So this last week, my mom came to visit Ireland! It was great getting to show her around the city and show her my life over here. It made me realize just how much I'm getting to know this city... Despite getting desparately lost many times over the past month and a half, I've definitely started to get a lay of the land, and let me tell you, this is a VERY exciting thing.
On Thursday, I took her to do the glorious Howth cliff walk... despite the numerous weather warnings advising me not to. We took the DART (as I see it, the Dublin version of the "L") in, got some of the best fish and chips ever, and after marveling at a gorgeous rainbow, embarked upon our journey to a blustery, but not impossible sort of weather. About halfway up the cliff, however, we looked out and realized a huge rain cloud was coming for us, and us being up on a cliff, had no way to get around it nor hide from it. So my mom's advice was just to walk quicker. So we did, but definitely could not dodge these raindrops. Within seconds we were soaked. To the bone. But laughing. And squelching in our shoes. We eventually got through the onslaught, to be greeted by the most incredible rainbow I have ever seen. Yep, two in one day. Perhaps the same one, on either side of a rain cloud. Either way, amazing.
Friday, we left for Wales! We took the ferry from Dublin, then a train down to where we were staying, with a pitstop along the way at a castle we had spotted from the train window. Like I was taking a little nap, then oh, no big deal, but FREAKING AWESOME CASTLE outside the window!! I don't know how anyone could even get used to living in a place like here where you just pass castles all the time. So, given, we walked to explore it. Then we had lunch in a tea shop built in 1512. Again, SO COOL! I had welsh rarebit... quite the experience.
We eventually landed in the adorable town of Betws-y-Coed. (oh minor insert about the Welsh language... they need to buy some vowels. I saw multiple words that had none like their word for bus, which was bws, and words that were ten or more letters long and only had the y. I don't know if the Welsh have heard the song, but it goes "and sometimes y"... not ALL THE TIME y. But still, when we heard it, a gorgeous, lyrical language). This town was made up of, I kid you not, Bed and Breakfasts and outdoor stores. and a train station. That was it. But it was AWESOME. We took some beautiful fall walks around rivers and through sheep pastures and over barbed wire fences, all surrounded by the beauty that is Autumn. Wales does have a lot of similar foliage to Oregon, but also a ton of leafy trees, which meant GORGEOUS colors. It was a treat!
We visited another place called Port Marion, and along the way, saw mountains of slate where the slate mines are, and met some very friendly people who were very enthusiastic about helping us to find our way. Definitely the most friendly strangers I have ever met. The bus driver even took us past the bus stop so we wouldn't have to walk as far, and almost the entire bus was telling us directions. It was AWESOME.
Port Marion was a phenomenon all in itself, a place a man built in the 1920s to show what architecture in other parts of the world was like. A very interesting place that many Welsh are truly proud of, from my experience.
The week was incredible, and we got to experience so many wonderful things. It was so great having my mom here! We got to see a rainbow every day! How phenomenal is that? Now it's back nose to the grindstone, since I've got multiple papers and applications due in the next week, and next weekend being Halloween, which, I'll have you know, originated in Ireland. Fact.
Love you all!
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