Malahide and Western Ireland

This week I want to cover the major trips we took to give an idea of the local traveling experience. To give a kind of introduction, we visited Malahide on Saturday the 5th and beginning last Friday, we took a three day trip to the West coast of Ireland visiting a handful of locations during that time. So without wasting any more lines, I’ll just hop right into it.

Malahide:
We found out early on that Champlain would schedule several day trips throughout the semester on the weekends. The first of these day trips was to a small town North of Dublin called Malahide. The major attraction Tom told us about was Malahide Castle, a well preserved castle that had been inhabited by private owners until the 1970’s. Champlain was kind enough to buy us each round-trip DART tickets (the local train system) so our trip was made that much easier. One thing I’ve come to appreciate is the load off a pre-scheduled and pre-planned trip gives you. Anyway, we arrived in Malahide after a short train ride and proceeded to the castle. Quickly the town turned into a medieval setting surrounded by thick trees and stone walls. We passed a park-like area with a cricket field boarded by a stone wall with a game being played. The path through the trees was very cool; everything was covered in a thick layer of ivy. Toward the end of the path we could see the start of the courtyard and a large wall covered in overgrown vegetation. I skipped past most of the courtyard area because it was mostly touristy and the attractions were all closed.

After another few minutes of walking we crossed around a bend and into an open field where we could see the castle on the right. I was surprised to see how well preserved it looked. As we got closer, I noticed that even that castle itself was very much covered in ivy and other plants as well as surrounded by a thick layer of tall trees; luckily the front of the castle was clear enough to see and get a couple good pictures of. The overgrown state of it also added to the atmosphere and gave it an older look. I didn’t actually enter the castle because, from what I was told by other students, it’s mostly just a tourist trap and you see very little for the 7 Euro entry fee. I didn’t feel like I was missing much because there was plenty to photograph outside. Following the path took me around to the back side of the castle where I could see more of the castle itself as well as some of the more interesting parts of the inside.

The rest of Malahide itself didn’t overly impress me. I felt it was mostly just an expensive small town with a lot of tourists crowding the streets. The castle itself was more than worth the train ticket though.

Western Ireland: Galway
Our first big weekend trip was held last weekend, beginning bright and early on Friday and ending late Sunday night. The bus picked us up around noon and we set off straight for Galway. After around a three hour ride with one stop for lunch, we arrived in Galway outside of our hostel. We received our keys, found our rooms, unpacked, and were set free to do what we wanted for the rest of the day. Of course upon hearing this, we immediately set off for the beach. My immediate impression was that this was the Burlington of Ireland. Galway is an active, young beach town with a market street running down to the water that radiates Church Street vibes. By the canal, at the edge of the city, were close to a hundred people just relaxing on the grass. When we made it to the actual beach, we found some Irish hippies playing the drums and some of us went for a swim.

After our beach adventure, a couple of us made our way back into town for the best fish n’ chips I’ve had since arriving in Ireland. Back at the apartment we played a little GAA Hurling in the courtyard and gained a new appreciation for the sport. I was lucky enough to catch the Hurling Finals on TV the week before where Kilkenny took their 4th straight victory. To finish off the night, we met up at a pub called the King’s Head for some drinks and live music.

The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher:
Our destinations for day two were many. We began with an old abbey in the countryside that made for some good pictures. Our next stop was to a tomb of standing stones in the Burren. The standing stones themselves were really interesting, but I found the ground to be the better sight to see. The whole ground was made up of limestone that has been worn away by rain so it is covered in cracks and divots. It’s difficult to describe in words so I will attach a picture to give a better idea of what I’m talking about. After spending some time in the area, we began our trip to the Cliffs of Moher. From what I have heard, the Cliffs of Moher is perhaps one of the best spots to see in all of Ireland and from my limited amount of time spent here, I would have to agree; the experience is breathtaking. There is a great angle of viewing from the top of the cliffs as you can walk around most of the edge and see the adjacent cliff faces from where you stand. The feeling of being on one of these 600+ foot cliffs and looking around you is surreal; it is something everyone should experience. I could easily see myself spending an entire day looking out over the various cliffs to the ocean down below.

We proceeded from the cliffs to Doolin, the town we would be staying in for the night. Rather than spending much time in the hostel, we decided to go check out the far side of some of the cliffs from the beach. We had to hop a few fences and pass by a dead dog but we did make it to the beach. The beach itself was pretty much covered in small rocks, but the view of the cliffs was worth seeing nonetheless. A couple others even went for another swim. From the beach, we went to a pub in town for a meal on Champlain’s tab. I am happy to report as well that it was some of the best food I’ve had—Champlain’s Ireland staff know how to pick the right restaurants. We even got to see some Irish folk music being played by a few locals in the pub after dinner. Nothing beats ending the day with a few pints of Guinness, great food, and great music.

The Aran Islands:
Day three was a little different than the previous two; we began our morning by heading to another area of the beach by the docks to check out the limestone terrain and relax while we waited for a ferry to take us out to the Aran Islands. The boat ride was quite exhausting, clocking in at over an hour, but we had the opportunity to see some of the islands and Ireland itself from a different perspective than before. The reason I said that this day was different from the previous two was because once we landed on the island, we were free to do whatever we wanted until the last ferry left the island at 4:00. A large majority of us thought the best idea would be to rent some bicycles and ride around the island to see what was there. The bike ride itself was rewarding in that we were able to cruise through the countryside at a brisk pace and take in our surroundings as we rode. This was very much a farming island, many people had horses and cows on their lawns and everyone had stone walls surrounding their properties. We made our way down the road to find a beach that looked out of place amidst all the limestone and old rock houses. You would swear your were in the Bahamas standing on this sandy beach on the West coast of Ireland.

The rest of our time on the island was spent on the beach, biking around to take in the sights, and relaxing back by the docks. I had a lot of fun on the island and really appreciated the openness and simplicity of our experience there. There isn’t a whole lot to say about the rest of the trip, we spent the next 6 hours or so between a boat ride and a bus ride and I was more than happy to arrive back at my apartment in Dublin. I found myself feeling very pleased with the trip and thankful that Champlain was kind enough to subsidize most of it for us. Now I can start planning my own trips out of Dublin…

Arriving, orientation, and week 1

So this is week one. I am in Dublin, oriented, adjusted, and ready to see the country. I've decided to include my arrival and orientation in this week as I'm sure anyone interested in studying abroad is wondering about the situation. My apologies if this seems to jump around, it has been a hectic but exciting first week and there is a lot to include. As I've adjusted to my new surroundings, I've been able to plan and coordinate my time in the city a little better.

Where to begin except the flight over? Personally, I took Ireland's major airline Aer Lingus as it was the cheapest and easiest to schedule flight available. I wasn't the only one to come to this conclusion either, there were 10 or so other Champlain students on my flight. We arrived a little before 5:00 AM in Dublin which meant midnight back in New England so we all knew we were in for some serious jet lag. The excitement of arriving in a new country was enough to keep me awake however. After the Dublin Campus Administrator, Stephen, bought us all cabs to the apartments, one of my roommates and I unpacked and got settled in. We met up with a few other students that had finished unpacking and tried to find some breakfast; unfortunately for us nothing in Dublin opens until around 9:30. The next big shocker was the price tags. I assumed coming here that because the Euro held a larger value over the Dollar that prices would reflect that--much to my surprise, all of the food had roughly the same price tag you would expect in the states if not higher. We figured out pretty quick that grocery shopping was the way to go.

Day 1:
Most of the first day was spent exploring the city. We covered a good chunk of the south side of the Liffey (the river that splits Dublin in half) on our own and the north side with the Head Resident, Tom. We crowded into an Asian noodle house and had some great Chinese food while we listened to some hilarious karaoke next door. All in all a good day, but we all slept easy that night. Day two was a little less eventful for those of us who arrived the previous day. It was spent mostly exploring the city, hanging out, and grocery shopping--a pretty good day to relax and finish getting over jet lag.

Orientation:
Then orientation started. We got the first taste of the hike we'll be making many more times over the next four months. It can be daunting at first, but a week in I've already gotten used to it. We were all pleasantly surprised to see what the academic building looked like. It is very elegant inside with fireplaces and large windows in nearly every room. There is a garden area outback that could be nice to study in. I think everyone's favorite room, though, was the lounge area at the top of the stairs with the biggest bean bag chairs you've ever seen. The whole room is very cool with a big TV on the wall, coffee tables, and colorful seats; all of that on top of the bean bag chairs of course. Needless to say, our time spent in the academic center is comfortable.

After going over some preliminary information, we were put into groups and set out onto a scavenger hunt with the winning group getting a free meal at a nice restaurant. The scavenger hunt definitely got us walking around and seeing parts of the city we had missed up to that point. Some of the items on the hunt were a little difficult to achieve and my group certainly didn't complete it, but we had fun. After recovering in our apartments for a little while, we met back up and walked to the Porterhouse for a meal on Champlain's tab. I really liked the Porterhouse--it had a very modern pub layout consisting of several stories of small dining areas and bars and a stage surrounded by the winding staircase. Unfortunately there was no one performing at the time, but the atmosphere was cool nonetheless. Much to my surprise the food was very good. I hadn't come to Ireland expecting much for food but my fish n' chips were delicious. I heard similar comments from the others so it wasn't a fluke--just don't order a steak, it's not like back home. Day two of orientation was much the same layout as the first except the scavenger hunt took place on the north side of the Liffey. Food that night was served at the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin. This place had a very old traditional feel to it which was cool. They maintained the original layout with a courtyard out front that you can eat and drink at. We had a decent variety of stews to choose from on the menu; I personally chose the Beef & Guinness Stew which was a kind of spiced beef stew with Guinness cooked into the broth and was delicious. In between each course we were entertained by stories from a former tour guide on the subject of Irish history, specifically about the famine and their belief in fairies. I enjoyed the stories very much, the guy was a great story teller and captivated us well.

The third day of orientation was a little different. We were given train tickets and brought to a small seaside village north of Dublin called Howth. Upon exiting the train, the coordinators said, "That's the end of orientation, see you back in Dublin" and we were on our own to explore Howth as we wished. Howth is a beautiful village with some great spots for taking pictures. We all hiked up the hill on the coast and spent a good deal of time up there. I plan on going back while I'm here because there is a lot to see there and I didn't catch all of it that day.

Classes:
Nothing was planned for Sunday so I made use of it and slept in. Classes began the next day and I got my first taste of school in Dublin. I may not be the best example since I only had one class that day but I like my Mondays easy. The first instance of every class I had was just an introduction to the course so it was an easy week. I ended up with assignments in two or three classes but nothing too serious. There isn't really much to report on the classes at this point since they've just started but they all sound interesting so far. The week ended on Thursday since everyone has Fridays off so that was a relief--the first week of classes is always a downer. Then today rolled around and a couple of us decided to go to the zoo. We didn't know much about the Dublin Zoo but we were curious enough to walk the 20 minutes and pay the 12.50 student entry fee. Again I was pleasantly surprised because the zoo was quite large and had some fascinating exhibits. We were even so fortunate as to arrive at feeding time for the arctic wolves. All in all it was a good trip and a great way to spend a friday afternoon.

That is about it for orientation and the first week. I'm looking forward to getting out of the city sometime soon, Howth was a lot of fun and we have a trip planned for Malahide tomorrow. Next weekend is our Western Ireland trip so I'll be sure to report back with the details from that. I can't wait.