¿que pasó en españa?: IRELAND

IRELAND.

So the first day in Ireland we did not really do much. After our flight from Malaga, we got in around 15:00 and went straight to the hostel. Amanda did not get in until two hours after we were already there, and we didn't want to do anything without here so we just waited around at the hostel. A couple hours later when Amanda showed up we all decided to go to the grocery store and get things to make lunches while we stayed at the hostel. Dublin overall is pretty expensive, and after our 8 euro lunch we really did not want to spend a lot of money on food anymore. So we go peanut butter and jellys and walked around our hostel. Then we decided that the best decision was to hit up some bars and go out. So we did. We went out at like 19:00 to a restaurant and ordered some Bulmers. :) For one pint it was 6 euro. How upsetting. You would think that since it is made there, Bulmers, Guinness, whatever, that it would be cheap. But it was not. From there we went to a couple other bars and met quite a bit of Irish people.

HOSTEL.

The next day we walked all around Dublin and conveniently ended up at the Guinness factory. Um not really a fan of Guinness and I REALLY hated it last time I was there, but two years later, I have to say that is was okay. I mean, not my favorite by any means, but I finished my free pint! The tour that they have there is a self paced tour and it has seven levels. It was mostly pretty lame, but while in Ireland how can you not go to the Guinness factory?! They don't really have anything to play with while you are there....just things to read. How boring.

Becca, Allison, Me, Amanda. This was us walking to the Guinness factory and standing on the bridge over the Liffey River.

Had to make a stop at RI. obviously..

The whole walk there it was so windy and it drizzled the whole time! Made me feel like I was in England again. :)

this was not allowed...

sample time half-way through the tour!

in the "gravity bar" where you get your free pint at the end of the tour. the only fill them up this much, wait for them to sit after about 2 minutes and the top them off.

after they topped it off they drew a shamrock on top. :)

the gravity bar is a round room that is all windows so that you can see all of Dublin :)

The next day we wanted to go on a tour to the Cliffs of Moher, so after the Guinness factory we just went back to the hostel, showered, and hung out there until we went to bed. The tour company for the Cliffs of Moher wanted us to be at the bus by 6:45am. That was fun waking up the next day. Once we got on the bus, we slept for the 2 and a half hours it took us to get to Galway, which is the opposite side of the country. From Galway we got a new tour guide, and the bus to the Cliffs of Moher began. There were a lot of stops along the way to the cliffs, where we got to get off the bus and take pictures.

picture on the bus along the way...

The Dunguaire Castle. It's a 16th century castle and was home to King Guaire. Now it is home to the renowned Hookers, the traditional sailing boats. Had to look what that sentence mean by the way but i found out that the "galway hooker" is a traditional sailing boat used in Galway Bay off the west coast of Ireland. The hooker was developed for the strong seas there. It is identified by the distinctive sail formation. It consisted of a single mast with a main sail and two foresails. Traditionally, the boat is black and the sails are a dark red-brown.

me and allison on the bus! :)

a cute little town on the way: Ballyvaughan.

This is the Ballyalban Fairy Fort. A prehistoric ring-fort or ancient farmers homestead is now believed to be inhabited by little men with orange beards and green hats.

picture I took..not of the fairy fort...while we were at the fairy fort.

The Burren. A unique limestone landscape covering over 320 square km. It is also home to 70% of Ireland's native flora. We didn't get off the bus here! :( So I tried to take the best picture that I could. But it was really awesome because all of the "mountains" were covered in limestone..kind of crazy.

Poulnabrone Dolmen, The Burren

Poulnabrone Dolmen. The Burren's most iconic landmark (behind us, and in the picture above on the left side) was constructed be Neolithic farmers approximately 5,800 years ago making it older than the Egyptian Pyramids!

picture I took at Poulnabrone Dolmen...not of Poulnabrone Dolmen.

SHEEP.

Kilfenora Cathedral and Crosses. This 6th century monastery is well known for its abundance of Celtic Crosses and because of this, its known as the "City of Crosses."

So before we made our stop at the Cliffs of Moher, we stopped in Doolin for lunch. Lunch was cottage pie, like stew with mashed potatoes and gravy on top. With a side of potatoes, potatoes, potatoes and peas, and potatoes.

OKAY. Cliffs of Moher now. When we first got there, we were told 1. that it was really dangerous (yea yea...) and 2. that and ambulance was already coming to examine a girl who was pushed over by the wind! (yikes) The bus driver told u to link arms so that we do not get blown over, and not to run because the wind will push you over when you are midair. How frightening. And he was not kidding. It was SO WINDY. It was ridiculous, and I was scared. When we were walking up there were foam floating in the air from the sea and since it was so windy I could literally taste the salt in my mouth from the water.

first we walked up these to get a view.

THE CLIFFS OF MOHER! :)

..they stand 214 meteres high and 8km long.

see the water from the ocean being sprayed up?

hahaha

me, amanda, allison, becca. walking up the other side of the path!

After the Cliffs we got back on the bus and started heading back to Galway but first we made a stop at the coast for some pictures :)

allison, me, becca, amanda.

That night after the Cliffs tour we went out! :) I only have two pictures though because the other ones are so disgusting. But we went to Temple Bar in Temple Bar (the area) drank Bulmers andd met lots of fun people :)

Next day. We woke up andd started touring Dublin again, ending up at the Jameson factory.

Dublin.

here is the temple bar area.

Then we got to the Jameson factory.

amanda, me, and becca out front.

So the tour was a guided tour. You first watch a ten minute movie about Jameson. And then we did a 20 minute tour and they showed us how they Jameson gets its flavor by being distilled three times and stuff like that. But at the beginning of the tour they picked people in the crowd. So at the end of the tour the people picked got their free Jameson drink..you could either have it plain, with cranberry juice or with ginger ale. I obviously chose ginger ale. YUM. And then the people chosen to be vounteers went and sat at a table that they had prepared. Underneath that piece of paper in front of me was three shots. One was Jameson, one was American Whiskey and another was Scottish. They ask you to taste them all...and then pick the one you thought was the most smooth. WELL. they were all disgusting. But I decided that I wanted to throw up the least with the SIP of Jameson. So...I gave my shots away after I tasted them all.

So while we were tasting it, they were actually printing us all DIPLOMAS! :) They say: "This is to certify that NAME visited the home of Jameson and is a qualified Irish whiskey taster." And it's signed and dated! :)