Semana Santa = Easter week = Spring break!
I chose (last minute) to go with Nicole and Storm to Ireland for the beginning of spring break, and it was awesome! Here are the highlights:
(-) 1 tapa: arriving to the airport and finding out Nicole and Storm were on the 10 AM flight, not the 10 PM flight that I was on. Fortunately, they were able to get on my flight and we all made it to Dublin as planned.
(+) 1 tapa: Dublin
We spent Friday giving ourselves a small tour of the city, stopping at a lot of bookstores and book markets, and shopping in Temple Bar. The highlights were definitely bagels in the morning (!! Hadn’t had one since August!!!) and Guinness in the afternoon. I also had a quick reunion with my Irish friend David who studied at UCSD last year.
Nicole, Storm, and me at Temple Bar in the temple bar district of Dublin(+) 1 tapa: Ballykelly
Friday night we took a four hour bus up to Northern Ireland, to a tiny village where Storm is from. The place only has 2 bars, a couple restaurants, and a string of houses. Luckily, it has a “chipie” aka a fish-and-chips shop!!! We spent Sunday night getting to know the locals at the bar Storm works at when she is home. It was entertaining because one of the guys thought I was Spanish and told me that he had put two Spanish songs on the jukebox for me. At the time I had no idea why he was telling me that until I later found out that they didn’t all know I was American.
(+) 1 tapa: Giant’s Causeway
On Saturday afternoon Storm, Nicole, and I drove over to the Giant’s Causeway which is basically this big, natural rock formation. We were so lucky because the sun came with us and afforded us a beautiful day at the Causeway! Everything was green and blue and absolutely amazing.
Me, on the Causeway!!
Looking out, towards the causeway(+) 1 tapa: Partying in Derry
That night we went out for Storm’s cousin’s 21st birthday. We spent the night experiencing the nightlife in Derry, which is actually not so different than that in Spain, except that it starts and ends a few hours earlier, and no one smokes!!
Storm, me, Nicole, out in Derry :)
(+) 1 tapa: Sunday Funday
Sunday we woke up (albeit a little bit hung-over) and drove up the mountain in Binevenagh to the viewpoint, which is basically an unguarded cliff off of which you can see far into Ireland. It wasn’t sunny like at the Causeway, and it was super windy, but it was still beautiful and Ireland looked exactly like I imagined it would.
After, we drove to Storm’s grandparents’ house for family dinner (aka lunch) where we met most of Storm’s family and ate a proper home-cooked meal! Mmm
Post-dinner with the family we drove into Derry and went shopping. Apparently there’s not much else to do once you’ve been to the causeway, Binevenagh, and the local pubs.
(-) 1 tapa: Belfast
LAME city. AWFUL bus tour. As it turns out, Belfast is not known for much beyond its industry and manufacturing. On the tour we learned about IKEA, the millennium concert center, the Hilton hotel where Bill Clinton used to stay, and the Holiday Inn. The tour guide spent minimal time telling us about the murals that are all over the city and an unsatisfactory amount of time telling us about the period of conflict and violence. After the disappointing tour we just found ourselves shopping, again.
Tuesday we spent the day travelling from Derry back to Dublin back to Madrid. The trip was so much fun, and it was sad we had to leave Ireland so soon. That night Storm and Nicole left to go to Barcelona, and I prepared for my trip to Granada… which ended up not happening. So now I’m sitting here in Madrid, sheltered from the crap weather (rain), wondering if blog conclusions are even necessary, and focusing my efforts on homework, getting excited for my cousin to come visit me on Tuesday!
Oh and I’m stuck inside with nothing to eat because ALL the stores are closed for Good Friday :(
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