Spring Break on the Emerald Isle | Education Abroad GeoBlog

When you think of spring break, one tends to think of sun, sand and beaches. Never one for going with the crowd, two friends (who are also Penn Staters!) and I decided to head over to Ireland for the few days we had off over Easter weekend. That’s right, we headed to a place where, as the Irish say, you can experience all four seasons in five minutes.

We flew into Dublin on Wednesday morning, and were soon exposed to our first dose of Irish culture shock: when the attendant selling bus tickets into the city asked us if we knew what stop to get off at, and where we were going. Seems like a pretty normal thing to ask, but after spending two months in Germany, where everyone assumes that you know what you’re doing and where you’re going and glares at you if you are unsure, this was a welcome change. I really didn’t realize how unfriendly the Germans can be until we got to Ireland!

We had enough time on Wednesday to walk around the city and find our bearings, as well as formulate a plan for the next few days as to what we wanted to do and see. High on my list was the Trinity College Library, and the Cliffs of Moher. We decided to sign up for a Paddywagon Tour, which was recommended to me by my friend who visited Ireland last spring. We settled on a trip to Northern Ireland, and early Thursday morning met a giant green bus on O’Connell Street, which took us north of Dublin on a beautifully scenic ride through the Irish countryside, as we made our way up to Northern Ireland. We made several stops on the Paddywagon tour, the first was at a road called the “Dark Hedges” which was also the spot of filming for the Kings Road in Game of Thrones! Next up was the coast and Carick-a-Rede rope bridge! On a clear day, you would have been able to see Scotland, but the cloud cover only allowed us a glimpse of the land of Scotch and kilts. Being at the coast was stunning, and also the windiest place I have ever been! It was near impossible to take pictures of the three of us since we all looked like Cousin It. The rope bridge, Carick-a-Rede was the most impressive; at one point it was only single rope that fishermen eased themselves across on in order to check on their nets of wild Atlantic salmon. Walking across the “fortified” bridge which still swayed in the wind was an experience enough- I couldn’t imagine doing it without handrails! Afterwards, we headed to Giants Causeway, a volcanic rock formation of hexagonal, pillar-like rocks that descend into the sea, and reappear on the other side in Scotland. Celtic legend said that the giant Finn McCool built the rock ’causeway’ to Scotland in order to steal away the prettiest girls in the Scottish highlands! The ‘giant’ part of the name originated because locals believed that giants were the only ones strong enough and large enough to move the massive stones into formation. On the way back to Dublin we stopped in Belfast, home of the Titanic! Sadly, the museum was closed for the day by the time we arrived, but we were able to sit in a cafe and relax, while reading about the surprisingly tenuous political situation that exists in Belfast today. For anyone unfamiliar with Irish history, in 1916 the Easter Rising occurred, where Ireland declared itself free of the British crown and began a long and bloody fight for independence. Although the Republic of Ireland exists now as an independent nation, Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom, and therefore under British rule. I did not realize that so many tensions still existed between federalists and loyalists in Belfast; the schools, for example, are still segregated between those favoring an independent Ireland and those loyal to British governance. Additionally, there continues to be a lot of gang violence in Belfast that is related to the Irish Revolutionary Army, or IRA. Our guide told us that coming to Northern Ireland even 20 years ago would have been extremely dangerous, and the border between the Republic and the north would have been heavily patrolled and guarded.

Good Friday in Dublin did not pan out exactly as we had expected, since they do not serve any alcohol on this day! So our plans to see the Guinness and Jameson factories fell through, however we did get to see Trinity College Library, which was a dream come true for me. In true Hermione form, I was absolutely spellbound by the massive “Long Room” with arching ceilings, dusty alcoves, and thousands upon thousands of books. I could have stayed in that room forever.

Friday night we got on a bus and headed to Galway, where we would spend the weekend. Galway is known as the cultural heart of Ireland, and that was evident with our visit. A small, coastal town with a big personality, Galway delivered good food and plenty of good Irish entertainment. One night we went on a pub crawl with some people from our hostel, and another night we joined the other people staying in our hostel for live Irish entertainment. The highlight of our stay in Galway, however, was the tour to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren on Easter Sunday. The majesty and beauty of the cliffs was gorgeous, and the fact that we were standing at the very edge of Ireland was awesome. The weather cleared up perfectly for our visit, and the blue skies and blue sea were striking against the grass and the rock. Being away from home was tough on Easter, since I received many pictures of my family eating pierogis and kielbasa back in New Jersey. But seeing the natural beauty of the cliffs was so humbling, and it made me feel especially blessed to have such an amazing opportunity and to share it with some incredible new friends.

Next destination: Riga, Latvia!