Since we had gotten a packed lunch from the school before we left and had eaten a lot at breakfast, Christine and I chose not to get lunch and go straight out to see stuff. The Latin Quarter is really the main part of town, where shops and pubs and bars and restaurants are. So we headed down that way and found the Claddagh Ring Museum, which is located in the back of the original shop, which is the only place where you can buy the ones that the government says are official and they have the official 'original' stamp on the inside of them. In case you don't know what these are, they are rings with two hands holding a heart with a crown on top of it. They originated in this area and were used as wedding bands for a time. There are two ways to wear the ring: if the crown is pointing towards your fingernail, you are in love and taken; if the heart is towards your fingernail, you are single and in search of love.
After the ring museum, Christine and I walked further down to the River Corrib, which was really high and fast at the time. It looked so cool! Right next to the river is the Spanish Arch, which eventually got its name from the fact that the Spaniards used to dock their boats there. We stopped to take pictures, then it was across the river to find the Salthill Promenade. We got lost a bit (because we followed the wrong signs) and ended up in a residential neighborhood, but we eventually found it. The Salthill Promenade is basically just a walkway above the bay beaches. It was really pretty to walk around and look out onto the bay (and the sun was actually shining too, so that made it even better!). There was also an island in the middle of the bay that had a causeway connecting it, so we went out about halfway on that before having to turn around because they restrict access to the island.
On our way to dinner, we ran into our friends Alana, Anna, Keely, and Betsy and all of us went to get dinner together. We ended up buying crepes and milkshakes and some of us got sandwiches. It was fun. Later, we all went out and ended up at the same bar that some of the boys from Harlaxton were at and we started talking to them and ended up hanging out with them all night too.
The next day we were on the coach early to head out to the Cliffs of Moher, about an hour and a half away from our hostel. The first thing we did there was walk into the visitors center, which was built into the landscape, and walk around the exhibition there. Our favorite part was the huge touchscreen things that showed how the continents changed over the millions of years! Then we went outside and walked up to the edge of the cliffs. They were absolutely amazing! It's basically a sheer drop and the waves are crashing up on them and everything. And it was a bit foggy out on the water, but I think that added to the beauty of it. Oh, and yes. This is totally where the scene from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince where Harry and Dumbledore are out on that rock in the middle of the sea with the cliffs in front of them! I saw that rock and was like 'That's totally the rock from HBP!' It just looked exactly like it! I don't think everyone else was as excited as I was though. And I double-checked when I got back to Harlaxton and I was totally right! In case you don't remember this scene, the Cliffs of Moher are also included in The Princess Bride (which is where they all recognized it from) and Leap Year. Though it sounds insane, apparently people will surf at the bottom of the cliffs! After taking our sweet time looking at the cliffs from both sides and taking loads of pictures we went back into the visitors center to look around the gift shop. I ended up buying many postcards, necessary for the next day's adventures (someone was giving out free ones on the coach later, which made it even better), and a nice Christmas ornament.
Once done with the cliffs, it was back on the coach for about 20 minutes to a seaside town called Doolin, where we stopped for lunch at a pub and then the vast majority of us followed Heather (the courier from Harlaxton) down to the beach. Now this walk turned out to be 2 km, a lot longer than we expected! But it was pretty cool to see the Atlantic Ocean. The beach is all rocky and I loved seeing the waves splash up on them. If it was just a bit clearer maybe I could've seen North America from there!
Once back in Galway (which was later than planned, leaving us only 1 hour until most things closed), Christine and I went back to the Latin Quarter and ended up buying some (not original) Claddagh rings from a very nice lady in a jewelry store. Hers is just plain silver and mine is silver with and emerald for the heart and some diamonds on the arms (really, I think they have to be fake, but it gets the colors and looks across better and it's still really pretty. and a lot cheaper than a plain silver original one would be!). We walked around a bit more and then it was dinner time. We found a fish and chip shop (we're on the sea, how could we resist?!) and had really good fried fish on a stick and chips. I would've eaten another fish on a stick if I was still hungry it was so good! That night we eventually found everyone else again (from last night, plus a few more guys) and went out. It was a lot of fun! Oh, and I bought a gift for my lovely friend Allison in Galway. =)
The next morning it was a coach ride back across the country to Dublin. It was supposed to take 2 hours, so we were there by 10, but it was after 11 when we got there. Not good for a history major who just took an Irish history course last semester and only has one day to see everything they talked about! I split off from my friends to go around to see the sites with fellow history major and course taker Rachel. We got terribly lost trying to find Dublin Castle (it seriously took us almost an hour and it was supposed to be a couple blocks away from our hotel. the map was that bad.) so we had to stop and ask directions at a Viking museum. We eventually found it and stopped to eat lunch at an awesome diner called Eddie Rocket's, which was like a real American diner with chips and the booths and the songs and everything. It was really good, but we had to scarf our food down because we were supposed to be meeting up with one of her Irish friends at the Castle. He ended up running late, so we looked around the outside of the Castle (in the courtyards and such) but didn't go in because it cost money and we wanted to be able to see everything and didn't have a ton of time.
We were going to go to the General Post Office (GPO) next, so we just told her friend (James; aka a ginger, dark freckly Seamus (HP, Gryffindor) ) to meet us there. On the way we got lost again! So we stopped at an information kiosk and asked him how to get there. When he asked why we wanted to go to the GPO (I mean, we were Americans, so was there any particular reason?) and found out that we had studied Irish history, especially the 1916 Easter Rising and after (to their official independence from Great Britain. Yes, the Republic of Ireland is it's own country and part of the EU. However, Northern Ireland has chosen to stay part of Great Britain, though the offer still stands from both countries that if they ever want to join the Republic of Ireland instead they are allowed/welcome to.) he got really excited and started asking us if we knew this or that and we did and was telling us about bullet holes and such. And they also are wanting to put the Abby Theatre inside the GPO building instead of having it as a post office! Neither he nor us were happy about that. It has so much history and is so central to their independence story! The GPO, by the way, was the headquarters for the rebels during the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin (it was supposed to happen all over the country but didn't) and it was there that the Proclamation of Irish Independence/the Republic of Ireland was read. The British suppressed the rebellion after 5 days. Interesting fact, they didn't really take over strategic positions around the city and one of the buildings that they took over was a biscuit factory! Anyways, we got to the GPO on O'Connell St. and met James (who's nice. And his great grandfather fought at the GPO during the Easter Rising! How cool is that?!) and went inside. From there I sent off my postcards, because I thought that would be the coolest thing ever, and because that one girl was passing out free ones on the coach yesterday I even got to mail one to myself here! Then we went into the museum in the GPO and got to see the ACTUAL Proclamation!!!!! Rachel and I were so excited I think James might've thought we were a little off. But we explained that we took a class to him and he understood. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos and there were CCTV cameras, so we didn't want to risk it. There was some other stuff in the little museum, but that was the best part. Once back outside the GPO we took pictures and I found the most bullet-ridden chunk of building and took a close up of that.
We then turned down O'Connell St. and went to the huge statue of Daniel O'Connell (an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century who succeeded in getting Catholic Emancipation, so they were on the same level (theoretically) as the Protestants (descendants of the English)). Pictures were of course taken, and you could see bullet holes on his arm and chest from the Easter Rising there too! The British advanced up O'Connell St. from the river and had to shoot past the statue, resulting inevitably in hitting it. We continued walking and James took us to Trinity College, which was cool to look around, and then to a nice park, where there was a famine statue, and then to Leicester House. We had a bit of time before having to go back to the hotel to meet our roommates and check in, so we stopped at a cafe for some drinks. On the way back to the hotel, we walked through the Temple Bar District, which is where most of the nightlife is in Dublin, and he pointed out some good, cheaper, places for us.
Once everyone showed up and we got all checked in, Rachel and I went back out, this time down to take pictures of the Four Courts (which has been rebuilt since being destroyed during the Civil War. many of the Irish records were destroyed too, so they lost a lot of their history at the time too. but it is the judicial center, with three types of courts being located there). Once again, we didn't go in, but it would've been closed by that time. We did go into a couple souvenir shops that day, Rachel bought more than I did, but I bought my customary keychain and we both bought a Proclamation (which I have happily been accepting grief for from my friends). We went to the same diner for dinner because it was so good and we wanted to enjoy the atmosphere. Plus it wasn't expensive, which was good for us. The milkshakes were good, the fries (not chips) were perfectly seasoned, and they gave us garlic mayo to dip our chicken strips in and it was really good! We ended up sitting and talking for a long time after we finished. It was nice.
After we went back to the hotel, she went to go find her friends and go out for a bit and I was settling in to not spend any money that night in my room when some of my friends came in, so I went with them to one of the guys room and we sat and talked awhile. Eventually Christine and I went back to our room while everyone else went out for a bit and watched TV and talked.
The next morning we got up bright and early to catch an 8 a.m. ferry back to Holyhead port in Wales. Then we went to the Welsh town with the longest name in Europe: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (in English: The Church of Mary in the Hollow of the White Hazel Near the Fierce Whirlpool and the Church of Tysilio by the Red Cave). If that's only the longest name in Europe I'd hate to see what the longest one in the world is! This was just a lunch stop, so after stamping our passports we went and found a pub (the 6 of us girls) and got some food. I had some really good Indian. That stuff's growing on me! Then it was back on the bus for another 4 hours to get back to Harlaxton.
Ok, that was massive, but stay with me, because next week you'll be reading about North Wales!
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