Ireland
IRELAND | Monday, 2 May 2011 | Views [365]
Well, I have moved on from Ireland and am now in Salzburg, Austria. I have finally met up with my friend Martina, and we are starting our trip this coming Saturday!! :-) Ireland was a wonderful place to be for three weeks. I managed to visit the South, East, and West quite extensively. All were beautiful and had their own personality. I spent most of my time hiking in Connemara and Killarney. It was a great way to get to know the country, and, by the end of every day I was more than ready to head to a pub for dinner, a pint, and good conversation with whoever happened to be there. I found the Irish extremely welcoming. They are so proud of their country, and when you show an equivalent appreciation, they are more than happy to talk to you about it, much like Moroccans. It was definitely an odd transition coming from Morocco to Ireland, but I found as many similarities (especially in the friendliness of the people) as I did differences. Due to various scheduling differences, I ended up traveling solo for a majority of my Ireland trip. It was actually probably one of my best experiences so far on this trip. I was able to meet so many different people that I never would have were I not alone. As in Morocco, every time I was about to need help with something, someone showed up that was more than willing and able to help, and I never had a chance to get lonely. I met Shannah in Connemara about halfway through my trip. She had an interesting time getting to me...the bus dropped her at the wrong town and she had to hike 6 km to get to my hostel (which was out in the country), but once she arrived, everything went smoothly. We went on a four hour hike up Ireland's only fjord to this beautiful beach where we ran into a few of the employees at my hostel who were there playing rugby. We then went out to dinner with them and they drove us back to the hostel (which was nice, since we weren't exactly looking forward to hiking all the way back). Our hostel owner had said it was perfectly safe to hitchhike back, but meeting up with the hostel was a much better option in my opinion. Atfter a few days in Connemara, Shannah and I took the bus back to Galway where she got to show me around and I was able to meet all her Ireland friends. Galway is definitely my favorite city in Ireland. It's very alive and friendly with great food. It's also not very big, so there is a small town feel to it that makes it very easy to get around and learn the city. The last week of my trip I met up with my parents. The first day, we went to watch the Irish Grand National, a steeplechase race (horse race with jumps in it). It was amazing, the horses were beautiful, and I definitely realized how much I miss riding. I'll definitely be ready to jump back in the saddle when I get home! :-). From there, we took a long drive south and west to Killarney, a town just outside of one of Ireland's most beautiful national parks. We visited the park and took a carriage ride through the main part, then took a day drive around the Ring of Kerry, seeing several old ruins and lots of sheep. lol. The next day I took another four hour hike up one of the tallest peaks in the park. There were two hidden lakes at the top, and I could see for miles across the Ring of Kerry and up to the Dingle Peninsula. The day was incredibly clear! Our last travel night we drove to a B and B in Connemara. Both mom and Shannah had been there before, so the assumption was that we would be able to find it, so we took our time before heading over. By the time we actually started driving to our hostel it was getting dark. Let's just say that there were pieces missing from both our directions and mom and Shannah's memory about how to get there. We ended up driving around Connemara for about two hours. Mind you, in Connemara there are no shops open past 9 pm, so there wasn't really anywhere to stop for directions. The B and B owner was also not answering their phone. Finally, in an act of desparation, we wandred into the parking lot of a hotel called Castle House. It was, obviously, in a castle. The cheapest car in the parking lot (aside from ours) was a Mercedes. Walt went in to ask for the directions, and the concierge offered to drive ahead to our B and B so that we could follow him, despite the fact that he wasn't really supposed to. So, finally, fifteen minutes later, we arrived at our B and B. It was a beautiful house, and the beds were amazing; entirely worth the grueling night. We got up in the morning, had our delicious breakfast, and then headed back on the road again to help Shannah move out of her apartment in Galway then get to Dublin for me to get on the plane to Salzburg the next morning. :-)
