A Week of Go,Go,Go

I went from eating like royalty to finding my food along our walk to the beach.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, our meals for the past excursion weekend were five star quality. But the reality of Monday hit and we were back to eating normal, college-budget food.

Well almost.

The assignment for my Monday morning class, Gaelic Archaeology & Culture, was to live a few hours in the life of the Mesolithic people.

Our professor, Jacqui, showed us where to gather hazelnuts, blackberries and sloe berries. Then, we ventured across the street to the rock beach to collect barnas and winkles.

We collected two shopping bags full of the shellfish and cooked them over the stove in our cottages. Everyone was brave enough to try at least one of each shellfish. I can confidently say that the barnas and winkles will not make it anywhere on my list of “favorite foods abroad.”

However, others in the group acquired a taste for the shellfish and went as far as making a shellfish alfredo pasta. I really don’t think I was missing out too much on this meal though.

Wednesday was an eventful day, but for completely different reasons. There was no exotic foods on the menu (thankfully); instead, our Literature professor, Gerard, took us to Thoor Ballylee and Coole Park – hot destinations for lovers of the Irish poet W.B. Yeats.

We explored Yeats Tower at Thoor Ballylee where Yeats and his family lived for many years. Gerard read us some of his favorite Yeats poetry at the top of the tower – it was a magical and thought-provoking experience.

Our tour of Yeats Tower ended with tea time, which I was very thankful for as the morning air was a bit chilled. The new Gaelic phrase I learned for the week,” Tá fuar orm” (I am cold), is coming in quite handy.

The early afternoon was spent hiking around Coole Park, another place where W.B. Yeats and his family lived. The stunning greenery and towering trees in the park made for the perfect setting for more poetry readings.

Wednesday’s excursion was capped off with a visit to Heritage Trial in Athenry – a highlight of the day for everyone. We were all reminded that you’re never too old to act like a kid.

Here we had team competitions involving archery and running through mazes. We even dressed up in Renaissance-era clothing. The ladies elegantly wore dresses and head pieces similar to giant donuts, while the guys wore outfits fit for kings, knights and bishops.

While this may seem like a giant game of dress up, the purpose was to bring history to life. Instead of standing around being lectured about the past, we were able to recreate it. Let me tell you, I make a really good Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Thursday, while less eventful than Wednesday, held its own special surprise for us – we learned the basics of knitting. We purchased wool in the Spiddal Craft Village and ordered needles off of Amazon.

Our first project is to knit a basic square. All of our squares will be compiled together to make a baby blanket for the soon-to-be-newborn baby of the owner of the bus company we are hiring for all of our excursions.

Some of us are naturally more gifted at knitting than others. I am about to restart my project for the third time, but third time is the charm right?

Knitting is more than just a talent of the hands, it requires patience, reflection, tolerance of imperfection and persistence. I think knitting is a virtue… a virtue I am not likely to master, but I am willing to try.

The end of class on Thursday marked the beginning of the weekend! This weekend’s excursion was to Killarney and Dingle. Let me tell you that we packed a massive amount into three days – so much so that it is Sunday night and I can’t remember clearly what we did on Friday.

Thankfully I can rely on my camera roll to tell most of the story.

Friday involved a nearly four hour bus ride to Killarney, but we broke up the trip by stopping for tea/coffee as well as stopping at a wool mill. At the wool mill we learned how the wool is prepared, dyed and turned into yarn.

We entertained ourselves for the rest of the bus ride by knitting and playing music over the bus speaker.

We arrived to our destination at Killarney National Park in the afternoon. We explored Torc Waterfall, hiked around the park and skipping stones by the shores of the lake. The views at Killarney were so beautiful they looked fake.

What struck me the most was that the landscape at Killarney National Park didn’t match up with the rest of Ireland. The national park held mountains, mighty trees and bodies of water bluer than the sky. It was certainly a change from the rolling green hills, stone walls and livestock that we were used to seeing.

The rest of the day was spent exploring the town of Killarney. Our group stayed at Neptune’s Hostel. The whole town was sporting flags, banners and jerseys for the big Kerry vs. Dublin Gaelic football final happening the next night.

This made the charming town very lively. With full belly’s of pizza and the famous Murphy’s ice-cream and headed out to experience the night life. We started our night at Scruffy’s and ended our night McSoreley’s Bar.

On Saturday we departed Killarney for Dingle. We stopped at the Muckross estate and had a guided tour of the house. The 19th century Victorian mansion looked straight out of Downtown Abbey.

The mansion held original furniture, artwork and decorations. The view from the side windows overlooked the beautiful Muckross Lake.

We picnicked outside on the lawn before going to Muckross Abbey. The ruins of the stone Abbey filled me with wonder.

After leaving the Muckross estate we stopped at Inch beach to wade in the ocean and watch the surfers. This was a quick pit stop but it inspired our group to possibly try surfing lessons sometime this semester.

We arrived at our accommodations at the Hideout Hostel in Dingle just in time to settle in and head out to a pub to watch the Kerry vs. Dublin game. I think every person in Dingle was watching the game so the energy at the pubs was high.

Though I am a Dublin girl, I couldn’t be in County Kerry and not cheer on their team. I learned the rules of game as it was being played – it seemed like a mix between handball, soccer and rugby. In the end, Kerry put up a good fight but fell to Dublin. Dublin took home their fifth title in a row which was groundbreaking.

Kerry’s loss didn’t make the night life in Dingle settle down. We stumbled across O’Flaherty’s Bar where a men’s hurling team had taken over a room for a drinking/singing night. The rowdy group of guys were very welcoming. Admission to the room was to lead a song.

The singing ranged from tone deaf to radio-worthy and the song selection included everything from American modern hits and oldies as well as Irish classics. Hours passed, beer was spilled, pictures fell off the wall, benches caved from the weight of people standing on them and glasses toppled off the tables, but the night was absolutely perfect. You couldn’t have asked for a better Irish experience.

The following morning we hopped on our bus and slowly started making our way back to Galway. We made short stops along the way at Dunbeg Promontory Fort and Dunquin Harbor, the beehive huts, the Chorca Museum, and the Gallarus Oratory.

Each stop was about twenty minutes away from each other. So a big chunk of our driving was saved for the afternoon. We entertained ourselves with sightseeing BINGO (I won the first round, no big deal).

Our arrival back to our cottages featured a big “welcome home” by a giant spider in my bedroom. But my spider story deserves a post of its own, so check back in soon.

I’m happy to be back in the cottages at Park Lodge Hotel after such an exhausting weekend. Time to see where this week brings me!

Slán.