Ireland

Ashleigh's reflections

From July 26^th to 29^th I went with a group of students to Ireland. We took a train and ferry there Thursday night and arrived in Dublin Friday morning. 

Friday we took a nap on a Trinity College playing field and went on a walking tour of Dublin. On this walking tour we visited different areas of Dublin from Christ Church to Dublin Castle to Dubh Linn. 

Saturday, we took a tour through our hostel of Western Ireland to the Cliffs of Moher. On this tour we got to visit a small seaside town, a church/graveyard in the mountains, Black Head, Doolin, and the Cliffs of Moher. The countryside was absolutely stunning and the cliffs were amazing. 

Sunday, a group of us decided to try and go cliff jumping, so we looked up a place online. We took a bus to Cork where we had lunch before taking a bus to Kinsale and then catching a cab to take us to the cliffs. Unfortunately, due to the low tide, we were unable to jump, so instead we climbed down and walked out on the rocks. We got to explore a cave that would normally be underwater and jump off the rocks a few feet into the ocean, so while not exactly what we were looking for it was still a lot of fun. 

On the final day I decided to walk around Dublin some more. I got to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral and walk around the gardens outside. Overall it was a wonderful trip and I believe anyone who can, should defiantly visit Ireland. I would not however spend much time visiting Dublin, but instead the countryside.

Sunni's Reflections

This past weekend, a group of us were lucky enough to be able to travel to Dublin, Ireland. Getting there was a big challenge for us because we waited too long to get a cheap flight, so we ended up taking the tube to a train to a ferry, and arrived in Dublin at 6 am on Friday morning. After a full day of tours and sight seeing, we decided as a group to go out into the country side and try to see parts of the western coast of Ireland while we were there. The weather forecast for Saturday seemed the most promising, so instead of trying to arrange everything for 10 people by ourselves, we booked a tour through Paddy’s Palace.

The tour started at the crack of dawn Saturday morning —7:40am to be exact. We loaded into the bus and took off for the west coast. I thought that it was amazing to be able to travel from the east to west coast in 3 hours. We can’t even drive across North Carolina that quickly. Everything in Europe in so much smaller than what I am accustomed to. We made several stops along the way, picking up more people and having lunch in a small touristy village on the coast. Finally, in the afternoon we made it to the big attraction – the Cliffs of Moher! I had been waiting years to see them and not even the small drizzle could dampen my mood that day. Luckily, the rain cleared up and we were able to take some amazing pictures of the views. Looking back at those pictures, I don’t think that they accurately depict the beauty of the cliffs. Nothing will ever compare to actually being there and seeing them myself. It always amazes me how beautiful the world is in which we live, and I am so happy that I had the chance to see these cliffs while I was in Ireland!