How Bout them Cliffs??

Hola muchachos. Hope everyone at home enjoyed Columbus Day (fake holiday that it is). My news of the week is that I finally made it over to the West Coast! I spent the weekend in Galway City and made a day trip to the spectacular Cliffs of Moher. Even by Ireland’s standards, meteorology in the West is very tricky business. The weather app is basically a joke, but we were lucky enough to have gorgeous weather Friday through Sunday. I think I may have even tanned up a bit at the Cliffs on Saturday (probably wishful thinking, but the sunshine definitely did me good! Vitamin D baby). There’s not much to say about the Cliffs that hasn’t already been said, but the sight truly is phenomenal. I didn’t care much for the overconfident tourists braving the edge for a good picture, but it is quite the view. 

While the Cliffs of Moher are the star attraction of the West, the entire region is beautiful. Our bus tour took us through Co. Clare and made several stops along the way between Galway and the Cliffs. We saw thatched roof houses, crumbling remains of stone castles, SO MANY COWS, and megalithic tombs (listed in no particular order by the way). Across the landscape are also reminders of Ireland’s troubled history—past and contemporary. There is a range of small mountains across Clare with little vegetation and completely bare of trees. The sight is made stranger by the lines of stone walls that run like scars over the hills. They are known today as famine walls, remnants of the British “relief programme” to the Potato Famine of the 1840s. Essentially, the poor and unemployed were given food (sometimes) in exchange for building the walls. They have no infrastructural merit and epitomize the negligence of the British government in responding to the crisis in Ireland. Another sad and troubling scene is the number of abandoned housing developments spattered across the coast. These are the result of the housing boom and bust of the last decade. Initially built as vacation homes, they stand vacant—neither the developer, nor the market, nor the government, want them or can afford them. Some have even been demolished and restored to pastureland for lack of a better alternative.

On a cheerier note, Galway City proved to be well worth the trip. The whole time I walked through the small downtown area I was reminded of New England, yet simultaneously I couldn’t think of any good comparison to the city. If you could take bits of Provincetown, Bar Harbor, Newport and North Conway, maybe it would amount to something sort of resembling Galway. The city is quaint and lively, with lots of street performers and live music in the pubs. All in all it was a great weekend.

Some quick shout outs before I tuck in for the night:

To Nana: I hope your shoulder is healing up well and you’re pain-free! I know you probably can’t type at the moment but maybe you can dictate an email to Dana or one of my aunts the next time they visit. Love and miss you <3

To Chris and Rebekah: I hope Hank is back at 20 Bigelow soon!! I’ll send all the Irish Luck I can his way!

And to all my friends and family wherever you may be, I send my love!

Peace, Happiness and Love,

Lauren