Last Week

I have just one week left in Galway. I can't even begin to describe the overwhelming emotions I've been feeling. I have made such wonderful friends here this semester and I've truly started to feel at home here. I can't imagine going back to the way life was before, and I don't intend to. I've been changed this semester, and so I will return a changed person. We are all being sent to various corners of the globe, but we will remain friends across the distances. We will write to one another and maybe someday get to visit the faraway places that are still just stories for now. And someday we will all be reunited together again, and we will get to be together for eternity. That is the best thing of all. I have been so incredibly blessed this semester and I am so grateful for each opportunity I was given. The time went by way too fast, but we made the most of it and we have some wonderful memories. For that I am so truly grateful. To all my Galway friends, I love all of you so much! Thanks for an amazing semester. I can't wait to see you soon.

Visitors!

I'm finally getting some visitors this semester! All of my friends and roommates have had family and friends visit them and now I finally have some coming to see me! I am so excited!!! My dad and my sister will be here in less than two hours and I couldn't be more impatient. I love playing hostess and tour guide but I am also anxious for them to come because I said goodbye to my third and final roommate today. If Dad and Olivia weren't coming I would be by myself for more than two weeks! So thankful that that is not the case. In preparation for this visit I spent the day baking cookies, cleaning the bathroom, and doing laundry. I can't wait to show them around Galway tonight and tomorrow! We will then head off to Kilkenny, Cork, and Kerry where we will see my family's old farm and homestead. We we also be checking out the Rock of Cashel and seeing the house where my great-grandmother was born and raised! So excited!!! The biggest adventure will be watching Dad navigate driving on left-hand roads! Should be fun. They leave early on Sunday and then I have less than two weeks left. Slightly sad, but I'm not going to think about that yet.

Photo Safari

Some friends and I went on a photo safari tonight. Check it out here

Saying Goodbye

I hate goodbyes, I guess I'm just no good at them. And today I had two of them, pretty big ones too. I had to say goodbye to two of my dear roommates. These girls have been such a big part of my life these past four months. I don't know what I would have done without them. They made me laugh, they were always there for me when things got rough, they watched out for me and they kept me accountable. They were some of the best roommates a girl could ask for. Many great memories were made and I will forever be changed by their friendship. I will miss you girls! I love you both bunches.

Northern Ireland

I'm having a really hard time motivating myself to write lately (in case you hadn't noticed) but I'm going to do my best to write a post about my recent trip to Northern Ireland.

Last Wednesday I headed out fairly early to get on a bus headed for Derry. I had been throwing around the idea of going for awhile but hadn't actually made any solid plans until a few days beforehand. I booked my hostel and bought a buss ticket all just hours before setting off. Definitely different for me, I normally plan things out to the point of over-preparing. So here I am with only a vague idea of what I am going to do when I get there, no plans for returning, and no one going with me. All new experiences. The drive to Derry was lovely and the weather was pretty great for me the whole trip! A blessing for sure. Derry still has it's original city walls intact and you can walk up on them, so cool!

                                                                   City Walls!

                                              Fence around the Loyalist (protestant) quarter.

Amazing pipe organ in City Hall

                                                                    Fence at a school.

Peace bridge that extends across the river to the rest of Northern Ireland thus uniting Irish Northern Ireland and British Northern Ireland. As the guy at the hostel told me, most people in Derry still feel Irish.

Derry was an amazing city and I'm so glad I got to visit. I was only there one night but I was able to see most of the city. 

I then headed to Belfast for three nights and I spent a day out at the Giant's Causeway. 

 Linen Hall Library. I'm pretty sure it's the oldest library in Belfast. I'm really into libraries so I went in several others as well. All lovely.

 Belfast City Hall. The architect who designed this building was awarded a knighthood.

                                                    Me sitting in the Lord Mayor's chair

Clock tower that leans. They did this intentionally, it's about 4ft off. 

Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge!

Bushmills Distillery. The first company to receive a license to make whiskey making it the oldest legal brewery in the world. 

 Dunluce Castle. This castle is now in ruins, as you can tell, and for good reason. It is sitting very precariously on the edge of the cliffs. The last time anyone lived in this castle they were preparing for a party, there was a sudden rumbling and loud noise. The gardens, the kitchen (holding all the food for that night's party), and a few other rooms of the castle had just plunged into the sea below. That was the last straw for the lady of the house and she said she wouldn't spend another night there. So they left and the castle is now abandoned and in ruins.

Giant's Causeway 

The Giant's Boot 

 Docks where Titanic was built. The brick building on the right was the drawing offices where the ship was designed.

                                   War ship involved in WW1, don't remember the name.

 White Star house (named for the White Star line that owned Titanic). The height of the building was the approximate height of the deck that the 1st class passengers would have been standing on. So if you were Kate Winslet that's how high up your balcony was.

Cranes in the ship yard. 

Queen's University. Gorgeous campus!!!

Botanical Gardens. 

Opera House

St. Anne's Cathedral 

Kelly's Cellars! 

St. George's Market. One of my favorite things in Belfast. 

After Belfast I headed west and stopped in Enniskillen and Ballyshannon and then decided to stay a night in Belleek! It was lovely.

Belleek Pottery 

gorgeous view from my hotel in Belleek

This is a cake topper before it's finished. I want one. 

Kind reminder for all us visiting tourists.