Cliffs, the 80's and more!

Hi everyone!

Been a bit since I wrote my last blog, but I here it is!

Cliffs of Moher:

So two weeks ago we had a small party at one of the French international's place (Margot). Near the end of it, she asked me and a couple of others if we were interested in seeing some of the Irish countryside tomorrow, as she was going with a hired coach and there were still seats availlable. Naturally, me being a nature lover, said yes instantly. I actually had no idea where we'd be going to, but I already had an urge to get out of the city. The next day I was informed that we were actually heading to the Cliffs of Moher! That was one of the spots I REALLY wished to visit! Being all hyped up, we had (I think) a 1,5 hour bus ride and we arrived at our first stop; a beach. Unbelievable as it may sound, some guys were actually surfing there in the middle of the winter! It was quite scenic though, which ensured that I had quite some fun fiddling around with my christmas present (camera). After that, it was finally time to witness the grace of the Cliffs of Moher. There are hardly any words to describe its majestic environment. Here, I tagged along mainly with two Amricans (Erin & Melissa) and walked around the cliffs. It was quite unfortunate that the cliffs had stone walls surrounding it. Apparently, they have been made as it is a popular spot for two things; tourism & suicide. The walls function is to prevent the second from happening. Of course, I could not stand having these walls around, and my American friends agreed... Thus we decided to go slightly off-limits, just a few meters behind the wall really. Later on we found a great loop hole though! there was a barbed fence which had a big hole in it, and there were no signs anywhere near it which told us it was forbidden to enter there! Naturally, we could not resist the temptation and had a walk near the cliff edge! The pictures cannot even begin to portray the beauty of it. I actually decided at one point to lie down and look over from the edge of the cliff. It was both terrifying and amazing at the same time! I absolutely loved everything about these cliffs.

The Burren:

After the Cliffs of Moher, we continued our journey towards the Burren. The Burren is an environment completely filled with rock. It is a really weird, but great sight. My inner-child was really in its element here. I have climbed a small rock wall here and have been jumping from rock to rock constantly. Also, climbing large rocks and jumping between the large gaps was pretty nice too. I have been told that the place is even better during spring time, as apparently there are over 700 species of plants growing in the gaps between the rocks. Hard to imagine, but certainly gives me an urge to visit the place in May again. After the Burren, we made 3 more stops; one at a tomb (comparable to a smaller variety of the Dutch "hunnebed") one at a graveyard and one at the ruins of a caste.

Traditional Irish music, a band, and a reversed world:

The day after the events I just mentioned, me and four internationals (my roommates Quentin, Clèment & Patty + Margot) wanted to go to Dolan's again. The place which is famous for its traditional Irish music. Yet again, the music there was great. After a bit, one of my fellow internationals mentioned there was a band playing upstairs and that we could check it out. I do not regret that we have decided to give it a shot. Merely the name was already epic; The Jacky Chan All-stars. They played a few electronic & rock songs. The best part was when they started to play Highway to Hell, I simply couldn't help myself letting out a scream of excitement at the intro. Whereas after the band most of the others decided to leave, me & Patty were still up for more. After having hid a Guinness glass within a pocket at the inside of my jacket, we headed for Nancy Blake's; a place which is something in between of a pub and a club, a great mix really. Here I made a rare encounter; in the Netherlands it is quite normal for a man to buy a woman a drink, but not reversed. Guess what: I got three drinks (called "snakebite", a mix of guinness, cider & liquer of choice, like vodka) from a group of girls!! If only the Dutch would take an example of that... *sigh* I had a wonderful time at Nancy which was definitely highlighted with the fact that Patty wore one of the girl's high heels! I couldn't stop laughing for a minute or so and still have an amazing picture of that event! Before leaving, I added another Guinness glass to the collection within my jacket and Patty also nicked a glass. On our way back I found another Guinness glass which was perfectly in tact which got us to a total of 4 guinness glasses.

Back to the 80's!

One of the internationals (Caterina) was celebrating her birthday last Tuesday. Me & Ella (another international) went shopping for outfits the day before. I had gotten myself a lovely Michael Jackson-ish outfit! (see pictures on FB / profile picture of hyves) It consisted of a black jacket (which was only €8,-, unbelievably cheap!) with black pants, white polo shirt, a piano keyed tie, a piano keyed belt, a pair of sunglasses and a glittery Michael Jackson style hat. The party was absolutely amazing. Nearly everyone was dressed up and there were quite a few flashy and beautiful 80's outfits! I actually remember dancing that night as well as screaming along with bad music (sorry!). It was fantastic!

Killarney & the National Park:

Yesterday we went to Killarney. It is here that you can find a large place of untamed nature, namely Killarney National Park. (which was also one of the settings for the film Ps. I love you) I had hopes that I'd be able to see the first sign of wildlife here (apart from birds). The busride took about 2 hours, which was quite long for me, as we left at 8.30 and I went to bed at 3.30 the other day.(party @ international's place) Oh well, my own fault. When we arrived, the first thing we took notice of was a music store. Here I managed to get hold of 2 amazing guitar picks; one with the Irish flag on it and one with a shamrock on it. After having had lunch (they called it an Irish breakfast, but it was similar to an English one), we went to Killarney National Park. The nature there was just lovely. They had different types of landscapes present there; meadows, marsh & forest. On the background there was a mountain as well. Having walked through all these pieces of nature's finest (taking into account of course that it is still winter), we went to the castle which can be found within the park. I'll admit that I was quite disappointed; the only wildlife I saw thus far were a few ducks and swans (pretty much like a swarm of swans). The castle was so so; The part surrounding the castle was great! It included a bit of rock climbing combined with a lovely view on the lake. Also, there were a couple of cannons which ensured some entertaining pictures. The big letdown, however, was that the inside of the castle was closed off. On our way back I finally got to see what I had been craving for for some time. We were just walking along, talking. Suddenly I looked to my left and stopped. I softly called "stag!" to the others as I was looking upon a deer which had also noticed me. A few seconds later I noticed he had company; there were 5 deer in total. I finally did get to see the wildlife I had hoped to see for quite some time.

That's all for now! I'm pretty sure I've forgotten a few things I did the last couple of weeks, but my memory is not really on my side at the moment. Will keep you guys updated! ;)