Monday, December 3, 2012

Dublin and the Cliffs of Moher... Ireland!

Friday, October 19 - Monday, October 22, 2012



As we stood in queue for our first affordable airline flight, I turned to Kacey and Allyson and announced that the slump Lance warned us of was officially over… we were about to go to Ireland! Perhaps the best part about going to Ireland was the fact that I never thought I would be able to go to the beautiful green country this trip abroad. But I did!

Upon landing in Dublin with “kate mila falture,” “one hundred million welcomes,” we boarded a bus which took us to the inner city of Dublin. Tired from a long last of week of BIT with Lance, we settled into the Avalon Youth Hostel then headed out to a top rated burger joint, BoBo’s, for some free range, grass-fed cow beef—what we had just spent the past two week semester learning about! Everything in Ireland is prepared up to organic regulations. This was perfect after watching countless videos on the detriments of CATO raised animals and thus vowing to no longer eat non-organic meats. I hope that America can catch the train that all of Europe has long ago boarded and start implementing harsher and stricter rules for food and meat production. A McDonald’s billboard exemplified the difference in American and Irish food standards as the caption next to the famous Big Mac read, “100%, 100% local.” Thanks for teaching such a relevant and applicable course, Lance!


After sleeping an uncharacteristic six hours of sleep on the first night of our weekend trip, Kacey, Ali, Meghan, Tiffany, Caroline, Ali, Allyson, Alice and I made it to the bus station at 6:30 to board our tour bus… we were going to the Cliffs of Moher! As we traveled across the beautiful country of Ireland, our bus driver/ Irish folk singing/tour guide Bud entertained us while making a stop a few historical and scenic stops. The ride to the cliffs included stopping at King John’s Castle in Limmerick, where we made sure to skip across the River Shannon for good luck and good health, then Bunratty Castle which stood next to a pub older than our home country.

A few hours and 166 miles later we arrived at one of the world’s wonders. Standing at the cliffs was so surreal. I struggled with the time cap put on our time here and again vowed, “I’m coming back here.” The un-photographable beauty of the cliffs accented by the whispering wind induced yet another instance of thankfulness for my time in Europe and my place in this world. Not wanting to leave the edge of the cliffs which we edged with caution but also curious for a 360 panorama from O’Brien’s Tower, we climbed atop the tower for another view of Ireland’s most impressive vistas. 

After an hour of gawking at such a wonderful sight, we sauntered away from paradise back onto the tour bus. Yet not long after the cliffs, we made another stop to smaller cliffs created by limestone sedimentation at Burren National Park… who knew limestone could create rock faces with so much character? Beautiful stops throughout our ride through Ireland were complimented from a fabulous meal of lamb and vegetables from Fitzpatrick’s Pub then two last stops at an old abbey and port near the oldest church in Ireland. Well before rolling back into Dubliner, the name Vikings called Dublin, I decided our day trip was the perfect way to spend one of our three days in Ireland.



Meghan’s 21st birthday was the perfect distraction for our ride crossing Ireland twice in one day. I loved the Temple Bar pub district (just as you said Kelly!). Our first stop was THE Temple Bar. I could’ve spent all night there amidst the good company of friends and awesome live music provided by a band who played our favorites such as American Pie, Brown Eyed Girl, and Save the Night. Did I mention in Ireland everyone speaks English? It was so nice to talk to locals, such as women dressed as oompa loompas celebrating a soon-to-be-married friend’s anniversary and a old man with Irish face paintings on his cheeks. We left the loud, crowded and lively pub for another venue with the same characteristics, just twenty years younger! At Fitsimmons night club, we all joined the 21 year old in dancing the night away, and laughed as she thanked the bouncer for coming to her party (a bullet on her birthday checklist as passed down from you, Lara!).

The following morning was amazing… my breakfast consisted of hummus, pumpkin seeds and oil, couscous (no Mom I don’t hate it anymore!), chicken, and sautéed peppers. After breakfast, we walked down Grafton Street and souvenir shopped at our first mall since America (sans Mendrisio mall and its 400 Franc sweaters) then went to St. Stephens Green Park. We hit Dublin at its peak: leaves were the colors of harvest and just falling from the trees. It was on a bridge overlooking a pond filled with swans that I recorded a video wishing my mom, “Happy Birthday,” in hopes she would watch it at her surprise party that night since I couldn’t be there to celebrate it. 



Pouring the perfect pint
Leaving the park, we crossed some streets, following the instructions on the road to “look right” instead of left, and arrived at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. After church, we visited the polar opposite attraction in content but equally as popular destination the Guinness Factory. As a marketing nerd, my favorite part of the seven floors aside from the historical 9,000 year lease was the exhibit which displayed Guinness advertising through the years. As a part of the tour, I also learned how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness, go ahead… test me. The end of the tour the Gravity bar at the top of the building with a 360 view of Dublin; just to our luck, it was near sunset! Later that night, I ate a Guinness ale beef pie, what Ireland does best, and then revisited Temple Bar district, the Mercantile, and Dublin Bridge. 

Monday morning we only had a few hours to spend before boarding our return Ryan Air flight. With a few friends, I appreciated the time to walk around St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The church has many unique features including inaugural flags of knights and hand knit kneeling pads. After spiritual reflection in a place of worship we toured a place home for the arguably the complete opposite: Kilmainham Gaol. The old jail was eerie and cold… thankfully I wasn’t ever locked up! I was surprised to hear that during the potato famine, people purposely committed crimes so that they would receive food as prisoners. At one point, the capacity of the jail was exceeded by approximately 900 people. Luckily, the airplane we took back to Milan was not so crowded!


St. Patrick's Cathedral


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