Happy Saturday! I have just finished up my last week of classes here in Galway - so crazy! On Monday, I'm leaving to travel with Alex for about a week, then returning to Galway for a few days to hopefully get some studying for finals in, then heading to Dublin to greet my mom at the airport. From there, the two of us will get to travel around Ireland for about a week. I'm so excited! Once my mom leaves though, it'll be crunch time because I'll have three finals to study for as well as two fairly big papers to write. Before I know it though, I'll be back to New Hampshire for the summer. Honestly, I have mixed emotions about this. I'm super excited to reunite with all my friends and family, but I'm also sad to be leaving what has been home to me for the past few months. In any event, I'm going to do my best to pack in as much fun as I can in the next few weeks. Before that though, I wanted to finish updating you on the trips I've taken so far.
In my last post, I left off with my trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. Two weeks later, API took us on our last excursion - a day trip to Connemara. Technically Connemara isn't a town or county itself - it's part of County Galway. In any case, it was absolutely gorgeous - exactly what I picture when I think of classic Ireland. We spent a few hours at Kyelmore Abbey, exploring the castle as well as the gardens. Then we ventured over to Connemara National Park for a short hike. Along the way, my RD got the bus driver to stop a few times so we could take pictures, including the Church where her parents were married - probably the smallest Church I've ever seen! Even from the window of my seat on the bus, the scenery was beautiful. We saw a lot of mountains, water, and fields of sheep, all of which reminded me of Vermont and made me feel quite at home. Although I love every picture I took that day, here are some of my particular favorites:
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| The beaming sun - a rare scene in Ireland! |
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I happened to capture this one when the
bus driver stopped for a split second - I love it! |
The next day, I hopped on a bus to Dublin to go visit Alex for Saint Patrick's Day. Needless to say, my trip was awesome! We had Boxty for dinner the night I got there. Boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake and it's absolutely delicious! We went to bed early so we would be well rested for a full day of Saint Patrick's Day activities. Unfortunately, I didn't actually get to see the parade. However, I had a good reason - I had to leave to catch a hurling and Gaelic football match at Croke Park with Sara, who was also in Dublin visiting her friend Laina. This was my first real experience with Irish sports, and it was awesome!
After the game, Sara, Laina, and Laina's friend Jordan helped me find Alex because let's be honest, I don't really know my way around Dublin! We eventually met up in a pub and spent a few hours there dancing, meeting new people, and having a great time enjoying the company of our friends.
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| Matching shirts! |
The following day, I got a delicious scone from one of Alex's favorite cafes, and then headed back to Galway. Three days later, I was back on a bus to Dublin with my friend Kiersten. This time, we were headed to England! While by far the craziest of my trips so far, it was definitely my favorite. Figuring out public transportation has always been a challenge for me, and this trip proved no different. However, we made it everywhere safely, which is what matters! Along the way, we got to take a trip to see my family crest at the Salisbury Cathedral as well as Stonehenge, both in Salisbury. That night, we met up with Sheila and Maya, who each go to SMC and are studying in London and Spain, respectively, for dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant. It was awesome to be able to see some familiar faces and share some of our experiences thus far. Kiersten and I also got to tour the Warner Brothers Harry Potter studios, which was a dream come true. Before heading back to Ireland, we got to walk around a bit and see some famous sites like Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Eye, and the Thames River. We also had dinner at a local market, which was delicious. I tried Bastilla, which is actually Moroccan. I was particularly excited to try it because my friend Lauren is studying in Morocco this semester. Overall, it was a fantastic trip and left me feeling more independent and actually quite proud of myself for overcoming all the challenges we faced (for starters, we arrived at our hostel after reception had closed so at first we weren't sure how we were going to get into our room, but that's a story for another day!).
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| Me in front of Salisbury Cathedral |
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| Stonehenge! |
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| Me, Maya, and Sheila |
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| Standing in the Great Hall - beyond excited! |
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| In love with London |
Apologies for the number of pictures - it was so hard to choose my favorites! Anyway, as I mentioned, I leave Monday to go to Poland and Italy with Alex. It should be a great trip! But before that, I have a lot to accomplish, so I'm off to get some work done. Thanks so much for taking the time to look through my blog - hope you enjoyed it!
~Merrill
