Trip Out West

Our trip out west to the Aran Islands seems like a long time ago, but I remember being on the bus ride back thinking about how much it enforced my love of the Dublin Programme.

The first thing we did was drive to Coole Park, where we learned about Lady Gregory and WB Yeats. Then we went to Yeats’ house and saw his home and tower. After that we continued to Galway where we had free time to get lunch. Kelly and I went to the McDonald’s there, and it was the first time I got McDonald’s in Europe. It was strangely comforting to eat McDonald’s French fries. I loved how there was a “Failte McDonald’s” sign when we walked in. After that we did a little shopping, and I bought Celtic cross earrings from a cute little market that we found. I also bought postcards because I’m collecting postcards from everywhere I visit to make a collage.

After Galway, we went on a ferry to the Aran Islands, which are just off the west coast of Ireland. The ferry was crazy – the water was extremely choppy. The entire boat was rocking from side to side. It was like one of those pirate ship rides at an amusement park. You’d look out one window and see only water and the other side only sky and then it would switch. A few people got seasick. When we got there, the locals said that a storm was coming and it was unlikely that the ferry would run the next day. That made us all worried since we had flights booked for Monday morning.

When we got there we checked into our hostel , then walked to the restaurant where we were having dinner. Of course, it was cold and raining. It was actually a long walk there too. We had a great fancy dinner then went to the pub that was attached. Kevin Whelan wanted us to perform at the pub so he made Joe play the fiddle and some girls sing. It was funny because he was trying to hush the people there when the girls were singing, but that’s not how pubs work.

When we got back to the hostel it was one of my favorite moments. We looked up at the sky and there were millions of stars. We were so far away from any cities that you could see every star in the sky. It was absolutely beautiful.

The next morning we got up early for an Irish speaking mass. It was cool, but I have definitely decided since there and Rome that I like my masses in English. There’s not much of a point to them if you don’t understand anything. After mass was the part I had been dreading for weeks, the 5 hour hike/cliff walk.

We were told ahead of time that it would be an “intense physical hike” and since I thought the hikes that Kevin said were easy were difficult, I was worried. The hike was actually amazing and I loved it. The part I hate about hiking is climbing straight up a mountain, but this was a relatively flat hike. The challenge was more the uneven surfaces – climbing over rocks, streams, stone fences. I found that much easier and more fun. Our tour guide Mickey was amazing, and we saw the most beautiful sights. We hiked pretty much all over the island, and he kept saying that we saw things that 99% of the people who go there never see, which is really cool. The cliffs were absolutely amazing. We stopped in the middle for tea and sandwiches, and it was really one of my favorite days after I had been dreading it for so long.

The ferry ended up leaving on time which was great, and we got back at 11pm when I had to leave for London at 6am.