The Best Trip of My Life

Hello Friends! I am SO excited for this week's post! Monica over at I Heart Grade 3 could not have picked a better topic. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share about the best trip of my life! It just so happens that I just returned from this trip 10 days ago! I feel like I should apologize in advance for the length of this post, and the number of pictures. I documented every moment on my first international trip to the breathtaking country of: Ireland! 

How did I get there? I was given the opportunity to go on the trip of my life through my graduate program at Slippery Rock University. Ireland has always been number one on my list of places to go, so naturally when I received the e-mail asking if I was interested, I did everything in my power- even delaying finishing my graduate program to make this trip possible! All I had to do was make sure I was enrolled in one class during the summer term at Slippery Rock ( which I am currently taking), and then I was eligible to go! Once I registered for my Summer class I was SO excited- I was finally going to Ireland! When I first signed up for the trip there was no set itinerary, and I was not sure what to expect being that it was a trip through my graduate program. When the itinerary was released I was so excited to see what was in store for me when I embarked on my voyage across the Atlantic! I spent 8 days in the land of green fields, sheep, and Guinness! While I was there I was able to see the western side of the country, as well as the more metropolitan area of Dublin ( which was completely AMAZING)!  During the trip we had the chance to see castles, and some of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen including the Cliffs of Moher, and the Aran Islands. June 25th we flew from Pittsburgh to Shannon, Ireland which is on the western, more rural side of the country. There were so many exciting things that happened, I apologize for the lengthy post again!  We arrived at Shannon Airport at 7:30 in the morning where we met our fabulou tour guides- John and Lydia Nolan then we were off to start adventuring. We explored our first castle- Bunratty which also had a folk park which was modeled after medieval society in rural Ireland. After a quick tour at Bunratty we drove tot he town of Lehinch which is known for surfing, it was the most beautiful view of the Atlantic I have ever seen! Following lunch we were off to the Cliffs of Moher- where Harry Potter and Game of Thrones were filmed! My inner Potter nerd was going nuts when we got there, it was AMAZING.

          We spent the next day touring the countryside of Ireland known as Connemara. It was some of the most beautiful landscapes ever. We also toured Kyelmore Abbey. This was the ONLY day it rained on the trip- according to the locals we had the best weather of the year when we were there!

Our next adventure led us to the Aran Islands. We took a ferry from the main land to the island          ( which was the roughest boat ride I have EVER been on). On the islands we had a horse drawn carriage tour, it was beautiful! We got to see how island life was different from life on the mainland. While we were there we also got to watch a rowing race!

After the Aran Islands we spent a day driving- we were off to Dublin and made some wonderful stops along the way! We stopped at some beautiful ruins- Clonmacnoise, which were where Pope John Paul II  visited and 20,000 people attended. We also visited another castle for lunch- Tyrell's Pass which is where our wonderful tour guide grew up!

We finally made it to Dublin-the part of the trip I was the most excited for! While we were in Dublin we saw many exciting things- the Guinness factory, The Spire ( better known as the Stiletto in the Ghetto because of its placement on the north side of Dublin), Trinity College, and so many other things. While we were there we also took part in a pub crawl- it was SO much fun! 

 

Travelling to Dublin with a group of Special Education Teachers it was only natural that during our walking tour our tour guide took us to what was probably my favorite monument of the entire trip- the monument in Dublin that was dedicated to the 2003 Special Olympics World Games! The Special Olympics is an organization that is very near and dear to my heart. It is one of the first experiences that I had working with individuals with disabilities, and I have loved the organization ever since my first experience, so naturally I was very happy to have the opportunity to see this monument and hear about the support that Ireland has for this organization. 

A few other exciting things that we did include going to Belfast in Northern Ireland which is actually still part of the United Kingdom to see hear the story of a city divided by religion, as well as to see the Titanic Museum. According to the locals the Titanic was " Built by an Irish man, driven by an English man, and sunk by a Canadian iceberg." It was a very interesting experience. While we were in Dublin we also had a chance to see the 20th anniversary show of Riverdance in it's home theater. As a dancer this was another AMAZING experience! 

Finally- a photo of John and Lydia our amazing tour guides. The professor who organized our trip has traveled with them in Ireland several times, and I can see why she entrusted our trip to them. They made our experience amazing, and took such great care of us making sure that each experience was carefully planned and would be memorable for us as students, teachers, and travelers, I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to travel with and get to know them, I can't wait to go back to Ireland and visit them again!

So there it is, in many many more words than I had originally intended- The Best Trip of My Life....so far. I was so fortunate to experience Ireland with my fellow graduate students. I had an amazing time, and made amazing friends on this trip. This was the start that I needed to begin my world travels. Thank you SO much for stopping by! I can't wait to read about everyone's exciting trips!

Just one more photo before you go!