14 november 2010 - connemara

hello all!

everything is going well here in galway, where i am trying to muster the motivation to start writing my essays! i had an amazing time at kate's house in connemara and loved the reunion. we ended up with a grand total of 12 of holy cross' finest and had a relaxing weekend complete with fireplace, hot cocoa and scattergories.

shout out to the lovely ms. kate for providing housing!

thursday i met up with the crew and we took a stomach-clenching ride through the windy roads to the house, which doesn't have an address... the view was absolutely amazing and with extreme winds, the ocean was in full swing! it was nice to sit on the couch and look out at the panorama of ocean and islands, knowing that directly across the atlantic, our fellow crossers were probably holed up in dinand :) it got dark fairly early and we made an assortment of pizza / chicken / fries for dinner before playing games all night.

meanwhile, we were awaiting the arrival of cami and rob from oxford... we were planning on a phone call only to find out later that their phones did not work in ireland... so we had NO idea where they were and they had NO idea where to find the house. we finally retired around 12 with hopes that they would be able to find us the next day. instead, claire and i were up talking and were startled by my worst nightmare - someone banging on our window from the outside (heart attack). they found us after a significant search with the bartender at the only pub in tullycross - you know it's a small town when you're in ireland and there is only one pub.

after that miracle, we stayed up to chat for a while before bed and woke up in the morning ready to explore! the weather was absolutely gorgeous for once which was a treat :)

lots of these guys around!

we set out for a walk to town to pic up two more hc peeps and got to see a wide variety of fauna, including cows, sheep, dogs, and cats. rob even helped to rescue a sheep who had his head stuck in a fence!

a FULL rainbow over the ocean. incredible. 

after a brief lunch of soup and pb&j, we set out to walk up the hill behind kate's house and down to the ocean. kate provided walking sticks called "shillelaghs" which came in handy while navigating bogs and tall, mucky grass. 

remnants of an old house! turns out those bushes were very sharp...

ski teamers :)

we climbed all the way to the ocean and out on these rocks (which kate managed with the skill of a mountain goat) to get these shots and it was a major struggle to get back up! my unwavering faith in my bean boots was challenged when i found that wet, mossy rock is the only thing that they can't handle. c'mon ll bean.

after this adventure, we returned home for more games and to make dinner. we also waited for two fellow galway girls, who ended up in the middle of nowhere after their bus took them to the wrong tully cross! they ended up taking a cab and the driver knew little more than they did about the area so we were again amazed that they found us!!!

we greeted them with subpar pasta...

an accurate representation of how the rest of the meal went

everyone returned to galway with me and i introduced 7 more people to the doughnut man's magic :) went out to a pub that was playing live music and had a wonderful time. it was a perfect weekend - old friends, new friends and a lot of laughter!

i'm sad to see them leave! even more depressed that i now have to actually write 6 essays in 2 weeks.... i'll be blogging often to procrastinate!!

love you all xoxo