Buses and Birthdays

Zoo

Friday was a bit of an unexpected day.  I wanted to go to Phoenix Park which is supposed to be the Central Park of Europe so my friend Julie and me got on a bus and headed over.  After walking around for a bit, we happened to pass by the Dublin Zoo inside the park and decided to have a look around.  The zoo is rather large and they had a lot of animals that I had never seen before in person.  The highlight was seeing a tiger climb up a tree to get her food.  The food was hanging from a chain attached to a branch and the tiger grabbed onto the food and was dangling by gripping the food in her mouth without paws.  It was amazing!

On Saturday, I had an API trip to Galway and Connemara in Western Ireland.  After an early morning bus ride, we got to Galway and met up with the API Galway group to do a bus tour of Connemara.  We got to see some classic Irish scenery which consisted of rolling green hills, paper smooth lakes, and sheep...lots of sheep.  The bus stopped at this place that makes marble for jewelry and home use (green marble is apparently big in Connemara).  It was a little weird and I was happy we were there for only half an hour.

Connemara

After some more scenic bus ride, we did a quick stop at a farmers market.  I resisted the urge to buy a hen.  Listening to people talk, it was interesting to hear the distinction between the Dublin accent and the Western Irish one.  The two places are only about a three hour drive away but there is definitely a difference in the accent.

Some more driving and we stopped at the beautiful Kylemore Abbey and Victorian Walled Gardens.  Not only were the Abbey and gardens amazing but the view was breathtaking as well.  It made me appreciate how lucky some of us are to live in the NW in the states who get to see similar scenery everyday.

Kylemore Abbey

Victorian Walled Gardens

Our last trip on the bus tour was to Brigit's Garden.  I don't really know how to explain this place.  My friend, Christina, may have hit the nail on the head:  "This must be where Tinker Bell lives."

Brigit's Garden

Of course, I can't forget that Saturday was also my 21st birthday!  After a very filling meal, celebrations were in full effect...let's just leave it at that.

Sunday morning we went on a walking tour of Galway with our fantastic tour guide, Liam, followed by a little time to walk around.  After that, we got back on a bus and headed to Dublin.

On the walking tour

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Spring break starts this week on Thursday so I doubt I'll be able to write again for a few weeks.  My original Spring Break plans have changed quite a bit.  On Thursday last week (one week before the Bus2Alps trip was supposed to start) without any warning, I got an email saying the trip was canceled.  That leaves me stuck with 2 flights and a train to get to Florence (where the bus was supposed to start) and a flight from Paris back to Dublin (ending place).  My friend Samantha and me have been piecing together what we're doing instead and are slowly making progress.  It's hard/expensive to book things a week before spring break and I am not happy with Bus2Alps.  I highly advise anyone who may be thinking about using them to NEVER do so.  They have been incredibly unprofessional and unhelpful about the whole situation.  Anyways, right now we know we are going to Prague and want to go to Munich.  Other than that, we just need to figure out how to get to Paris.  It'll work out...hopefully.