Enter Ireland: April 11-16
So the Easter break had finally arrived and after careful planning and consideration, more like thinking to myself "ok where do I have friends I can stay with," I decided that Ireland would be a good first place to go. The journey began Friday the 11th because I couldn't get a Saturday flight without skyrocketing in cost so I had to miss a day of school. No worries because they were going on a field trip that day to Camp Nou. I'd already been so I guess I wasn't missing too much. That friday my flight was around 11AM so I took the first train from Malgrat to Barcelona and set off. The flight was smooth and through all this travel I'm doing I can say I've gained valuable experience as to which European airlines allow for online check in and those that don´t. I can´t say how much of a comfort it is to not have to worry about lines when you have booked flights back to back. You always hope that the timing works out but you have to make preparations for that late passenger or the endless pre flight checks or the cat on the runway.
Whatever it is sometimes life throws a spanner in the wheels and plans fall through. So back to my main point, online check in can be a life saver and with this being the first leg of the journey I didn't have to worry about it...yet.
The first flight was Ryanair and they do make you take some extra steps to check in, including going to another window for a stamp even if you checked in online. So for you travelers out there with American passports remember that before you go through security you have to have this stamp. From then on it was pretty smooth sailing all the way to Dublin. I grabbed a quick lunch and even though it was McDonald's I don't feel too bad because as you'll see in later posts this was about vacation and not about eating super crazy healthy. Plus, on the road I've learned that it's quite difficult to eat healthy during the transitions i.e the waiting in airports or the journeys between countries. For example I bought fruit in the Dublin airport. NEVER AGAIN. That orange I had didn't taste like orange at all. Anyway back on track to the Bus from Dublin down to Cork where the Lewis family resides. It's always super nice of them to let me crash at their place so I am eternally grateful.
The bus ride down to Cork takes about 3.5 hours so you have plenty of time to get comfy. Unfortuately for me that was not my reality. It was probably the combination of sitting on a train for an hour in the morning, then sitting on a plane for two hours that made my lower half extremely tight and sore. So tacking on the additoinal 3.5 hours was no walk in the park. Mi culo was not happy with me at all.
After de-boarding I had about two hours to kill so I walked around Cork and got to know the area a little better. I had already walked around most of Dublin but had yet to see what Cork had to offer. It was good to explore the area a bit. There are some cool shops and an open air market that has some really good food. I ended up getting lunch there on my last day of the trip. After the touring around was done I met up with Tony and we headed to the house.
It's always nice when you have friends in an area you're visiting as they provide good company and a way to unwind. Not to mention the monetary benefit of not having to pay for a hostel. The house they have is really nice and it's away from the city so it's quite serene. They don't have a full on farm but there are horses, chickens, sheep, and a stable so it does resemble farm life. I got to play around on the quad and even handle a few animals while I was there.
I don't know if being a farm hand is for me but I think in another life I could be tending to the sheep and carrying around bales of hay. After settling in and catching up with the Lewis family they thought that on Monday, since they had work I should go on a tour of the countryside since the weather was turning out quite nice.
They got me a ticket on the paddywagon tour bus that goes to the cliffs of Moher. It was perfect because they were all busy during the day anyway and I could go and see a cool Irish landmark.
Before that though I had to get in a bit of rugby action of course. The tickets were booked on Saturday but on Sunday night there was a rugby game that the family wanted to go see and of course I was going to go. I had never seen live rugby at the pro level so I figured it would be a good experience. The stadium was fairly full but not sold out and the atmosphere was still good. The game was between the 2nd and 4th place teams in the league so it figured to be a good match.
Unfortunately the game was a bit of a snoozer as the game got out of hand for the team we were supporting quite quickly. The final score was something like 17-5 and it looked as if the long season had begun to take the toll on the players. There always seemed to be someone down and injured with the medical staff running out on the field but in the rugby they just keep on playing. No diving like in soccer or flopping in basketball, these guys have legitimate reasons to go down. All in all it was good fun and I´m happy I got to see it.
The next day I was headed to the city center to catch a bus Called the paddywaggon for a tour to the cliffs.
The bus was full of people from all over the world. There were two Italians in front of me, two germans behind me, and two abnormally placed (I think) french guys a few rows back. Just my luck though, I ended up sitting next to an American. What are the odds?? So we were chatting along the way to our destination. It is always nice to be able to chat with someone who knows about your home country and you can reflect on the things you miss about home. We stopped for a short lunch break in Doolin before heading off to the cliffs and I can say the meal was quite good.
Finally arriving at the Cliffs, they were truly a sight to behold. You had the option to go left or right and continue along the coast. I didn't know that each direction could be followed for miles on end, but I went right and began admiring the view. There were people everywhere and before I set off too far down the right side path Jessie (the american from the bus) was gracious enough take my picture with the cliffs in the background.
The next day was my last day in Ireland so after saying my goodbyes I went into the city to grab lunch then head back to Dublin. I went to that open air market and got a delicious sausage sandwich then went to McDonald's because I was just that hungry. Then it was off to get on yet another bus, this time the return trip to Dublin where I would spend the night in the airport to Catch my 6AM flight to Barcelona. Ah the life of a traveler, I honestly don´t know how some people can continously travel as it's quite draining but fun at the same time.
The night in the airport wasn´t so bad and before I knew it I was off to continue the next leg of the journey. The 2nd part of Semana Santa Concluded is next.
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