And on the Last Day…

Despite a minimal amount of sleep, our last day in Ireland was something which was worth staying awake. Upon our arrival in Galway, we were split into three rooms in a local hostel. Although many had fears of what a hostel would be like, it turned out to be rather nice. After becoming situated in our rooms, we walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner, McSwiggan’s Pub. It turns out that the restaurants here are much less confusing than the ones back home; there were only four things on the menu from which to choose. Anyways, after dinner we headed out to the streets of Galway City to ponder the many stores and sights to see. It was 9:00, so everything was closed, but nonetheless it was a good old time.
At around 10, we returned to our hostel to find Mr. McAllister, Mr. McGonagle, and Mr. Tom Doyle waiting for us in the lobby. They introduced us to a game we had never heard of before called Table Quiz. It was basically Jeopardy in small groups, the winners receiving a prize. After, we went back to our rooms, but since there were 6 of us in each, the general behavior of teenagers kept us up late. It was nearly impossible to get any sleep, and most stayed up until the early hours of the morning.
This morning most rolled out of bed wishing they had gotten more sleep. After a shower and a quick breakfast, we were back on the bus. Our first stop was the tower of William Butler Yeats, a famous Irish poet. The tower was down a hidden road in a hidden area, but most houses around Galway are like that.
After an interesting history lesson, contemplations of jumping over the river, and Mr. Doyle getting stung by a wasp in the earlobe, all of us hopped on the Paddywagon again. We stopped for a time at an abbey and graveyard,
but as with all Irish graveyards, it was an adventurous site. Some went to explore, and others thought it would be fun to wander into a nearby cow pasture, even though the cows wanted nothing to do with them. Soon enough we were gone, and after stopping at a little castle thing, having lunch, and passing around a rugby ball we went to the Cliffs of Moher.
Out of all the sites we have seen so far, it is safe to stay the Cliffs are the most astonishing. Standing on an 800 foot cliff staring out to an endless ocean is truly amazing. The walking path along the edge was safe, but the best views were beyond the wall where there was no protection. Looking down from there made your stomach drop. The fear of falling was in everyone’s head. Yet fear was trivial compared to the sensation received from looking out into the seemingly endless ocean from such a high place, a sensation much better than we would have received from looking at the seemingly endless ocean from a low place.
Even though flies were becoming our second wardrobe, the cliffs were an amazing part of the trip.
After leaving the Cliffs of Moher, we stopped at Bunratty castle, and there some of us were able to pick up a few knick-knacks for relatives.
Once that was finished, we got on the bus for the last time, and basically that was the conclusion of our wonderful trip to Ireland. We’re staying our last night in Dublin before our 5am departure tomorrow. There is much to be said about the experiences we all shared, but the experiences added a lot of awesome additions and eradicated all previous assumptions many of us had before the exchange. Thoughts of leprechauns running around and magical bathrooms were replaced with a great respect for all of Ireland, where a good time can be found even under a rock. Since there are so many rocks in Ireland, there must be a lot of good times to be experienced here. We were glad to figure that out. So as we leave here, we’ll all have a greater respect for Ireland, and we’ll be looking forward to coming back soon.