Ireland — Gerald J Fisher

Hey cool people,

So I finally have a chance to sit down and tell you about the incredible week I have had in Ireland. Simply, Ireland is an absolutely amazing country.

So here is what has been going on:

Day 11 Friday, May 29th - After a long night of overnight traveling, Lydia and I arrived in beautiful Dublin, Ireland. The travel over was a bit more exhausting than I was originally anticipating. I booked the travel to be overnight, thinking I would be able to sleep the whole way to Dublin. Well, I was wrong! Lydia and I had to take a bus from London, England to Holyhead, Wales, our bus then boarded a large ferry that brought to Dublin Port, and from there the bus took us to the central bus stop in Dublin. The main reason why the journey was so exhausting is the bus stopped every two to three hours, which meant we were all asked to get off the bus for about thirty minutes; this was not particularly pleasant at 1:00 am. Either way, we eventually made it to Dublin, which is the important part.

Ireland legalized Gay Marriage by popular vote on May 23rd and These signs were still hanging around Dublin. Congrats Ireland!!!

Lydia and I were staying right in downtown Dublin, adjacent to Temple Bar. We had arrived in Dublin around 7:30 am and check-in wasn't until 2:00 pm, so Lydia and I decided to grab some coffee at a nice cafe called KC Peaches down the road. We enjoyed our coffee, using the time to catch-up on some blogging, instagram-ing, Facebook-ing, and all that social media stuff. After a killing a few hours in the cafe, Lydia and I decided to explore Dublin. We walked down the city center to a beautiful park that we hung out in for a while, From there, we decided to go explore Dublin Castle. The castle wasn’t anything special in my mind, but it did have a free art exhibit that I found quite interesting. After a while, Lydia and I hung out in the hostel common room until we were able to check-in to our room.

Lydia didn’t have much planned for the night, we were only staying in Dublin for this one night before joining a Shamrocker tour around Ireland. We made some dinner in the kitchen, watched a movie and had a little excitement watching some woman almost beat-up some guy on the street from our bedroom window; it was Friday and there was a lot of commotion from everyone at Temple Bar. After all the excitement, Lydia and I and everyone is our room eventually went to bed.

Day 12 Saturday, May 30th - Today Lydia and I started our All Ireland Rocker - Shamrocker tour of Ireland. We checked-in to the tour office at around 8:30 am before hopping on a bus toward Northern Ireland. We made our first stop of the day in Belfast, located in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. We had the opportunity to take a famous Black Cab Tour with a couple of locals. There was a lot of history in Belfast that I was completely unaware of.

Belfast has been littered with conflict as the city is divided (literally) between those that want to join Ireland and those that want to remain part of the United Kingdom. The Catholics are those that want to be part of Ireland and the Protestants want to remain part of the United Kingdom. We saw both sides of the city and learned about the history of the conflict and what is being done to maintain the current peace through stories and murals that are painted on both sides of the city. Most of the city is separated on religious lines, as well. At one point in the tour, we were brought to what is referred to as a “Peace Wall.” The “Peace Wall” is an actual wall that divides the city. The gates of the “Peace Wall” apparently still close at nights and weekends, literally separating the city.

After our Black Cab Tour, our group went to the local food market for some lunch. On this end of town there was almost no indications that the city was divided. After we grabbed some lunch, we made our way back to the bus to venture onward to our next stop of the day.

From Belfast, we were making our way to Ballintoy, a little rural village in Northern Ireland. Before arriving in Ballintoy, however, we made another stop to see the “Dark Hedges.” The “Dark Hedges” have become a popular viewing stop, one because of their romantic, atmospheric, tunnel-like avenue of intertwined beech trees, planted in the 18th-century. Also, and probably more notably, the “Dark Hedges” have been seen in the show “Game of Thrones.”

We eventually made it to Ballintoy later that afternoon. This was our first night together as a group, so it was our first chance to really get to know each other. Right away, a few of us went to the local pub to grab a few pints of Guinness. I found out one of the other girls in the group, Alex, and I were going to be celebrating a birthday together while we were on tour!! After a few drinks, we made our way back to the hostel to make some dinner, before heading back to the pub for, what turned out to be, a wild night.

That night, we had A LOT to drink! We had loads of craic (Irish word for fun). There was a local irish musician that got some of us dancing as well. Later in the night, an old, local woman began passing out finger sandwiches to everyone in the pub. There was also a birthday for some local, so at some point we all sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed a small slice of cake. Eventually, we all began to head to bed, in the hopes of not being hungover for the next day's activities.

Day 13 Sunday, May 31st - Today we woke up in Ballintoy. We had some time in the morning before hopping back on the bus, so Lydia, our new friends Kym and Erin, and I took a hike along the coast. The view was absolutely breathtaking; pictures just don’t do it justice. The weather on our hike was a bit unpredictable, however. When we started our hike, the sky was blue and the sun was shining, within minutes, it became extremely windy, then rainy, then sunny again.

After our morning hike, we hopped on the bus and made our way to one of the natural wonders of the world, Giant’s Causeway. Giant’s Causeway naturally formed pillar-like structures formed from an ancient volcano. According to legend, the causeway was formed by a giant, Finn MacCool, during a fight with Scottish giant Benandonner. Giant’s Causeway is amazing. It is almost mind-boggling to think how these perfectly pillar-like structures are all naturally formed. When we were there, it was extremely windy, and, like in Ballintoy, the weather changed very rapidly. The weather went from sunny to rainy in a few minutes time. When it began to rain, some of us left to go to the visitors center for some ho-cho (hot chocolate) and Irish Stew.

After our time at Giant’s Causeway, we hopped back on the bus, travelling further along the beautiful coast to Derry. We had the opportunity to get out of the hostel and spend a night in a hotel! Lydia and I got lucky with a big double bed room. Shortly after we got to our rooms, we took a walking tour of Derry with the best tour guide ever, Garvin. Garvin was absolutely amazing and was so excited to share his love of Derry with all of us. Like Belfast, Derry has had its troubled history with conflict and it was sad to hear some of the personal stories Garvin shared with us, but it was uplifting to see how far Derry has come to maintain the peace and make Derry a city people feel comfortable and want to visit once again.

After the walking tour, most of the group went at got lunch, and a few drinks, together. That night we were planning on going out for a few drinks. So, after lunch, Lydia and I went back up to our room to get ready and relax a little bit. After I was finished getting ready, we still had about 30 minutes before we had to meet-up with everyone in the lobby, so I laid down to watch some TV. Well, 30 minutes turned into a few hours and I ended up walking up around midnight - 1 am. Apparently, a few of the people in our group even knocked on our door, but Lydia and I were so tired we never heard a thing.

Day 14 Monday, June 1st - Today we hopped back on the bus and made our way south, crossing back into Republic of Ireland toward Galway. Crossing back into the Republic of Ireland meant we are back on the Euro, which was nice since the Euro has a better exchange rate against the dollar compared to the British pound; since Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, we had been using the British Pound the past couple of days.

On our way to Galway, we visited the resting place of the world famous poet, W.B. Yeats. It was, of course, raining, but was a small, beautiful church and cemetery. We continued onward, stopping in the quaint town of Westport for lunch. After a little bit more travel, we finally made it to Galway. When we were checking-in, the receptionist asked for a volunteer to “help her out.” I gladly volunteered, thinking she was asking for an assistant to help with room assignments. Well, I was wrong. She was asking for two volunteers to go share a room with the other tour group that was joining us. I wasn’t very happy and neither was my friend Kym, but over the next couple nights, we became friends with our roomies.

That night, a bunch of us decided to do a pub crawl around the city. We were meeting up with a different tour group and it was a chance for all of us to get to know each other. I can say we danced our butts off that night. After leaving the last pub, Alex took a nice fall. She twisted her wrist pretty good and hit her head, but got up like a champ. Well, a few of us decided we were a bit hungry, so we got a pizza before heading back to the hostel to head to bed.

Day 15 Tuesday, June 2nd - Today a few of us took a day trip to the island of Inis Mór. To get to the island, we had to take a 20 minute bus ride from the hostel to the port and a 45 minute ferry ride to the island. This wouldn’t have been that bad, but most of us were pretty hung over from the night before. The bus ride from the hostel to the port was pretty hard to handle for a couple people on the bus, if you know what I mean.

When we got to the port we boarded our ferry and got settled in. I was hoping to get a small nap in, but I was wrong in assuming that. The ferry ride to Inis Mór was terrifying. It felt as if the boat was going to tip over at any moment. At on point, I was literally trying to grab for the life jacket under my seat, which is impossible to get out, while thinking of how I would get out the boat if it did in fact tip over. Well, after 45 minutes of terror, we made it safely to the port of Inis Mór.

When we got there, a bunch of us rented bikes to peddle across the island to the awe-inspiring Dun Aonghasa, a 3,000 year old Iron Age ring fort perched on the edge of a 300 foot high cliff. The bike ride was not as fun or relaxing as I was expecting it to be. The ride to the fort was entirely uphill with the wind to your face, but, on the flip-side, the ride back was very easy, entirely downhill with the wind to your back. The fort was absolutely breathtaking; the cliff was a bit terrifying, especially with the wind, but absolutely beautiful. After we biked back to town, a few of us stopped at a pub for a snack and a pint before hopping back on the ferry to make our way back to Galway. The ferry ride back to Galway was incredible calm; I even slept a little on the ferry back.

Erin is really enjoying the bike ride on Inis More

After we got back to Galway, a group of us stopped out for a steak dinner at a local restaurant recommended by our guide. It was a nice bonding experience, since a bunch of the group was leaving to head back to Dublin the next day, while the rest of us continued further south. That night, we had a more relaxing night to let our bodies recover from the past few days of fun. I hung out in Lydia’s room with Alex and a few friends when it was our birthday. Before heading to bed that night, I said goodbye to a few friends who were leaving the next day and headed to bed.

Day 16 Wednesday, June 3rd - This morning our bus was leaving around 11 am, so Alex, Kym, Lydia and I had the opportunity to walk around a grab a delicious breakfast at a local cafe. When we hopped back on the bus, we made our way through Burren, Ireland’s lunar landscape and home to ancient tombs, fairies and leprechauns! We learned about fairy trees and even visited a fairy fort.

Later, we made our way to the awesome Cliffs of Moher, rising 700 feet over the Atlantic Ocean. The cliffs were just as majestic as they were terrifying. There was a plaque to all the people that have fallen off the cliffs…. sad. It scared me to see some people willingly get really close to the edge just to get the “perfect” picture. Lydia, Kym, Alex, and I got a few decent pictures, shamelessly with the selfie-stick.

After leaving the Cliffs of Moher, we made our way to Ennis in County Clare. We had a family style dinner at the hostel before making our way to one of the local pubs for a few pints. The locals here were incredible friendly. One sat down and even began making small talk with all of us. Well, we stayed until bar close when they pretty much kicked us out.

Day 17 Thursday, June 4th - Today we left Ennis in the morning and made our way to the dramatic Dingle Peninsula. On the way, we had a little scare, dropping one of the girls who had recently joined us off at the hospital. She ended up being ok and joined us later in Killarney later that day.

I can't remember exactly, but I believe that this is the Western most point in Ireland and touching this rock is good luck!

The Dingle Peninsula was the edge of the ancient world, where we heard tales of warriors and heroes. Dave, our guide, pointed out ‘The Sleeping Giant’ and ‘The Three Sister’ in the hillside, before we arrived in the party town of Killarney for the night. Dave gave a hilarious introduction of the Killarney men, or, as he put it “The checkered shirt brigade.” It was a crazy night! I even got a free drink because I was an American.

Day 18 Friday, June 5th - Today was the last official day of our tour as we were heading back to Dublin. However, before we ended, we took in Blarney Castle in the rebel county of Cork. I gave the famous Blarney Stone a big juicy smacker to get the legendary ‘gift of the gab.’ After kissing the stone, Lydia, Alex, Kym, and I were a bit hungry, so we stopped at a restaurant to get some take-away food for the bus ride. Most people got a cheap sandwich at Blarney Castle and were a bit jealous of our tasty food.

After a few more stops, we made our way back to Dublin. It was a bittersweet end to an Amazing week. Lydia, Kym and I were staying at the same hostel and lucky enough to be placed in the same room. After we dropped off our stuff, we met up with our group for a couple punts before everyone departed their separate ways over the next couple days. I stayed out a little bit later than I wanted, stopping at a few more pubs before eventually heading back to the hostel pretty late that night.

Day 19 Saturday, June 6th - Today Lydia was not feeling the greatest. She spent pretty much the entire day in bed, so Alex, Kym and I explored Dublin together. We began our morning back getting breakfast at KC Peaches, the cafe Lydia and I stopped at our first day in Dublin. From there, we did a little shopping, stopped a gluten free bakery that had these amazing nutella chocolate balls (Kym is celiac so she was really excited about this find), then toured St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

That night, Alex and I did a pub crawl of Dublin with our friend James. We got to the first pub a little late so we practically skulled our drinks before heading to the next pub. On the walk over to the next pub, we met this girl, Symone, who had the same birthday as Alex and I, so we became instant friends. After quite a few drinks, I eventually made it back to the hostel and off to bed.

Alex, Symone and me all share a birthday! Alex and I met Symone that night on a pub crawl in Dublin

Day 20 Sunday, June 7th - Today was our last day in Dublin. Alex took a morning flight back to London, so it was just Kym, Lydia and I. The three of us decided to take a tour of the Guinness storehouse. We had the opportunity to pour the perfect pint of Guinness … and YES, Guinness tastes sooooooooo much better in Ireland.

After as little shopping and dinner, Kym, Lydia and I hopped on our bus (and ferry) to start our journey back to London. We had a bit of last minute excitement, as Kym never printed her ticket and the bus wouldn’t accept the confirmation off her phone, so we had to run to an internet cafe and print her ticket quickly before hopping on the overly crowded bus.

Ireland was absolutely incredible and I, without a doubt, want to go back and visit.

As for the next few days, we are planning on going to Bath with some of the friends we met on tour before using our BritRail pass to head Scotland and then Wales over the next two weeks.

Anyway be cool, be awesome, be you!

Gerald

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