Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Dublin, Galway, Belfast

So a bit of time may have passed since my last update. Sorry! I heard from multiple people that they just read the updates from the facebook group, so I lost a bit of motivation to keep this one up.

Dublin was...underwhelming. Maybe it was our hostel right above the Temple Bar (literally a party every night) or the craziness of our time there, or the hour and 45 minute walk that Calli and I took while trying to find Kilmainham Jail. I did learn a lot, but most of the things that I loved about Dublin the first time we didn't have time to see or enjoy.

Galway, however, was awesome. Our hostel was once again on party lane, but Galway is much smaller so it was ok. We found a sweet bar named Taffe's the first night that was packed with people and had live traditional music every night. It was glorious. I also got to try hot whiskey for the first time. It was surprisingly good, but I think I will stick to my beloved pear cider (mmm). As a group we took a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher, which was beautiful. We had a crazy tour guide who kept making horribly inappropriate comments to Patrick and had crazy assumptions about our drinking habits (he kept saying 'I bet you all are all hungover' YEAH RIGHT!) We also went to the Aran Islands for a day and I had one of the most glorious days ever. We drove up to this ancient Celtic fort on these sheer sea cliffs. It was gorgeous and sunny and warm (always a rarity here). The hour and a half walk back was less glorious but still fun.

We are in Belfast currently and it has been fascinating. Anyone who thinks the conflict here is resolved would be sorely mistaken. It is interesting to see how the country is dealing with it and we have been lucky enough to hear stories and viewpoints with people from all sides. We heard from a pastor who has been here for 23 years, interns with PCUSA who have been here for one month, people who work with youth, MLAs (their equivalent of MPs or Senators/Representatives), convicted murderers, and we still have until Sunday to hear more.

That's all for now. Hope this was enjoyable!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Definitely, although I note you did not mention Irish lips anywhere here! "-)