THE OL’ EMERALD ISLE: A DREAM COME TRUE
IRELAND! I can’t even say how much I loved that beautiful green country! Ireland has always been the number one place place to visit and there was no way I could leave Europe without visiting! It’s just one of those places that I had to go to and why wouldn’t you want to go to IRELAND?! I mean come on…it’s Ireland! I had fallen in love with this beautiful country before I even had the chance to visit, but it has been more than I have EVER imagined! Yeah, I know that I say that for just about every place I’ve visited, but man Ireland…Ireland’s different. If I had to get up and leave the United States for whatever reason, I would go/live in Ireland in a heartbeat! I don’t even know where to start! Well, maybe I’ll start with the fact that I still can’t believe I can hop on a train or a bus for cheap and end up in a whole different country! It’s SO fun!! Anyways, after an hour voyage across England I have officially landed on Irish soil. Ireland has always been a dream and now it was finally here!
So, I’ve heard from many people that Dublin is just another big city and not Ireland. I have to say that is partially true. Dublin is a city and it has that city feel, but there’s still a lot of Irish culture. It may not be the green mountainous countryside, but it is a fun city and it still feels Irish with all the accents, pubs, and beer. To start things off right I hopped on a bus to see Ireland and all its beauty. To give you an idea of how small this country is, traveling from the east coast to the west coast only took 5 hours and it was one of the best bus rides I have ever taken. Now, if you didn’t know already, there’s a reason why this country is nicknamed the Emerald Isle because literally everything is so GREEN! Driving through the rocky hills (well, they called them mountains…but they were most definitely hills..) I looked out at the sheep grazing in the rolling green fields the calm and stillness of the great blue Galway Bay. Now this is Ireland! And at that moment I had fallen completely in love with this beautiful green country.
Just as I thought nothing could get any better than this, we reached our destination, the Cliffs of Moher, and I decided right then and there that I was never leaving! The Cliffs stat 701 feet above sea level and stretch as long as 5 miles. As you may all know, Ireland isn’t known for their sunny beach weather, in fact there is a saying that there is no such thing as seasons because it’s always cloudy and raining. However, we lucked out and apparently we came out on one of the nicest weekends thus far! Everyday was sunny and not a single drop of rain fell from the sky. Before we arrived at the top of the cliffs our guide told us not to go to the cliffs edge because it can be very dangerous. Well, walking to any cliff’s edge is going to be dangerous, but these cliffs are made of sandstone, a soft rock that can easily crumble/break, and that is what makes these cliffs so dangerous. As we approached the top there were two paths, one concrete/man made path, and on plain dirt path right along the cliffs edge. So which one did we take, you might ask? The dirt one of course! No I’m not kidding and I know you’re probably judging my stupidity right now, but it was literally the coolest experience ever!! I’m not going to lie, I was pretty uneasy about the whole hike along the cliffs’ edge, especially when the ground squished beneath my feet, but hey! it makes great story now! Standing there on the edge I looked out at the blue water that stretched all around me and the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below. It was quite a moment, a moment where I felt a sense of invincibility and free.After an exhausting, but fun day we worked our way back across the country to the city of Dublin.
To end the day right my friends and I decided to get a sense of what the Irish night life is like. There are over 100 pubs in Dublin! Yeah, the Irish really do like their beer! But Irish pubs are unlike any pubs in Europe, there so much better!! If you like dancing, beer, and LIVE IRISH MUSIC, you’ll love this part of Irish culture! On our first official night in Ireland my friends and I went to a place called Temple Bar which is one of the most famous pubs in Dublin. Pushing our way in we managed to find a spot right in front of the musicians. The atmosphere was so fun and I still couldn’t believe I was here in IRELAND. Just as I thought things couldn’t get even more perfect, an Irish man started singing “Galway Girl.” Let me repeat that, and IRISH MAN WAS PLAYING GALWAY GIRL!!!! IN A PUB! IN IRELAND! If you have seen the movie P.S I love you than you know why I freaked out just a bit, if you haven’t than shame on you! Nah, I’m kidding, but PLEASE go watch it!!
Anyways, this moment here was almost the same exact moment in P.S I love you where Gerard Butler sings this song in the pub to Hilary Swank! Yeah, it was pretty cool! It was perfect way to end a perfect day! The following day I spent exploring the city of Dublin and all it’s rich history and culture. We started off by taking a free walking tour around the city and I strongly recommend them to anyone going anywhere! Find the FREE walking tours! I learned so much about Ireland than I knew before and saw things that I probably wouldn’t have seen! Dublin may not be the Ireland that everyone pictures in their head, but it’s still a pretty great city! For one last hurrah, we decided to go to one last pub, where there was again live music, but this time it was your traditional Irish music with fiddles and Irish flutes. The coolest part of this pub was that basically if you wanted to join in and play you could! or if you know any Irish music you could just go ahead and sing! Now this is an IRISH pub!! To be honest, I would’ve done anything to stay in Ireland. Ireland gripped my heart and I didn’t want to ever leave. It was really hard/sad to leave, but just like when I left France four years ago I was sad, however I knew I was coming back and I did!!! I hated leaving the beautiful Emerald Isle, but I know I WILL BE BACK!!! I may be American by birth, but I’ll always be Irish at heart!
