Day 4 – Castles, Cliffs and Carsickness

---

After getting little to no sleep last night, I knew that today was going to be a long one. We woke up around 9 am to leave for the 9:20 am bus tour…not exactly the smartest idea in terms of having a calm morning but we did what we had to do to ensure maximum hours of sleep.





The bus tour started at our hostel and was to take us to all of the historic and/or beautiful places in Galway. The idea of a bus tour is great in theory, but one we got on the bumpy, country side roads, I knew I was in trouble. An hour in, it hit me. I was going to be sick and something had to be done. Not wanting to attract attention to my issue, I tried to fight it off. Not my brightest idea. Next thing I know, My clothes are completely covered in puke and everyone is staring at me in absolute horror. Not cool.



After getting past the complete mortification of vomiting literally EVERYWHERE, I decided to laugh it off, clean it up and move on. I am lucky to have been with people who rather than make fun of me, where very kind and understanding, which is so helpful in that kind of situation. So from now on I won’t mention the incident. It’s like it never happened.



So our first stop was a beautiful castle that sits right on the edge of the Galway bay (I think). It has been restored in the last 50 years and was so beautiful. Definitely not something I’d see on a daily basis. And even more beautiful than the castle was the view from the top. Although the walking area up there was literally a foot wide (if even that) all the way around, we managed to maneuver as best we could and truly enjoy the splendor that the Galway landscape has to offer.



Our second stop was the Aillwee cave on the edge of cliffs made of limestone. The cave was discovered at random by a guy who happened upon it when looking for his dog. The guy, having a very minimal interest in caves, did not tell anyone of its existence until 33 years later when he met of group of hikers. Today it is a popular tourist attraction and natural beauty that can be appreciated by anyone.



Our biggest stop of the day was the Cliffs of Moher. By far my favorite place in Galway thus far. The cliffs sit on the Atlantic Ocean and look out to the Aryan Islands and beyond. Being in such a peaceful, naturally stunning place was breath taking. The 50 flights of stairs were breath taking as well, but in a much different way. The most interesting aspect about the cliffs is that there are no gates or fences of anything to keep people from the edge, which is awesome and scary all at once. Personally, I never got too close to the edge but apparently many people enjoy that thrill. Something my Professor noted is that in America, we would never have something this dangerous so open to the public. This struck a cord with me.



Tonight we saw a show called Ieto. It was an acrobatic piece done with benches that were turned and balanced in every which way possible. The two men in the show were very much in sync and enjoyable to watch. I cannot wait to see what other unique types of theatre we will be presented this week.



Attempting to understand the culture here has been a challenge and adventure. The first saying we learned is “that is good craic” (pronounced crack). It means “that is good fun” but trust me that was not our first guess. The second interesting phrase I’ve heard is “Do you want to have a fike?” which alarmed me at first. It means “Do you want to have a smoke?” which is not uncommon here. Having just met this person though, I had to do a double take and then literally ask what it meant.



Once I got past my little accident, the day turned out to be very enjoyable. I’m so blessed to be here and I plan on making the best out of every situation, no matter how embarrassing.



Goodnight!

---