a public service announcement

For anyone who has any ambitions to travel, EVER, please allow me to provide you with a possible destination- Ireland.  I promise, you will never regret it.

We didn't have class last Friday, so most of us took advantage of the long weekend and set off to other places around Europe.  Some went to Barcelona, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, but a few friends and I chose Galway, Ireland.  Why Galway, you ask?  I definitely got a few incredulous "Galway? Why Galway?" comments from my host family and our program director.  After a few preliminary google image searches (yes, that is, in fact, the level of sophistication I use to make major life decisions), we realized that there really was no other choice.  Quaint and colorful streets, rolling green hillsides, the Cliffs of Moher, and castles.  LOTS of castles.  It also happens to be the birthplace of the "claddagh" ring that pretty much anyone of Irish descent owns, and is right next to the Aran Islands, which are famous for producing those unbelievably warm and perfect Irish wool sweaters.  What's not to love?

So, last Thursday, off we went.  Tube, train, plane, cab.  I received my first ever stamp in my passport at the Shannon airport and then we were picked up by our very own cab driver, Pat #1 (both cab drivers we had that weekend were named Pat), who met us with a sign that said "Meeting Samantha Weber."  No big deal, they love me there.  A particularly surly Eastern European man checked us into our hostel, but after that, every single person we met in Galway proved that Irish people are SO friendly.  Our waiters, the ladies working at the wool sweater stores, our tour bus driver, Billy- all unfailingly kind and talkative.

Billy is the man responsible for convincing me that Ireland is the most magical place in the world (apart from Harry Potter world, obviously).  Sure, the full Irish breakfasts, the Bailey's coffee, and the pilots and flight attendants-themed stag party we encountered were all great, but the places we got to go on our bus tour were incomparable.  I can't attest to the rest of Ireland, but the Western coast is straight out of a fairytale.  There's no way real people live there, they all must secretly be sprites and warlocks and princesses.  Simply saying the names of the towns we drove through- places like Lisdoonvarna and Ballylaghan, make me feel as if I'm casting a spell.  We saw a bunch of old castles, usually with some sort of creepy legend attached to them, and a few faerie forts.  They have faeries! With an underground network and secret powers and special enchanted trees! The entire landscape was crisscrossed with mortarless stone walls, which looked as if they had been magically summoned there centuries ago.  As enchanting as all of this was, though, my favorite part of the weekend was our visit to the Cliffs of Moher.  These 700 foot sheer cliffs are the ones featured in the horcrux-in-a-cave scene in the sixth Harry Potter movie.  You just can't get more magical than that.  The sun was finally fighting through the rain clouds, the endless rock faces were reigning over the tumultuous sea below, and the wind- well, the wind was just having a party.  Near the highest point of the cliffs, it was most likely gusting at speeds of almost 70 mph.  I'm not even exaggerating, it completely blew out the windshield of another tour bus earlier in the day.  People were walking diagonally, struggling against an invisible opponent, while spluttering through the sea spray and desperately clutching to railings and small children.  It seemed like Mother Nature was attempting to erase the entire landscape and start over.  It was freezing, it was ridiculous, but most of all, it was a complete blast.  Most people towards the top were just laughing hysterically at the absurdity of it all.

I do hope to go back there one day during slightly milder weather, but for now, I'm more than satisfied with my brief stint in Ireland.  Honestly, I can't be more serious when I say that everyone should try to make it there at some point.  Everything about it is endearing and beautiful.  Except for black pudding, maybe not that.  If you don't know what it's made of, give it go on the ol' google machine and try to keep down your lunch.  Besides that, I couldn't be happier with my first foray into the rest of the EU!