Yes, this is English. Haha
The first thing I noticed was how nice everyone was. We stopped and asked a few people which bus we needed to be on to get to our hostel, then while we were waiting a police man just came up and asked us how we were and if we knew where we needed to go, he helped us onto the right bus and gave us directions to our hostel.
We got there about 11, checked in, and passed out, traveling takes a lot out of you.
The next day we just kind of wandered around the city, we saw a school, some statues, found the cutest little place for lunch. I had guiness soup, soooo good! Next we stopped for some ice cream and continued to wander… right into the Jameson Factory!
We tried hot Jameson, which was Jameson with hot water, and a lemon with cloves in it. Then the tour began..
Then we went back to our hostel, met Rocki, this super awesome girl from New Mexico that saved up and decided to take one back pack and travel for two months, alone. Soooo brave.
She had spent the night before in Dublin and agreed to go out with Ally and I, we saw some very interesting characters.
The Green Man, I was not impressed though, I know another green man/future doctor in Florida that looks much better in that suit!
Rocki, Ally, Me!
After spending um, lets see, about 10 minutes with Rocki, we realized she is going to do just fine on her own.
While we were outside listening to some music some random guy comes up and bought Rocki a CD in return for a hug, this video also includes Ally's infamous "Fargo" accent that I love oh so much! haha
We met some guys from the Canadian Navy, Ally was unaware she even had one haha, hung out with them for awhile and then headed back to the hostel, we had to be on a bus to Galway at 8 am the next morning.
Ally in a really intense conversation
But before we made it back to the hostel Ally decided she had to have her picture in front of The Quays Bar.. these are the "events" that followed the attempt at a picture...
what just happened?
8 am came wayyy too early but we got on the bus and began our trek over to Galway. The bus ride was only two hours so we arrived in Galway around 10 am. We couldn’t check into our hostel because that night we decided to try couch surfing for the first time!
For those of you that know my Nana and Papa, please spare them the heart attack and dont mention this.. www.CouchSurfing.com is the website. You create an account and look for people in the city you are traveling to, they have been previously rated by people that have stayed with them and they have a profile so you can pick who you would like to stay with and then they also have to agree to host you. It is actually a genius idea, it is like having a friend in every city!
The guy we were staying with in Galway was not getting back into town until later that night so we found a place that would hold our luggage, found a place for lunch, which was not very good, it looks good but the chicken was really dry and yes that is a Seminoles hat in the picture, and then we started to wander around Galway. It was gorgeous! I was not expecting it to be so hmm, I am not sure what I am trying to say, but it was not what I expected, whatsoever.
Eventually we found a grassy area next to the water so we laid down and slept for about two hours, I saw two dogs! One ran up to us while we were sleeping, her name was Portia, : ( I miss Tucker.
Next we wandered some more, we found a church, and a river, then it was time to go meet Cahil.
I found a painting of Tucker!
We met Cahil over buy the bus station and he took us back to his place, we talked for a little while and since it was a gorgeous day in Ireland he took us for a drive. This is when I fell in love with couch surfing. Had I not met him I never would have seen this part of Ireland, and this was one of my favorites. We saw Salt Hill in the distance, the sunset, the Irish farms, we went through villages that don't even speak any English, only Gaelic.
Cahil was so nice and told us just to say when we wanted to stop and we could take pictures. We so so many farm animals and then we saw a donkey. Ally screams "Aw a Donkey!" Cahil stops the car and the donkey starts running towards the car, I was a little shocked, wondering what exactly a donkey could do to a car, but he stopped running when he got to some rocks and Ally, being the genius she is, starts recording, she was a little slow and missed the charge but she captured this..
The next morning we brought our bags to our hostel, saw what really goes into supplying the beer in Galway, grabbed some breakfast, and got on a bus for an 8 hour tour of the Cliffs of Moher!
Our tour guides name was Desmond, he was an 80 year old, perverted, old man, but hilarious all the same.
He told us so many stories and we loved him. Except for the story about me being a witch and I have been burned at the stake. I thought I would be more accepted in Ireland having red hair and now I am being told I would have been killed back in the day.
We made a few random stops, once at an old castle, another at an old ring fort, some odd rocks formations, a building with a very large animal in front of it, and finally the Cliffs of Moher!
Apparently, a part of harry Potter was filmed here, but as I am no Harry Potter pro I have no clue in which movie or which scene. Parts of Inception and Saving Private Ryan were also filmed here!
But the cliffs were awesome, we were told we would be able to see Puffins! I was soo excited but I was let down because they do not come back from fishing for the day until 4:30 and we had to be back on the bus at 4:15. : (
I found a Lady bug! Ally wanted to kill it but I saved its life! It is hard to see but he is on the side of my finder.
On the way back Desmond stopped at his favorite “night cap” spot as a youngster,
and then back at the castle we were at earlier in the day, the tide had come in and it looked completely different.
When we got back to Galway we could not wait to shower, we met a few people in our hostel, showered up, went to dinner, and came home and passed out.
We were up at 5am the next morning because we had to catch a bus to Belfast at 6am.
The bus to Belfast from Galway is 8 hours. We made a few stops along the way and had to change buses once.
When getting on the new bus you must show them your ticket again.
I am not sure if everyone is aware of one of my nicknames but it is scatter brain. I looked at Ally like uh what? What did I do with it?! I must have left it on the other bus! The driver got off and found the old bus I was on and the other driver had found it but wouldn’t give it up.
“How much did you pay for this?” “When did you buy it?” “What time?” “Where are you going?”
Seriously guy? Is there anyone else looking for a ticket right now?
He finally gave me my ticket, I got on the bus and Ally was then responsible for all of my tickets from then on. Haha
We arrived in Belfast around 2pm and I texted our next couch surfer, Roger. Roger was great, we only had one night in Belfast and I don’t feel like I missed anything, he gave us the quickest tour possible.
Did you know the Titanic was built in Belfast? I had no idea!
This is the most frequently bombed building in Ireland.
I knew there was some turmoil going on in Ireland but I didn’t realize what was really going on. This is probably the most dangerous city I have been to but it really wasn’t bad.
We also got to see these gardens, it was the most gorgeous green house I have ever been in! I am so thankful for the great weather we had in Ireland.
Here are a few other sights we saw while wandering Belfast:
After our super speedy tour of Belfast we went back to Rogers and just relaxed, we listened to music, showered and went to bed early.
One thing I have learned, earplugs are the best thing in the world.
Roger was very quiet but he lives near a stadium and there just so happened to be a game that night. We could hear people screaming, chanting, booing, and cheering.
Hello ear plugs.
Next morning we were up at 4am!
Our plane left Belfast at 7am. Roger called us a taxi the night before and he was right on time the next morning.
Ally and I were a little nervous because the international airport was on the other side of town and it was still dark out and the driver took us down some scary, long, dark, suspicious road. All I kept thinking was “Dude, you look scary because you have tattoos, please beat the stereotype, I know tattoos are not scary, do not pull over and kills us on this road.”
Anyway, we made it, alive.
It took FOREVER to get through security, they only had a few lines open, but we were on time and everything went smoothly.
Next stop: Scotland!
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