C'est la vie! : IRELAND

On to my final destination of the week….. IRELAND!

When I planned to study abroad, I knew Ireland was the one place I really really wanted to travel too. Partly because when I watched P.s. I love you I absolutely fell in love with the scenery (and Gerard butler of course) so from then on it was always on my list of MUST see places.

Our flight there wasn’t too enjoyable. Probably the worst turbulence I’ve ever experienced and my luggage wouldn’t fit in the stupid compartment so I had to pay a fee. (Learn from my mistake and don’t ever fly with Ryanair). But as soon as we landed I immediately wiped away my tears and had a huge smile from ear to ear. (Must’ve been something in the irish air… or the cute Irish man who greeted us when we arrived he he). We arrived on Halloween night and I found out that Halloween actually originated in Ireland since it was a Celtic tradition. Upon hearing that we knew we had to put together a costume, find a local bar and celebrate Halloween as the Irish do. We were staying at an older couples cottage for the weekend. Took us quite a trek to finally get there… was definitely the boonies of Ireland. Had to pull over a few cars to find where we were going but luckily everyone was so nice and welcoming. They were by far the nicest people I have ever encountered. They went above and beyond to help complete strangers… we couldn’t find our apartment so a lady and her daughter pulled over the car and stood with us for 20 minutes looking it up on their phone, we couldn’t find the bus stop… a police man walked us to the main road and stopped a bus in the middle of the road to make sure we got on and we’re going in the right direction. Everyone was just amazing.

When we arrived at our cottage it immediately felt like home. The couple welcomed us with tea and biscuits and told us all about where to visit and how to get around. They were so sweet. Every-time we got home we’d fill them in on our day and they just loved hearing all about ourselves. Thanks for hosting us Teresa!

That night we went to Temple bar, a well known Irish bar. We put our eyeliners to use and dressed up as Cats. Not the most original costume but it was all we could put together in 20 minutes. The next few days we spent sightseeing and walking around the city. We visited St. Patricks Cathedral, Trinity University and also did a tour of a castle. And of course whats Ireland without visiting the country side, the place where Holly and Gerry fell in love. So we did a bus tour that took us to Wicklow and Glendalough, up the mountains and through the country side. The views were breathtaking. The wind wasn’t so enjoyable but our driver treated us to a shot of whisky before exiting the bus so it wasn’t so bad.

Our last night we went out with some friends we met on Halloween. They took us bar hopping and we’re a lot of fun. Our flight the next morning was at 6am so rather than sleeping and wasting the night away we partied till 3.. went home to pick up our luggage and headed straight to the airport. Survived our first “overnight experience“at the airport YAY! It was a long 12 hour day of travelling home- had to stop in Paris then catch a train etc…. But it was WELL WELL worth it. I’m so glad I made it to Ireland. Met great people, learned some Irish lingo and just really enjoyed every minute.

After a week long trip in the UK and hearing English in every country we were in and just feeling so welcomed and at home it was definitely hard re-adjusting to life back in Lyon. But with only a few weeks left I’ll be sure to make the most of it.

Lots of love

-C