Last weekend was probably one of the most hectic weekends I have had here in Ireland. Planned days before, 9 friends and I went two and half-hours west of the Dublin to the city of Galway. That’s right, it only took about two hours to go from coast to coast. When we arrived, we checked in our hostel, dropped off our luggage and decided it was time to get some lunch. We stopped in at the local pub and got sandwiches and chips. It was only about 1pm when we finished and we had the whole day to ourselves. It was time to explore and see what was around.
We came across this brick road with a mob of people walking in all directions. There were stores on both sides and ribbons hanging from roof to roof. It reminded me of Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter movies.
We split up into two groups (guys and girls) and went off window-shopping. About 20 minutes later is when the fun really started. Jake's (my roommate here in Dublin ) face started to swell up. He said his throat was closing and he was having trouble breathing. He was having an allergic reaction, and needed medical help ASAP. We found a local pharmacy and got him some Benadryl but it wasn’t helping. It took us another 20 minutes of panicking and running around to find a medical center. By that time, Jake’s face looked like a tomato ready to pop.
Jake is severely allergic to peanuts and we are guessing that the chips from earlier that day were cooked in peanut oil. The medical center injected him with Epinephrine as Emma and I filled out his paper work. The reaction was so severe that the doctor recommended that Jake go to the hospital for precautionary measures. He was there for 6 hours before being released at 10pm. It was a great start to our three-day weekend.
The next morning we got up, packed lunch and walked off to the buses for our tour. Our first stop was about 45 minutes away at Aillwee Cave, an ancient passageway into the mountains of The Burren. The cave stretched over a kilometer long and is only about 5 feet in height throughout the path.
Outside the cave, we were on this beautiful mountaintop where you could see the whole valley beneath us. We took a couple pictures, had a coffee, and then were on our way to the most anticipated attraction, the Cliffs of Moher.
When we arrived, our tour guide told us to be cautious with the winds, especially near the cliffs. WE stepped off the bus and literally got swept off our feet. With +50mph winds blowing from the South, it was impossible to walk in a straight-line. After backpedaling to the top of the cliffs, we turned and saw this.
Thanks to my studious cousin Nora, she told me that Continental Rifting created the cliffswhen Ireland and the rest of Europe tore from North America. There's a large subduction zone about a mile off the coast eating up the sea floor and the coast loses about a centimeter each year. We battled the winds for about an hour then made our way into the gift shop.
Our next stop was on a rocky shoreline with the sun setting at our backs. I decided to get artistic and take some cool photos with the sun and shadows we made.
The day was long, but it was something I will never forget. We didn’t arrive back until late, and decided to make a family dinner with pasta and bread back at the hostel. We went out that night to a club, danced the night away, and went back to bed ready to ride back to Dublin the next afternoon.
The alarm rang at 10am, we packed our belongings and were off to find an Irish breakfast. 5euro plate with free coffee was a steal and we couldn’t believe the amount of food we got. It truly was an Irish breakfast with our eggs, sausage, beans, toast, and little corn muffins.
After stuffing our faces we walked around, doing a little shopping and site seeing. Our bus wasn’t until 5pm, so we found a cool pub, watched some soccer and drank a few beers as the time went by. So far, this was my favorite weekend over seas. My friendships grew stronger and the sites were breath taking. I am so happy I choose Ireland for study abroad.
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