This weekend of incredible beauty started off with a class trip to Glendalough (valley of two lakes), in County Wicklow. One of the most important monastic sites in Ireland, Glendalough was founded by St. Kevin and is now known as the city of seven churches. It was beautiful, and after a small introduction, we had time to explore the area.
Melissa, Jack and I hiked up the mountain. We had made it pretty far when we came across a fence, so we were unable to get a picture showing off how high we had climbed!
Those of us that were heading to the south with Caroline, our teacher and tour guide, switched our bags to the tour bus and were off. We drove through County Wicklow, including the Wicklow Mountains National Park. Many movies have been filmed in this area, including scenes from P.S. I Love You. We were quick to realize why this destination had been chosen, for the scenery was absolutely breath taking. Unfortunately, because we were on the bus I was not able to take any pictures, but I found this one online to give you a taste of the scenery.
We continued our journey across Ireland down to the south western Dingle Peninsula. This small fishing village is known as a gaeltacht, an Irish or Gaelic speaking town. For us, this meant that street signs were in Irish and as we found, the language was more influential than in other parts of Ireland. Caroline, however told us that most of the locals would be bilingual and would have no problem speaking to us in English. Just for some fun, however, we had a quick Irish lesson on the bus and learned some practical phrases for the evening.
Dia dhuit, ("JEE-a dich") means hello (actually, the Lord be with you I believe) and
Conas ta tu ("CUNN-us thaw too") means how are you? A more tricky one was
go raibh maith agat, ("gur roh moh UG-ut") which somehow means thank you. Before you knew it, the bus was filled with Gaelic speakers.
We made a quick pit stop for snacks and I could not resist taking this picture of the beautiful sunset.
It was quite the drive, we did not arrive in Dingle until around 9:00. We dropped off our bags at the hostel and headed out for dinner and some fun. Caroline is wonderful at exposing us to the local color. We went to Murphy's Pub where some people had dinner.
It was very tiny, we practically took over the whole place. There was a dog on the couch when we walked in.
I successfully ordered a Guinness at the next pub in Gaelic, and we all enjoyed the music of a solo entertainer with his guitar.
Saturday morning started with a boat ride through the Dingle Harbor. One of the famous attractions of Dingle is a dolphin named Fungie, who apparently made his way to the harbor in 1983 and has stayed ever since, enjoying the scenery and exciting the crowds who come to see him. Our group split into two boats, and we took off to find the celebrity of the harbor.
We finally found Fungie! He was quite the good sport and showed off a little for us. The ride was beautiful. The captain told us that they have not had such nice weather since August, so we can all thank God for the sunshine.
After grabbing our bags at the hostel, we warmed up on the bus and began our tour of the Ring of Kerry. This coastal route around the Dingle Peninsula is set up in such a fashion that cars are advised to drive in a clockwise direction, to allow for single lane traffic on the narrow streets.
Our first stop was at remains of old beehive huts.
After, we drove along the peninsula to Slea Head beach where we had a picnic lunch and played on the sand.
Our favorite expression of the trip thus far. "Whats the Craic" is the Irish way of saying "What's going on?" or "Where's the fun?"
The beach was incredible. Despite the cold temperatures, we all took off our shoes and embraced the cold sand and Atlantic Ocean. We actually got a game of capture the flag started, and had although I ended the game with cold, wet and sandy jeans, I can honestly say it was one of the best days I've had here thus far.
We continued our drive, stopping along the way for photos.
Inch Beach, one of the larger surfing beaches in Ireland.
Our next stop was the town of Killarney, in County Kerry. The two hour ride was filled with a long nap, and we arrived just before 5:00. A couple of us went to a little pub and got a cup of coffee and watched the France vs. Ireland rugby game. After a quick shower and mass, we all went out to dinner.
Sunday morning, we had a complimentary breakfast in the hostel and began our journey back to Dublin. The trip would not be complete without a stop to the Blarney Castle in County Cork. Built nearly six hundred years ago by Cormac MacCarthy, remains of this castle still stand today for people to admire. Legend has it, those who kiss the world famous Blarney stone at the top of the Castle will have the gift of gab, or elequence, bestowed upon them. The grounds were beautiful, and once we reached the castle, we climbed the steep, circular stone staircase to the top. The whole procedure was quite the ordeal, but very entertaining at the same time.
In order to kiss the stone, you have to lie upside down. In this position, you are looking straight down on the grounds of the castle and have a clear view of how high you really are. I loved it and can now say that not only did I kiss the Blarney stone on Valentines day, but I now have the gift of gab. What a day.
Completely exhausted from the busy weekend, we all boarded the bus and made it back to DCU by 6:00. Last night was an early night for me, and as I approach the start of a new week, I look forward for the excitement that awaits.
