Where have I been for two months? On another adventure, this time in West Virginia. But more about that at another time...perhaps.
I left off with our trip to the beach in Galway the day after Easter. The following day, we took a bus out to the Cliffs of Moher.
It was a chilly and rather dreary day, but the cliffs were a beautiful sight. The sound of the waves crashing against the rock and the wind echoing was really neat. We had fun walking along the cliffs and I amused myself and my traveling companion by quoting the scene from "The Princess Bride" in which the cliffs are the setting:
"Whoever he is, he's too late! See?! The Cliffs of Insanity!!"
"Look, I don't mean to be rude but this isn't as easy as it looks, so I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't distract me."
"Sorry."
"Thank you."
...
"I do not suppose you could speed things up?"
"If you're in such a hurry you might lower a rope or a branch or find something useful to do."
"I could do that. There is some rope up here. But I did not think you would accept my help, since I am only waiting around to kill you."
"That does put a damper on our relationship."
"But, I promise not to kill you until you reach the top."
"That's very comforting, but I'm afraid you'll just have to wait."
It was a lovely day. We ate lunch at the cafe nearby, and then caught our bus to Ennistymon to go horseback riding.
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| All outfitted in English riding gear! |
These were our horses: Roasty (my horse), Pancakes (my friend's horse), and Popeye. We took a two hour ride out to a lake. It was beautiful! It rained on us a little bit, but it was a great time. It felt like riding through a scene in the Lord of the Rings. :)
After that, the man in charge of the stables was so kind to take us back to town so we could catch a bus. But when we found that there were no buses to take us back to Ennis to take a train to Galway, he drove us out there, as well. God bless him!
We had some time to kill in Ennis before our train arrived, so we wandered around town. Some nice ladies in a bakery were so kind, even though they were closing up, to sell us some slices of cake and even make a cup of tea for me. Irish people! Love 'em.
There was a beautiful church in Ennis, as well, so we stopped in. I believe it was called St. Paul's Cathedral. What was wonderful, to me, was that there was also a perpetual adoration chapel! So we got to go and visit our Lord in the Eucharist for a little while. :)
The Church itself was very beautiful as well.
I also stumbled upon a side chapel to Our Lady of Lourdes! This was really cool because friends of mine were spending their ten-day break serving the pilgrims to the shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes. I prayed for them there and lit a candle. God bless their work!
It was so nice to get back to the warmth of our room and to rest after a long and tiring day. I'm trying to remember if we watched anything that night...I think I turned on 102 Dalmatians for old times sake. Heh heh.
The next morning, we slept in after our busy day the day before. But after watching some murder mystery shows on the TV (they seem to like those a lot in Ireland), we went back to Sweety Pie's for some breakfast. Then we walked through the pouring down rain to catch the bus to Knock.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Knock was one of my favorite places that I visited all semester. It seemed, somehow, specially meant for me. The apparition is not quite as famous as many of the other Marian apparitions, but it is most dear to the people of Ireland. She is their lady. :) The story of the apparition is that it took place during a time of great tribulation for the people of the nation. On August 21st, 1879, around 8 a.m., The Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and St. John the Evangelist "appeared at the south gable of the church at Knock, County Mayo, Ireland. Beside them and a little to the right was an altar with a cross and the figure of a lamb, around which angels hovered. There were fifteen official witnesses to the apparition, young and old, who watched it for two hours in pouring rain and recited the rosary." The apparition has been approved, not just once but twice, by the Church as legitimate and true.
There was just such a peaceful atmosphere about the shrine. It was wonderful to be able to visit such a holy place, even if it was only for a couple of hours. I prayed a rosary there. As I thought about the apparition, it occurred to me: Mary's hands are raised to heaven, a traditional expression of prayer and praise. She was telling the people of Ireland that, even in their struggles and trials, they were still meant to praise the Lord. The expressions on the faces of all three is remarkably beautiful. Such peace...and joy!
And when we left, the sun was shining!
That night, we went out and enjoyed some traditional Irish music, and then enjoyed another night in our very cozy B&B.
The net day, our last day, we went church-hopping. ;) That is, we explored some of the churches in Ireland that we hadn't been inside yet.
I don't know the name of this first one, but it was connected to a convent, so that was cool.
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| Gorgeous, gorgeous Galway! |
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| We were admiring this person's garden. |
We returned to Galway Cathedral to take some time to look around, since, on Easter Sunday, we had been quite tired and hungry after Mass so we hadn't had much of a chance to explore.
St. Michael continues to follow me.
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| The Eucharistic Chapel. |
After that, we enjoyed a nice time just resting beside the river that ran past the cathedral. We relaxed that evening. The following day, we caught our trains and got to the airport in Cork. It was funny because, on the bus to the airport, the driver was listening to country music. Haha! Our flight out of Cork was delayed a long while, though, due to inclement weather! But praise the Lord that it didn't start until after we were safely on the bus and out of the rain. :) God took care of us so much on that trip! Oh my gosh. :) We spent the night in London airport, resting on and off while we waited for our flight at 10:30. We got to Linz safely, and from there back to Gaming. It was so nice to get back and relax and not have to think about connecting buses or flights or trains. But ten-day was wonderful! Praise God! It hurt my heart to leave Ireland. I pray that, if God wills it, I'll be back there again someday.
Thanks for reading! God bless!
