HELLO EVERYONE! J I am so sorry that I haven’t blogged in so long (I know everyone was hanging by their shoestrings waiting for me to post..) Well the wait is over! And I’ll give you a nice and long one to keep you busy!!
So for the past 5 days, I’ve been in the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. We (Myself, my roommate Hannah and 2 of my household sisters, Jen and Chelsea—Jen also played on the Franciscan girls team with me!) flew into Dublin on Tuesday morning, we were exhausted but we lugged our bags to the bus station to buy our bus passes and then to our first hostel, Ashfield House, where we stayed just us four in a cute little bunker. We were so exhausted and so we took naps and freshened up before heading out to explore Dublin. We decided to go to the most popular tourist attraction, the Guinness Factory! (Where I had my first beer… You’d be proud pops! Jk jk) It was really neat and we got to pour our own pints. (see picture) After that we went to mass at Immaculate Conception, which was run by Franciscan TOR’s, and they had a beautiful Marian grotto. (see picture) We had our first meal at Fitzgerald’s Bar (our first and last meal in a restaurant actually!! We were poor college kids) and then headed back to the hostel for the night.
In the morning we bused to Cork, which took awhile.. but we did have lunch for the raod (Bread, butter and cheese-oh the joys of being a college student) We didn’t have any plans for staying somewhere so we trekked along the streets of Cork with these huge bookbags looking for a plae to stay.. after about a half hour, we started to think we wouldn’t have a place to stay.. but thennn Hannah and Jen stumbled upon York B&B, where a very kind and wonderful woman took us in for cheaper than she usually does. After getting settled we went to the Blarney Castle, which was the coolest thing!! (see pics) First, we explored through the dungeon tunnel thing where I had my first emotional break down about missing my amazing little sister.. A little girl needed help to get up to her spot where her sister already was and I helped her and she obviously wanted to be w/ her sister, not some strange American and she said “Sissy, hold me!” Well let’s just say waterworks continued throughout the rest of the dungeon.. We climbed through the different sections of the castle and kissed the Blarney Stone (where you’re supposed to receive the gift of eloquence, but I must of kissed it wrong because my speech has been awful the past few days.. or maybe it was the alcohol.. JUST KIDDDDING. I’m a good girl) Anywho, after that we planned on going to mass at St. Finnbarr’s at 5:30, however we were sadly misinformed because it was an Anglician church.. but the Lord looks after those who love Him.. We started to walk home when we passed a Convent, we decided to knock on the door and they were actually starting mass right then and there!! After mass the cute little Irish nun told us that they never have massa t 5:30, it was just a fluke! How great is our God! The Lord has just been melting my heart in so many ways these past few days, I can’t imagine not serving Him in vocation right now. We returned to the B&B and had quite a few adventures.. Hannah cooked us spaghetti and we ate delicious food for cheap! Garlic bread, spaghetti, chicken nuggets and wine--It was a good time.
The next day (Thursday the 19th) we traveled to Galway, my personal favorite place we traveled to. We decided to spend a couple extra bucks to stay at Snoozles, a very popular hostel in town. It was recently built and made just for younger groups traveling together. It was a grand ol’ time! We didn’t have any specific plans, so we roamed around the adorable little city and found lots of things to do and places to see. One in particular was St. Nicholas’ Cathedral. It was a very simple cathedral, but it was beautifully elegant at the same time. We were blessed to get to spend about two hours there—they had adoration, confession and mass. I received confession from an adorable Irish priest.. it was fabulous. I feel like we lived at St. Nicholas’ almost.. we went to mass there three times throughout the last few days! J After mass we were graced to see a B&B sign and we stopped in.. little did we know it was a B&B on top of a Mexican restaurant, LaSalsa. We needed to find a cheap place for Friday, so I went in and asked if the 4 of us could stay in a double room (50 Euro for 2 twin beds) and they allowed us too! So we made reservations at LaSalsa and went back to Snoozles for dinner! After dinner we went out with a few of the people from the Hostel to a popular bar, King’s Head, where we had a heck of a time ;) it was quite interesting.. butI sadly acquired a taste for an Irish Cider that I doubt they’ll have back in the States (someone could you know.. look it up and get me some for a coming home present.. Bulmer’s!) It was a long night, but it was overall very fun and entertaining hahaha We saw a bunch of Franciscan kids at King’s Head, including Dave, the only other freshman who went to Belize with me! It was really great to see familiar faces.
In the morning we got a classic Irish breakfast (Tea, corn flakes, bread—we had so much bread throughout the week..I never want to eat bread again) and were off to the Cliffs of Moher, where we met up with four other Franciscan freshman on the bus. The trip to the cliffs was a rough one.. it was the classic Ireland you see on TV and movies.. the super narrow roads, really crazy turns, sheep and cows everywhere you look.. but it was beautiful. Hannah and I weren’t feeling well which made the trip a little harder, too. But, we made it, safe and sound, and experieceed the Lord in nature by seeing such magnificent beauty in the cliffs. I was amazed. (see pictures, please!!) When we left the cliffs we decided to stop in Kinvara, where the other girls were staying, on the way home. We hung out there for a bit which was so awesome!! We ate on the side of a dock where they were having some sort of festival, and then decided to be adventurous and explore the outskirts of a castle(that we weren’t allowed into because they were having a Medieval Banquet) and then we decided to really be adventurous and explore this abandoned rock structure across the water (see pics!!) It was so cool to just experience the Lord in such a different way , through His creation. We left the water and had a Bulmer’s together before us 4 traveled back to Galway. And then.. we stayed at LaSalsa!!! We were so excited.. well, except Chelsea, but for 12.50 Euro a person we couldn’t pass it up and we had such a fun time! I got to call my parents for a little bit and talk to my little sister who was super tough for her shots! J Oh how I miss them already..
On Saturday we sadly left LaSalsa, but happily visited the shrine to Our Lady of Knock in Knock, Ireland on the feast day of the apparition! It was beautiful and wonderful and I am truly blessed to be here. We bused from Knock back to Galway to have mass at St. Nicholas’ again and then returned to the Dublin Airport to sleep there for the night..
So I finally caught up to where I am now! This morning (Sunday the 22nd) we woke up after about 4 hours of sleep on a McDonald’s booth and hung around the airport for a couple hours until our flight.. I am currently sitting in a foyer in a hotel outside Vienna and I cannot describe to you how much I miss my family. I am so blessed to have such a loving and supporting family and friends of the family.. I hope the Lord continues to bless my semester here and hopefully bring me peace about being so far away.
Thank you for tuning in.. I appreciate your love and support. Pray a Memorirae for the students travels today.
Love, Erin.
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