If I knew how to spell it, I would start with an Irish greeting. It's been quite a few weeks since my last post. After a week of vegging, (literally we did nothing at all, it was quite fantastic) we headed off to Glasgow for Easter weekend with our friend and old girls youth leader from back in the day, Jenny Jack. It was lovely to go somewhere not only that you'd already been to, but had a friend to stay with as well. JJ was so welcoming with a lovely Easter gift waiting for us when we arrived. We didn't feel the need to do sight seeing, so it was a very relaxing weekend. The first day we got there, JJ's friends came over for dinner after hill-walking, and it was lovely to meet them. They were so nice to chat with and just be around. The next day, we all slept in and then Meg and I headed to Buchanan street to do a little leisurely shopping. It was a nice day and the one time it rained we were in Waterstones having a cup of coffee. We came back and just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. JJ again had friends over for dinner, which we loved, and she made Mexican! Woot! The next day was Easter so we all got dressed up, and JJ made this amazing breakfast that I totally plan on making when I get back! It was fantastic! It's called baked oatmeal, and it's an old Amish dish. We opened our cards and then walked to church. It was nice to walk in and immediately be sought out by JJ's friends we'd met the other day. We felt very welcomed. The service was lovely, and afterwards we had a balloon release, which was actually quite fun! We had a few people over for a nice lunch and then JJ, Meg and I chilled for the rest of the evening, going to be early since we had to be up at 3 30 am! gah!
After waking up at 3 30 to meet a taxi at 4 to take us to the bus station to meet the prestwick bus at 4 30 to get to the airport at 5 15, to make a 7 am flight, we arrived in Dublin around 8. And then we had a bunch of time to wander around. We had a bit of a fiasco with Bus Eirean. I truly believe they don't communicate with each other. We went to make sure we knew when our bus to Doolin left, and the info guy said that we had to take the Limerick bus. We said we didn't want to go to limerick. He just kept saying we had to take the Limerick bus and to be back at 2 30 when it would leave. So we did some sightseeing, walking O'Connell street, Grafton street, wandering inside Trinity College, and heading over to the Medieval section of town, and throwing in a jaunt down to the theater turned hotel where Handel's Messiah premiered. (we were totally the only people there!) After grabbing lunch, we headed back to the bus station to try to figure out what was going on. This time we went to the ticket guy. He said yes, we have to take the Limerick bus, but he continued to say that there we change buses to go to Doolin, which the info guy had failed to tell us...thanks. So we got excited to go, got on the bus....and the bus driver told us we would not make Doolin tonight, because the last Doolin bus leaves at 5 30 and we wouldn't get into Limerick until after 6. Great. We went back to the ticket guy and he assured us we would get there. Went back to the Bus driver. He was sure we wouldn't . He went to talk to the info guy, who finally informed him, yes, the Doolin bus would be there, and we would make it. Unbelievable....they don't talk to each other. So after a three and a half bus ride to Limerick, an hour wait, and then another two and a half hours to Doolin we finally arrived at 9 30 in the rain. While we did travel the cheapest way, we both agreed we'd never travel this way again!
We woke to cloudy skies, however we had not long been walking to breakfast (which we were actually just looking for since we hadn't bought food yet) and the sun broke through. Yeah, the California girls are here! After a filling breakfast, we got bikes from the hostel, and headed to the Cliffs of Moher. Of course, even though they were only 6 km away, the fact remained that to get to cliffs, you have to go uphill. Needless to say it took us awhile. But man was it worth it when we got there. I had seen pictures of the cliffs before, but it's nothing like seeing them in person. They literally took my breath away. I couldn't believe it. They really were absolutely incredible, carved and broken away by the hand of God, no doubt about that. The part you were allowed to walk around had walls, because the cliffs were in erosion and such. However there was a part you could hop over the wall and there was a trail. It was the kind of situation where even though there's a sign saying don't, everybody does anyways. It's like in the Sistine Chapel where there are signs everywhere saying no pictures and everyone takes pictures anyways. Yeah, that's what this was like. And I must say the affect was so much great without a barrier. It really was a spectacular sight, and a moment I'll never forget. We went into the gift shop to look around and get some lunch, and lo and behold, it began to rain. We though, "oh crap our bikes are getting wet and we have to ride back in the rain". But then we got ready to go, and it stopped! Like I said, the Cali girls are here! Needless to say the ride back was easier (aka, all downhill!) Once we got back, we decided to walk around the village and went down this little road that led to the ocean which was really quiet and pretty. We made sure we got groceries for the days we'd be there, and headed back to the hostel. The next day we were a bit unsure what to do, since the Cliffs had been the main thing we'd wanted to see. We had a brochure about the Aran Islands, and so we walked down to the pier just to see what times the ferries were running if we wanted to go. Five minutes later we were on our way to Inisheer, the smallest of the three Islands. There was no real tourist attraction, but there was one of the most beautiful beaches in Ireland, an 8th century church and graveyard, and lovely walks around the only 3 km wide island. It was a lovely day and we enjoyed the quiet of the island, the lovely beach and especially the church. There was a beautiful old carving at the head of the ruin of Christ on the cross. It was lovely and still in great condition. Everything was so peaceful. That night we decided to go out to hear the music. Doolin is known for it's live pub Irish music. There was a pub literally two doors down call MacDairmods that we decided to go to. It was quite fun to sit at the bar, listen to the music and watch the locals.
I got a bit sick the next day so we decided to keep to the town. We walked to the little 14th century church and graveyard across the street from the hostel and took some pictures, then headed to fisher street and walked around all maybe five shops there were there! (It really is the tiniest town I've ever seen) Doolin doesn't even have an ATM machine. The closest one is the cliffs. On our last day we decided to get bikes again and go the other way opposite the cliffs. We didn't really have a destination except wanting to bike the coast road around the burren (supposedly very lovely), but from some local advice we acquired along the way, we ended up taking the coastal road to Fanore, where there is another lovely beach. We didn't really feel the distance, but Fanore is 16 km away. We spent a few hours at the beach enjoying the sun and watching an unsuccessful surfer. More paddling was needed to catch his waves. It really was a lovely time. That took up most of our day, and we headed back to Doolin for our last night. We then had a bit of a scare when we overheard Carmen (who runs the hostel with her husband Mattie) telling a new hosteler that she didn't take credit cards.....oh crap. We had no money and had counted on her taking credit cards. We had a bit of a crisis but then Mattie drove us into a town a few km away to an ATM so we could get cash. That was another bit of a fiasco, but I won't go into that. The point is, we were able to pay. The next morning we were off at 8 on the bus back to Dublin. We arrived around 2ish, headed to O'Connell street for a bite and some last minute shopping at Carroll's, and then decided all we wanted to do was get to our hotel. We arrived at the travel lodge....and felt like we were at the ritz. We'd been so deprived with no internet or tv or anything like that, so when we walked into our room, saw the tv and bathroom, we decided then and there we were holing up for the rest of the day. We took baths, watched tv, and got snacks from the vending machine. It was a good night. (who knew we'd be so technology dependent :) We woke to grab a taxi back to the airport at 6 30 and were back in lovely Scotland by around 10. From there on, the traveling was easy. We grabbed the bus back to buchanan, arrived, and our bus to St Andrews was right next to it. We hopped on, and 2 hours later were home. Never had we been so glad to be back. Don't misunderstand, the trip was lovely, it was just the technology and wanted to NOT live out of a backpack! After two weeks, we were ready again for routine, even class yes!
Cheers!
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