Galway- There are No Words

So I've just returned back from pretty much the best weekend of my life!

We left very early Friday morning with the International Student's Society to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. Molly, James (the other kid from UNI), his roommate here Liam and another friend Sarah boarded the bus with 50 other international students. We got to the Cliffs of Moher and were taken aback by the beautiful scenery. It was very windy up on top so Molly, Sarah and I had a great time running and letting the wind carry us around. We were entertained for quite a while! After the cliffs, we rode the bus to a cave. The cave was just recently discovered by a man and his dog and it was massive. The tour guide shut all the lights off in the cave at one point so we could experience complete darkness. It was kinda scary but really cool! After the cave tour, we headed back to our cottages for the weekend. They were super cute. There were 6 people to a cottage which included a full kitchen, dining area, 2 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. We made ourselves some dinner and then headed over to the leaders cottage for a party. It was hilarious, so many different nationalities coming together...there were Italians, Chinese, Spanish, Austrailians, and Belgians. Everybody had a great time!!
Saturday morning we got up and rode a ferry to the Aran Islands. When I say ferry, you're probably thinking aww a nice little boat that takes you from one point to another. Heck no, this ferry was more of a speedboat throwing you around while taking you from one point to another. It was such a bumpy ride that lasted for 30 min and multiple people got sick. I was almost to that point but was able to hold back. Once we got to the island, we took a bus tour around the 9 mile long island given by our friendly guide "St" Patrick as he called himself. He was hilarious and told us that the population is 800 and the only way to move to the island is to marry someone that already lives there. These families have lived there for thousands of years and everyone knows everyone. We started off by stopping in a little wool shop and bought some hats from a kind little lady called Sarah. Her claim to fame is that she sold sweaters to Sharon Stone. She was so cute though and was a great saleswoman! The coolest part of the island was the cliff that we climbed up to. You could go right up to the edge and lay down. It was the coolest thing I've ever done. If you closed your eyes it felt like you were flying. After the cliff, we continued our tour of the island and saw stone walls that had been there for 1500-2000 years and the last lighthouse before America. We rode the ferry back (a MUCH smoother ride this time) and arrived back at our cottages to make dinner. The leaders hosted another party that night and it was just as fun as the first!
Sunday morning we woke up early, cleaned up our cottage and stopped in Galway City for a few hours along the way back to Cork. The trip was amazing and for 90 euro I would do it again in a heartbeat. Everything was set up for us so all we had to do was hop on the bus and have the time of our lives. We arrived back in Cork sunday night, a little tired but with experiences that I will not soon forget!
The next few weeks I'm going to be hanging around here and saving up money before some friends and then my family come to visit. Time here is flying by but I am loving every second of it! I hope everyone is doing well back home and struggling through the cold, snowy weather as best you can. Love and miss you all!

*Marissa