Friday morning me and four friends got up early and down to the bus station and caught the 7:30 bus to Galway. Galway is this crazy little mid-evil town on the west coast. Also a college town and tourist trap which is a rathe bizarre combination. It also happens to be right next to the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher.
We went to the Aran Islands on Friday. They're this collection of three Islands that are tiny little fishing villages. We went to the biggest one called Innish Moher. What's really cool is that they have an accent that is completely separate than that of the people on the mainland. The whole island is covered in tiny little pastures that are divided by stone walls. The walls are hundreds of years old. The ground was so covered with rocks that the only option for farming was to build thousands of little walls. What was really cool though is a druid aged fort on the top of a hill. Its anchient but what was coolest was that it was right on a cliff side. They were stone cliffs that just dropped off into the ocean. SCARY! Needless to say we all got on our bellies and lumbered over the edge to take a peak.
That night we were walking around and found a place with a mechanical bull. I got a free ride on it, and it destroyed me. We went to what amounts to the Irish McDonalds that night really late and it was packed. They had security guards, which I thought was strange until during the course of our late night snack, they threw out three people! Classy I know.
The next day we went to the cliffs of Moher. They are Gorgeous! Couldn't hang over the edge though because they slant downwards unlike the ones on Inish Moher. Whats really funny is they have a wall up over most of the edges, but they have this one area where the wall stops where you're not supposed to go but everyone does. They have rangers, but they do nothing.... not really sure what the point is but ehh.
The Dail is in a state of rebellion. The budget came out and one of the provisions took away free medical cards that gave people free healthcare for people over 70. There's debate about how much this will actually affect people because it only applies to very rich 70 year olds. This being said when people dropped private insurance they signed a deal saying they couldn't buy private insurance for at least 10 years. It's created a situation where people are stuck without health care for no reason. The government is trying to decide what to do, while the opposition is in a state of war. I went to watch the debates the other morning and at one point the leader of the labor party pointed and laughed at the minister of health when the mics were off. The Vice President (Taniste) when yelled at about an EU minister said back "well you'll never be one paddy so why stop shouting and sit down." The leader of the opposition was nearly thrown out by the speaker of the house. C-RAZY! I can't wait to be back next week to see what's going on.
Tomorrow I leave for Paris, then for Dingle. I CAN'T WAIT.
Laurel's in Paris right now and will be leaving tonight. She texted me yesterday to say "I'm on top of the Eiffel Tower." to Which I replied "Oh yeah well I'm on top of the Cliffs of Moher." Needless to say we're having amazing times.
1 comment:
Will, saw your pictures riding in Ireland. What a manly mount you had. King no less! Looked fabulous. Can't believe a double rainbow while you rode!! too crazy. I must comment on your equitation, quite good actually. Excellent knees and hands (Laurel's toes were sticking out so you win) Can't wait to hear your version of the trip to Dingley. (sp?) Kay
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