10-Day Break (Part 2)

So, it's been forever, and, no, I'm no longer in Austria.  But I was told I should finish this blog, so I'm going to try.
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.  

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. 

Gorgeous, gorgeous Galway! 

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. 

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!

10-Day Break! (Part 1)

For the Triduum and Easter week we had a nice long break of 12 days to travel anywhere we wanted!  My friend Sarah and I really wanted to see England, Scotland, and Ireland, so that's what we set our sights on, and we made it!  It was a crazy first weekend with making connections, but we saw the things we really wanted to, and more, and had a really good time, and we made it to Ireland for Easter and the Easter week, which was the goal!  God provided for us so much during this time.  He always got us from Point A to Point B one way or another and sent us people to help us get there.  His provisions, mercy, and love were so present during this week which made it a very blessed trip and quite peaceful once we had a chance to sit back and take in the beauty.

England
Our flight landed in London, and we had to get a bus to the train station that would take us ultimately to Oxford.  So we only were in London very briefly, but it gave me a little taste of the city that makes me hope that one day I'll get to go back and explore it; but if that never happens, it leaves me something to dream about. :) I took pictures of the classic London icons that we passed on the bus ride.  This was fun for me because, growing up, one of my favorite games to play on the computer was Disney's 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue, which takes you all over London and the English countryside.  So I took pictures of the things that reminded me of the game, too.

The red public phone booths.

The red buses.

We got to ride on the London Underground, which was really cool.  :)  It was awesome, and a bit taunting, because it took us right underneath Regent's Park and Baker Street.  We were sorely tempted to run up and see the street of Sherlock Holmes, but we had a train to catch that we didn't want to miss.  

After our train ride, we arrived in Oxford and walked to our hostel.  We settled in, and then went out into the town to seek out the main destination of the trip: The Eagle and Child Pub where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien would go to talk and write.  :)  

The Rabbit Room: meeting place of The Inklings, including C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

The pub was closing, so we didn't get to try the food; but we got to visit this iconic literary location, which was awesome.  Mission 1 accomplished!

The next morning, we wandered around Oxford for a few hours until we had to catch a bus up to Edinburgh, Scotland.  

Oxford is a charming little town!  It was a beautiful place and I'm glad we took the time to visit it.  :)  It's no wonder such great authors came from this place!

Oxford Castle.

Castle Mound.

Christ's Church College, home of the Hogwarts Dining Hall from the movies!  

We did not see the inside of many of these places because we were short on time, and most places require you to pay to go inside.  But the architecture in England is amazing!  We loved all the old stone buildings.  :)

(Photo credit to Sarah K)

Like I said, this first leg of the trip in particular was a real test in trust.  We showed up to the bus station and bought our ticket to Birmingham. Our hostel receptionist told us you could save money by buying the ticket to Birmingham and then to Edinburgh from Birmingham, so we did that.  Thankfully, we got seats on the bus.  I looked at our ticket, and could hardly believe my eyes.  Our reservation reference was the word "fiat."  For those of you not familiar with Latin, this is the Latin translation of Mary's response to the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation.  "Be it done to me."  Such an expression of trust!  And it's our bus ticket reference.  It was like another reminder from the Lord: "Trust me. I've got you."  It was so good to feel God's presence with me on this day, since it was Good Friday, and I knew I wasn't getting to Communion Service that day.  By the grace of God, I was able to make this bus ride a holy experience.  At 3 p.m. I prayed the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and later that evening, Sarah and I prayed a Rosary together.  It was such a blessed time.  As we prayed the Rosary, we passed through these great hills of the English countryside! They were so big and beautiful.  We were in awe.  :)

On the bus ride, after our Rosary, one of the drivers just started talking to us, and the people behind us.  We got onto the topic of pets, so I got to tell him a little about my dogs, which was funny and random.  He had some great stories about several pets that he's had or that friends of his had had: horses, dogs, cats, even a monkey!  

We also got to watch a fantastic sunset along the English/Scottish countryside.  :)  

We got into Edinburgh that night.  Originally, we wanted to stay the night in a convent 20 minutes outside of town.  But our bus got into Edinburgh an hour and a half later than I thought, and I had no way of contacting the convent by phone to find out if they would still be waiting for us.  So we decided to try to find a place in town.  We didn't get the greatest first impression of Edinburgh, walking around trying to find a hostel on a Friday night when several people are out partying; but God provided again.  We found a room; a room to ourselves, too, where we felt safe, and that was the important thing.  :)  

The next morning, we went out into town.  We walked up to Edinburgh Castle, making our way through the gardens along Prince's Street.  Edinburgh Castle was the inspiration to J.K. Rowling for Hogwarts, so it was exciting to me to see the castle for that reason.  I'm only just getting into the series, having watched most of the movies over my Christmas break and read the first book.  :)  Due to time constraints, and costs, we didn't see the inside of this place either.  But we had some fun outside it.  :) 

 I found a small stick on the ground and decided to have some nerdy moments. ;) Heeheehee!

Then we went to find The Elephant House, a cafe where J.K. Rowling began writing her books.  :)  This was one of our favorite places on the trip.  The atmosphere is very peaceful and comfortable, perfect for an author or someone looking for a good place to sit down to a cup of tea and read a book.  We enjoyed some tea there, and I had a slice of carrot cake that was really yummy. :)

Then we had to catch a bus to the Scottish coast to get our ferry to Belfast.  Or so we thought.  The bus was full!  So we went to the train station, took a series of trains out to Ayr, followed by a bus to Cairnryan (with BEAUTIFUL views of the Scottish coast, the ocean, and Scottish country homes!!).  Then we got on the ferry, and enjoyed a trip to the Irish coast.  :)  Everyone was telling us we would never get to Galway that night, which was quite discouraging, but we kept looking for options the whole way.  I finally found a bus that left at 3 a.m. from Belfast bus station and went to Dublin Airport first and then to Galway.  So we got to Belfast, got a lift into town, and waited at the bus station for a while.  But the bus station closed at 11 p.m., so then we were sitting outside in the cold for a few hours.  We took a 1 a.m. bus to the Dublin Airport to wait until the bus would come there because we thought it would be a bit more comfortable, and warm.  It wasn't much warmer, actually, but it did feel safer.  Of course...then the bus didn't come until 10 till 7 a.m.  We got into Galway at 9:40 a.m. on Easter morning!  We found the Bed and Breakfast where we were staying, dropped off our stuff, and walked to Galway Cathedral for the 12:30 p.m. Easter Mass!!  We made it to Galway for Easter Mass, and that was the goal!! And everyone said we'd never make it.  We felt really accomplished.  :) 

The Mass, of course, was beautiful!  It was great to be there celebrating the Lord's Resurrection!  

Easter Dawn, as seen from Dublin Airport bus station.  "He is risen! Indeed, He is risen!"

Galway!!

Galway Cathedral!

The rest of the day was spent finding a place for lunch, going back to our Bed and Breakfast to change out of our nicer clothes that we had worn for Mass, taking a little time to relax, and then wandering about Galway, exploring shops, looking around in two churches (one Catholic, one Anglican), and then finding a place for dinner after we met up with another friend from school who was in Ireland.  I had a cherry and yogurt crepe that afternoon, too, which was very yummy.  I had Shepherd's Pie for dinner, and it was delicious.  After dinner, we made our way back to the Bed and Breakfast, and Sarah and Joe watched a movie for a bit while I Skyped with my family.  Getting to talk to them was the best part of my day.  :) 

The next morning, we slept in! What a great feeling! Haha!  A particularly interesting British-made murder mystery was on the TV in our room, so we watched that.  The ending was rather anti-climactic and a bit disappointing; but we couldn't just walk away without knowing what had happened.  After that, we met up with Joe again and went to lunch at The King's Head.  I ordered the fish and chips, which came with mashed peas...an interesting vegetable, but it tasted good.  

After that, we made our way to a sweet shop that someone had suggested to us the day before, but which had been closed for Easter.  On the way, we did some souvenir shopping.  Just down the street from our destination, we stopped inside a bookstore, Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, for about an hour!  :)  

In the children's section, they had this fantastic sign-post!  It's so cool!  I would love to have one of these to put in my yard.  Haha!  

Of course, a hobbit has to know how to get to the Shire!   

We proceeded to Sweetie Pie's Cupcake Cafe, the sweet shop.  :)  This place was so cute!  The decor was great, it was family-run, and the cupcakes, oh my gosh!  They were amazing!  If you're ever in Galway, you must find this place.  :)  It is so good!  

My cupcake had my Mom's favorite Easter candies on the top!  Since these are some of my favorites, too, I was very happy.  

From there, we made our way to the beach in Saltville, just outside of Galway.  It was about a mile and a half walk, but not a difficult one.  I couldn't wait to get to the beach and put my feet in the sand.  

What a splendid day!  I got wet (the water was cold, but I didn't care; I wanted to stick my feet in those waves!), searched for seashells, found 2 crabs (one alive, one dead), wrote/drew in the sand, climbed on rocks....  A great day at the beach.  :)  

We went back into town after that and stopped at a grocery store to get some food to eat for dinner.  As I was looking at postcards, a group of our friends from school who were also visiting Galway spotted me.  What a pleasant surprise running into some familiar faces!  While we stood outside talking, a group of 3 dogs came along, no leashes, no apparent owners.  They just came walking down the street and stopped by us.  They were cuties.  :)  

Sarah and I went back to our B&B, ready to shower and relax.  After cleaning up, we chilled out in our room and watched "Holes," while eating our dinner of Doritos and salsa.  Haha!  Traditional Irish meal?  No; but it was yummy!  I hadn't watched "Holes" in a long time, and Sarah hadn't seen it before, so it was fun.  After that, we saw "Lilo and Stitch" was also available.  I hadn't seen that in a long time either, so I turned that on.  After that, I went to bed, ready to get some sleep before our busy day the next morning.