Galway has definitely been one of our favorite parts of the trip thus far. The hostel was bright, clean and the people were overwhelmingly kind. We met some really nice girls in our room, and one of them, Anna, walked around with us for the afternoon. We knew we'd be friends when she looked at us and asked, "have you ever watched Gilmore Girls?" the resounding yes filled in the following 2 days with laughter and an exchange of travel stories. She was so fun and we were bummed to leave for Killarney this morning without her!
In the adorable town of Galway we all had a delicious dinner at a local pub in town too! We all got the same meal (see photo below) of chicken goujons, which are basically really crispy chicken strips, with a side of chips and coleslaw. I had a beer which Madeline tried, but she likes Guinness better! I think our dad would be proud. The weather was beautiful, the sun burned my skin and we couldn't have been happier.
For our full day in Galway, we took a tour of the Burren National Park, a supposed home of fairies and leprachauns, and ended at the Cliffs of Moher. We had a charming, trickster named Desmond as our tour guide. He was an Irish man, at least 80 years old with a great sense of humor. He brought along his leprechauns and one of them whistled suggestively at you as you walked by. We were thoroughly entertained as well as enchanted by the "fairy tree" he pointed out along the way.
Also, along the tour we stopped at a delightful pub and split the most delicious traditional Irish beef Guinness stew. Yum!!
After exploring Ireland for a few hours, we made it to the cliffs. They are indescribable. No words can quite capture it, so here are a few pictures:
We went along both sides of the cliffs, the left side was terrifying! There was no barrier between you and the ocean below, but we went slow and it was well worth the hike. Also, at the top of the cliffs, we saw a couple get engaged! And being the cheesy American girls we are, we had to get a picture. Without their consent or knowledge of course...
We have been so fortunate to have had our introduction to Ireland a sunny one. Our walk through the Killarney national park today was gorgeous and we are coming to slightly melancholy terms that we cannot stay in Ireland for the rest of the summer.
I call this photo, "Madeline just chillin' on a 600 year old castle"
- Maggie (with editing by Madd)
I've refrained from commenting on all of your posts but this one is going to make up for it in length. Fair warning.
ReplyDeleteSO, you should know that I saw you both become friends with this Anna on facebook the other day, and I was HOPING that you had met her during your travels. And then when I was clearly creeping on her facebook page, the first thing I noticed was that she liked Gilmore Girls and I had a whole vision of how you probably bonded over this! So pretty much this blog post just made all my hopes and dreams come true. HA!
On another note, this post made me SUPER DUPER jealous (as they all have done.) This one made me ESPECIALLY jealous however because since I for some reason ended up watching quite a bit of the US open this week (WOO GOLF! not) I of course had to use all of my golf knowledge and pick a favorite guy to cheer for. So, I watched one interview and decided on the Irish golfer (clearly for his skillz, not his accent..) In other words, please bring back an Irish man for me.
Anyway, now that this comment has turned into a blog of it's own, I'll calm down. I'm so glad you're having so much fun and I'm obsessed with your blog. Please stop by Florida next. :)
Ok, so this whole time reading I've wanted to sing.... "It's christmas in Killarney....then I realized it wasn't christmas and I'm not in Ireland. :( Soooo that was a sad realization. But it truly looks gorgeous. Anything that green has to be gorgeous... wanna know why?.....Cuz it goes WONDERFULLY with my hair! :P LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Seriously I cannot wait til you come home soon, and sit with me for like a DAY to tell me a play by play of literally everything, so it feels like I've been there....
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