Second, I apologize for the lack of blogs last week. Between settling into my new home at Trinity College, taking day trips to the Hill of Tara, Newgrange and Glendalough, and becoming better acquainted with Dublin, I've been quite busy. Oh, and running into my family while walking the streets of Dublin last week didn't help with the writing distractions! Although the plan was to meet up with them for a few days at the end of my trip, I knew I would have a chance to try and meet up with them the day they arrived for their own journey around Ireland. Less than five hours of them being here, I saw all three of them standing on the corner outside Trinity when I was coming back from the grocery store. My first instinct was to yell out, "Dad!" but when I thought I might get multiple fathers turning their heads toward me, I decided to sprint over to them before they walked in a separate direction. I was overwhelmed with happiness being able to see them and spend the day shopping, eating and going out to the pubs with them. Although it has now come down to the final week in Ireland, and although I'm loving every minute in Dublin, I am more than ready to get back to the states to see my friends and loved ones.
Before coming to Dublin, locals had mostly negative things to say about the country's capital. Now being here for a week, I don't understand one bit why no local ever described this city as bright, entertaining or full of opportunities. Yes the city is extremely crowded and overloaded with tourists - it's hard to make it even five minutes down the street without running into people - but there is an intoxicating spark this city has that is pulling me in, making me want to stay longer than our allotted two weeks. Because the city is so highly populated with tourists, there are a lack of traditional Irish restaurants. This, however, doesn't bother me because any way I walk, I can find vegetarian restaurants. Our location at Trinity College is central to the city. This is a big change from Cork and Galway where we had to walk a good 30 minutes to make it into the downtown area. Here, I exit the front gate's large wooden arch, take a few steps to my left, and am already on Grafton Street. I love being so close to downtown not only because it's convenient, but because it allows me more time to explore the city.
As with any other city I've visited, we have taken several day trips as a group. On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to visit Glendalough, a stunning glacial valley located in the Wicklow Mountains National Park. Glendalough has been the site of several movie filmings, including P.S. I Love You, Leap Year, Saving Private Ryan and Braveheart. Since it's almost impossible to describe the beauty of Glendalough in words, I will see if pictures can do it better justice. Here are a few of my pictures:
Another reason why I didn't post any blogs over this past weekend is because it was my second personal travel weekend. A small group and I decided we would take advantage of the travel weekend this time around and choose to travel to Belfast. We departed by bus from Dublin for the two and a half hour ride on Thursday afternoon and stayed until Saturday morning. Of course I was aware of the turmoil and violence still occurring in Northern Ireland, but I was curious to see and judge the dramatic city for myself. Surprisingly, I loved it. The city of Belfast was a lot like Dublin: tons of shops, fun pubs, well-kept restaurants, stunning historical sites. Thursday night we were all pretty tired, so after eating some delicious pub grub and trying the Northern Ireland version of Bulmers - Magners - we headed back to our hotel to relax and get a good night's sleep. Friday, we reserved seats for ourselves on the Causeway Coastal coach tour. This all day tour took us out of Belfast, along some of Northern Ireland's most picturesque towns, and finally to one of the world's top natural wonders, Giant's Causeway.
Just as with my Connemara tour, I was impressed by the personable, friendly and informative guide, Tom. Tom was an older, plump cheerful man, his voice raspy from cigarette smoke. Although he was originally from Scotland and had previously worked bus tours in Whales, Tom decided to settle in the small town of Whitehead (full of an equal amount of Protestants and Catholics, he said) and has been there for over 20 years. He made sure we were able to make out the face on the side of the mountain exiting Belfast, pointed out where the Titanic was built on the Irish Sea, showed us which island in the distance was Scotland and told us it was only 11 miles away at its closest distance, and stopped for us to view and take pictures of dolphins. Between his impersonations of John Wayne, his ruthlessness to tell people to shut up when their voices were too loud, and his flyer passed out at the end to join his Facebook page, Tom was an entertaining character who made it apparent that he loved his job. He made sure to show us the appealing, peaceful side of Northern Ireland, and I am grateful for that.
Five days remain to my six week journey through Ireland. As with most things in life, I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. I am one lucky girl to have had this life-altering experience.
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