How the West Was Fun

Well, the last API excursion has come to a close.  I remember at the beginning of the semester that our April trip felt so far away but now it's over!  Hard to believe there's only one API event left.

Our final trip took us back to the west of Ireland but this time to see the famous Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands.  It started with an early morning bus trip over to the Atlantic Ocean where we hopped on a ferry and headed from Doolin to the smallest of the Aran Islands, Inisheer (aka Inis Oírr).  We then went on a wagon pulled tractor and took a guided tour around the island.  I was amazed with the amount of stone walls.  They were everywhere and it almost looked like they were forming a maze.  One of the highlights of the tour was the shipwrecked Plassey, an old cargo ship that was abandoned during a storm in the 1960's.  Ocean waves have since pushed the ship onto the island.  

Plassey

Another highlight was going up to the highest point on the island where we saw the ruins of O'Brien's Castle and got a great view.

So many stone walls

Besides the cold wind, the weather could not have been better!  It was blue skies and sunny all day which made our next stop that much better: the iconic Cliffs of Moher.  We took the ferry again and got to see the cliffs from the water which made them look even more massive.  Along with the rock formations were the countless number of birds.  It felt like a scene from the Hitchcock movie.  We also got to see a dolphin on the way back to Doolin!

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

After getting back on land and a short drive later, we arrived in Ennis where we stayed the night.

Today we made our way to Limerick where we got a walking tour and were able to see a very old castle.

King John's Castle

When the walking tour was finished, we got another "tour" of the Freemason lodge by the grandmaster of the Limerick lodge.  The room where the society holds meeting was a little creepy.   Although the leader said the rumors about the society having big secrets was not true, I wasn't entirely convinced.

Grand Master sitting in his throne with Eimear beside

We then got some lunch in town and got on the bus back to Dublin.

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In other news, I'm going to Krakow, Poland on the 18th!  It's going to be my first completely solo trip abroad and I can't wait!  I already booked a tour of Auschwitz which I'm excited for.  Should be very informative!

Megan and I have been slowly but surely figuring out our week long trip at the end of April/start of May.  Trying to get from where we're going in Italy to Austria was ridiculous but we sorted it out.  Sounds like we'll also be able to get to Salzburg where we will be recreating The Sound of Music scene by scene.  Super excited!

I've got another small accounting test this week and then am pretty much free school wise until finals.  I'm not looking forward to those.