IFSA Killary Adventure Weekend (March 11th-13th):
The study abroad program I came through took us to this amazing hostel/adventure centre in the mountains of county Galway for a fun filled outdoors weekend trip. Let me just start by saying it was probably one of the best weekends of my life doing things I probably would never do back home! Friday night we enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by the fun, young, and super nice staff who are all free spirited, outdoorsy people from all over the world; and then we had a huge table quiz with our group of 60+ and staff. After the quiz my friends and I stayed in the dining room and played multiple games of UNO with some of the staff members and got to know them better. The next morning we had breakfast and then started our day full of adventures in the outdoors. My friend Sarah and I chose the Ringo & Gorge walk trip which is tubing and waterfall climbing. To set the scene outside for you, we walked out to a breathtaking view of the river laying between huge snowcapped mountains and a temperature of about 42 degrees fahrenheit. Our brave group of 5 asked ourselves 'how stupid are we to go tubing in this freezing water?' the whole walk to the boat. Wearing only already wet and cold wetsuits we hopped in the boat already shivering and sped away from shore. When it was my turn to tube I plopped in the ringo and held on as best as I could with numb fingers and off I went flying along the 32 degree water, wind blowing in my face. But none of the 'miserable' conditions bothered me, I was tubing down a river between gorgeous snowcapped mountains in the middle of March, in IRELAND!! All I could do was smile, laugh, and try to take in the amazing scenery around me... without falling out. When I was done I got back in the boat, and the cold hit me like a ton of bricks, I was completely numb head to toe, shivering all over, and now really wet, but still smiling. After everyone had their turn we were asked if we wanted another go and I said absolutely!! When we got back to shore we played a round of tag to try to get feeling back to our bodies before hitting the waterfall. Gorge walking is a terrible name for this adventure, it was beautiful!! Sadly I don't have any pictures from it because I was literally up to my neck in water a few times. We climbed wet, slippery rocks through rushing water like spiderman, waded thigh deep through pools of water, and a few times stepped off rocks and immediately were up to our necks swimming in water with no bottom to be found. I cannot even begin to tell you how unforgettable this experience was! After changing into dry clothes and having a tasty lunch, my friends and I went back out into the great outdoors to hit the tallest rock climbing wall in Ireland and the giant swing. We had fun climbing the wall and making games out of things, then we took our turn on the giant swing. This swing is a contraption that 2 people sit in then it pulls you backwards and up about 60ft in the air. Once at the top you pull the cord and go flying back and forth through the air, it was awesome and we screamed pretty loud!! After another delicious meal we danced the night away with the staff and crazy 80yr old DJ. The next morning we headed out to our final session, the high ropes course pole climb and trapeze jump. Sarah B and I went first, she climbed the 30ft telephone pole and pulled herself up onto the 2x2 small platform, then it was my turn. After getting to the top I managed to get myself up, over, and on top of the remaining half of the platform. We stood there swaying in the air for a few moments then on the count of 3 we jumped out and grabbed onto the trapeze bar a few feet in front of us; and then were slowly lowered back to the ground 1 at a time. It started to snow while we were waiting for the others, and after everyone was done we went back to the building to eat lunch and get back on the bus to leave. None of us wanted to leave this place, the whole package was incredible and I'll never forget it!!
West Coast: Burren, Cliffs of Moher & Aran Islands (March 13th-16th):
On Monday the 3 Sarah's and I took a bus tour to the Burren hills and climbed them while listening to our tour guide tell us facts and stories about Ireland, then we continued our way through old fishing villages to the Cliffs of Moher. I was disappointed to see that they have recently built walls back from the cliffs to prevent you from going to the edge, but it was still amazing. Pictures just don't do them justice! We walked around and snapped photos, tried to spot the Statue of Liberty, and enjoyed the sunshine then got back on the bus to continue on. We had lunch in a village and made a few stops to take pictures along the coast and then spent the night walking around Galway. The next day we took a bus and ferry to get to the Aran Islands, and we were blessed with another gorgeous day!! Once on the island we rented bikes and made our way to the far end of the island where the giant cliffs are. We climbed the hill not knowing what we were going to see at the top; and what we saw was absolutely breathtaking!! Although these cliffs aren't as tall as the Cliffs of Moher, we could go to the edge of these and take in the scenery. It was so silent and peaceful up there, at first it was nerve-racking being so close to the 286ft drop, but then we started to feel more 'comfortable' and daring and enjoyed taking photographs. I sat on the edge and just took in the view of the ocean, horizon, and blue skies, it felt as if I was in my own world away from everything. It was hard to leave this place, but after an hour or so we went back down the hill and biked to the ferry and headed back to the city. The next morning I jumped on the bus to head to Dublin.
Dublin St. Paddy's Day!! (March 16th-18th):
Dublin is pretty much the heart of everything 'Irish' on St. Paddy's Day and it was a great experience to be there for the great holiday! However, it was VERY different from St. Paddy's day in the states. The parade pretty much had nothing to do with Irish traditions and there was no green to be found (but I did win a big leprechaun hat by answering a question in the pre-parade trivia game). The parade was based off of a new children's book titled Brilliant! And I will never read this book to any child I know, the parade was super freaky and very strange but entertaining none the less. After the parade we hung out around the city and enjoyed the festivities and music, which were no where near as crazy as festivities back home.
I arrived back in Belfast Friday afternoon and then attended the Ulster Rugby game that night. It was an unforgettable trip filled with many memories that I will never forget!
Me tubing...
Sarah & I jumping to the trapeze...
Outside of the Adventure Centre...
Cliffs of Moher...
View from the coast of Aran Islands (tubing Mts. in the distance)
Cliffs on Aran Islands...
Just taking it all in...
At the St. Paddy's parade...
