galway from Sunday to Thursday. I can't wait to show them around Galway and I'm so excited to see more of Dublin. 

The last time we took a big family vacation was my freshman year of high school and the last time we were all in Ireland, I was about 10 and clearly thought I was the center of the universe. 

Welcome to Ireland, Mom, Dad, and Brian! It will be the trip of a lifetime! 

 

A Weekend in Ballintubber

Oh my gosh, I am so far behind on blogging. I'm not sorry about it though because it means that I'm having fun and not sitting behind my computer, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try to catch up!

About 3 weeks ago, I went to Castlebar in County Mayo for a homestay weekend. The family I stayed with lived outside of Castlebar in a rural town named Ballintubber. On Friday night, our host mom, Shirley, picked Bridget, another girl in my program, and I up in Castlebar. We were fed heaps of delicious lasagna and ice cream for dinner.

The next afternoon, Shirley dropped Bridget and I off in Castlebar to explore. We walked around this church and then continued into the heart of Castlebar.

Eventually, we stumbled upon a park in the town. From the top of a hill, we could see Croagh Patrick. The green grass next to the blue of the river was stunning, but the best part of the view were definitely the mountains in the distance. To say that I'm missing New England's ski season is an understatement! (Not that I'm complaining about being in Ireland!)

The sun was peeking out from behind the gray clouds and showering the mountains with a gorgeous golden light. Pictures alone could not possibly do it justice.

Bridget and I met up with Maddison and Kaity for a lunch of fresh fish and chips in Castlebar. 

In the evening, Shirley fed us chicken curry, a surprisingly popular dish here; you can go into a traditional Irish pub and order a curry dish for your meal. I love it!

The next morning was overcast but that didn't diminish the views outside of Shirley and Jim's house. Seven fields stretched out in front of and behind their house, which Jim farms, addition to his full time job. 

On Sunday, Shirley gave us the grand tour of Ballintubber. Earlier in the weekend, I had casually mentioned that when I came to Ireland with my family, we had searched for a thatched roof cottage and had trouble finding one. In response, Shirley told me her friend owned one and she would take us to see it. I was unbelievably excited to be up close and personal with a traditional Irish cottage. Shirley's friend, Pat, invited us inside the cottage. I know what you're thinking and from the inside, you can't see the thatch; you wouldn't even know from the inside! 

 Mom and Dad, we must have been looking in all the wrong places because since that weekend, I've seen many thatched roof cottages.  

From there, we visited the family farm, right near Jim's childhood home, so we quickly met his parents. They, like all Irish people I've met, were so warm and welcoming.

In one field, a sheep and baby lamb hopped and grazed. They were a little skittish and didn't want to get to close to us, but that was okay with me.

In another field, a massive, white bull was resting amid a few cows. When he noticed us at the gate, he stood up. I cleared out of there before he decided to charge. Even though we were on the other side of the stone wall, the bull absolutely could have trampled the wall and us with ease.

Inside the barn, there were five baby lambs who were only three days old and had barely survived the past few days. Hopefully they are still getting stronger!

In the adjacent barn, there were massive cows and a few baby calves. I don't know what type of cows these are, but they are HUGE. It's hard to see their scale in the photos, but take my word for it, they are giant.

I even touched a baby calf! For those of you who know me well, this was huge for me. Clearly, with my hesitation around animals, farming isn't my calling!

Shirley drove us to these castle ruins, which were impressive alone. But, when we were told the castle sits on a gorgeous lake, the scene became even more picturesque. I caught a few glimpses of the water, but the clouds made it difficult to see the lake which didn't show up in pictures. 

Our final stop on the tour of the town was Ballintubber Abbey. This Abbey was built about 200 years before Columbus came to America and has continuously held mass since. The history amazes me because as Americans, we forget that most countries have a much longer history than we do.

The Abbey is incredibly beautiful and is surrounded by old and new graves alike. Around the premises are different scenes of Christ's story and an old monk's quarters. There is a permanent nativity scene and these crosses. During the week before Easter, the congregation puts on a reenactment of the Easter story. According to Shirley, it's absolutely gorgeous and moving. Someday, I'd love to see it!

Before the bus came to take us back to Galway, Shirley served us this delicious stuffed chicken and mashed potatoes. It was so nice to have home cooked meals that I didn't have to make for myself. 

When it came time to leave, I couldn't thank Shirley and Jim enough. They were so welcoming and so hospitable and I'm so thankful I was paired with them for the weekend. Shirley, if you're reading this, thank you so much for everything! 

Exploring Galway: Salthill Prom

Every time I leave my apartment, I discover bits of Galway I haven't seen before. As I find new places and new landscapes, I plan to blog about them so you can pretend you're here with me! 

Two weeks ago, Nicky, Kelly and I set out to find the Salthill Prom. Our morning began with mass in Irish at the Galway Cathedral. [Fun fact: Gaelic refers to the Irish culture, not the language.] I didn't know what was going on and how to respond, but attending mass in Irish was a really cool experience. 

When we left mass, the sun had come out and we began the trek to Salthill.

We were in no rush and were enjoying the sun that shone that Sunday. Google Maps told us the Prom was a 35 minute walk from our apartments, but we meandered along for over six hours!

On the way to the Prom, we passed the Rainbow Houses once again. You really get the full effect when you're opposite the houses!

Just past the houses, we strolled along a footpath along Galway Bay. This path would take us into Salthill and all the way down the Promenade. 

Salthill looks like it's waaay down there in the distance, but if we were walking at a normal pace, it probably would've taken less than a half an hour to reach the end. 

We stopped for lunch on the steps next to this snack shack. Unfortunately, the shack was closed, probably because it's the off season.

After lunch, we played on some rocks not far down the Prom. You can see how bright the sun was in this panoramic. 

Kelly held the sun in her hands for a few seconds. Before she burnt herself, we moved along. 

Speaking of burns, Nicky and I basked in the sun for a few moments. This resulted in a tan for Nicky, but a bright, red sunburn for me. 

Notice the sun reflecting off of my pale face. 

While walking, we consciously put away our cameras and phones so we could fully experience the gorgeous weather and scenery, but I still came home with over 300 pictures! 

On the way home, the sun began to set and cast the most gorgeous light on the bay.

We climbed a brightly-colored swimming tower to get a better vantage point. Some crazy people were actually swimming off of it, but you couldn't pay me enough to do that! Even on a sunny day, it's still way too cold to swim here.

Nicky and I looked hard out at the Bay.

Once the coast was clear, we gave Kelly the okay to leap!

Look at how gorgeous the view was that day! We lucked out with a great sunny day.

And when the sun started to set, we got to play with silhouettes!

In the dusk, we began the trek back to our apartments. We realized how exhausted we were, but were happily surprised when the walk home was MUCH shorter than the walk there.

We just couldn't pass up the opportunity to play on the anchor sculpture. 

As we walked back towards downtown Galway, we kept throwing glances over our shoulders to peek at the sunset.

The sky became more and more beautiful by the second, and the picture-perfect day could only end one way. Ice cream was in order! 

If anyone had told me a month ago that I would be enjoying ice cream on a sunny day in Galway, I would've said they were crazy. Yet, here's the proof that it was the perfect snack after a long day on the Prom.