Our final morning in Galway Katherine and I split off from mom, dad and Dev and we did a free walking tour of the city. I did not realize how much history there was in Galway. The Vikings played a prominent role in the history of Galway. The Vikings came in and basically robbed and killed the Irish at the time. We also got a little bit of history on how Ireland and Great Britain separated. It was a very dark time in Irish history, yet it was a resourceful time when they finally separated in 1922. Many people died in the bid to separate from the British empire but the Irish are finally an independent country (aside for the 6 northern counties that remain part of the UK). Our guide told us some great stories about the fourteen powerful families and how one of the families slaughtered another. If any of you are game of thrones fans, the red wedding was based on a story from Galway. There was some serious turmoil between two of the families before the wives secretly agreed to marry the son of one family with the daughter of another in order to mend fences. Once this was announced, the father of one of the families decided to invite the other family over to celebrate the upcoming marriage. However, he kept his guards and army sober and once he got the other family good and drunk he slaughtered every one of them. He proceeded to head to that families castle and ask for shelter as the weather was quite poor. Rather than taking shelter he actually killed everyone within the castle which nearly killed off the entire family but for a few select individuals that were not asked to the wedding and were not at the castle at the time. After our tour we walked around the amazing bustling downtown of Galway before meeting up with the crazies for the drive back to Dublin. We checked into our airbnb and waited for Justin and Steph to rejoin us. Of course we finished with a few games of euchre. I know what you're thinking... Who won? If you haven't figured out a pattern by now of course Dev and I won!
On our first day in Dublin Katherine and I convinced the other kids to join a free walking tour. Our guide was fantastic as he told us countless stories about his country and the beautiful yet rowdy city he lives in. Like the tour in Galway, he started off with a quick summary of the history of the country, talking about how his country was invaded by Vikings and how the fight for independence in the early 1900s affected his country. He also gave us some insight into the political warfare over the debate about whether or not the country should accept the terms and conditions that Great Britain offered for their independence. This, he explained, sparked a year long civil war which eventually ended in the pro-treaty side winning and accepting the terms and conditions. Our tour ended at Trinity College where our guide explained one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. At this college you can take a test which is not mandatory and has a very high failure rate. However, if you pass the exams with high enough marks, you become part of an elite club and you receive certain perks that would definitely improve your college life. First off, the school will pay for your tuition, living expenses (if you already have a house they will pay you the equivalent rent that you would pay in the dorms) and they get a free three course meal and Guinness each day with the profs. Now for the fun part. If they own sheep, they are allowed to bring their sheep to school and let them graze in the courtyard as they attend class. Secondly, they are allowed to rest their sword on their desk as they take an exam (just imagine if that exam goes poorly). Finally, while taking an exam, they can call the professor over and order a pint of Guinness. I mean that sounds amazing but I think I would be half in the bag if I was able to order Guinness during an exam. After our tour we walked to the Guinness factory and did a tour. It was there that we learned how to pour a perfect pint and I am happy to say we are all certified Guinness handlers. After a few free pints Justin and I went back to the apartment to drop off the camera as we had signed up for a pub crawl and I was NOT about to make that mistake again. We met up with the old people for supper and had a delicious meal before meeting everyone at the first bar. We went to five bars and met some very fun and interesting people! We finished at around 12:30-1:00am and then walked home. We finally got to bed around 3:30am which meant we got a little three hour nap before getting up to catch our bus tour to the Giants Causeway.
Our bus tour left at 7:30 and it was about a 3 hour trip before we arrived at a beautiful limestone cliff. Although we did actually make a quick stop at the dark hedges which are featured as the entrance to kings landing in game of thrones. They are beautiful 250 year old trees that have intertwined to make an astonishing roadway. At the first cliff we had the option to walk to a little island over a rope bridge. It was not a very long bridge but it was made like 250 years ago by a couple of fisherman, so that was reassuring. All seven of us crossed over the bridge despite the hesitation of Dev and Mom. Once we made it over we started exploring the very small island and we noticed that a family of Dolphins was swimming by. They were so close and we watched them for about five minutes. In my opinion, there is not too much that is more magical than watching animals in their natural habitat. After the Dolphins swam out of sight we made our way back across the bridge and back onto the bus. The next stop was the Giants Causeway. We got the audio guide and took off down the foot trail to experience the ancient volcanic rocks. We learned about the mythology behind the Giants Causeway and were told that it was the eighth wonder of the world (still waiting on confirmation). The story is that there was a giant from Ireland and a giant from Scotland who were due to battle. There was a bridge that was built from Scotland to Ireland by the Irish giant made up of rocks in order to find a Scottish giant. When the Scottish giant started walking across the bridge, the Irish giant was terrified as even from a distance the Scottish giant was... Well.. Giant. So he did what any ferocious warrior does when he gets scared. He ran home to his wife. He was the brawns and she was the brains as she came up with a scheme. She made him dress up as a baby and when the Scottish giant got to his house the wife said that her husband was gone but he was welcome to have a look at her baby. When the Scottish giant saw the size of the "baby" he was terrified at the potential size of that baby's father and he ran back to Scotland, destroying the bridge along the way. That is why it is now called the Giants Causeway. It is made up of pentagonal, hexagonal and sevenagonal (anyone actually know what that word is?) rocks that had been formed thousands of years ago. There was once a volcano on that spot and when it erupted and the lava made its way to the cold water it hardened. However, this lava cracked into similar shapes because of the repetition of cold water with hot lava. It was a pretty amazing sight! We hiked that area for about an hour and a half and then had a bit of lunch. Our bus driver made a quick stop at a nearby castle on the way back which was in ruins but was also very cool. Finally, we made a stop in Belfast where we went to the beer museum and had one final Guinness in Ireland.
When we made it home we had to pack our bag one last time (do you know how hard it is to pack when you're crying) and that essentially ends our five month trek around Europe. It was an absolute blast and there are so many memories that I will remember for the rest of our lives. Unfortunately, Katherine has pissed me off and we are breaking up (Katherine says that I need to tell everyone this is a joke). So, I guess this will be my last post. As all of you are now inevitably crying I will let you know that you can follow my day to day activities in Canada at tandkliveboringandsimplelives.weebly.com. Thank you all for reading and if any of you are planning on heading to Europe feel free to contact us for some tips (or you can just pay us to be your tour guides for an indefinite amount of time).
As the Irish would do, bye, bye bye bye, bye, bye bye, bye, bye, bye bye, bye, bye bye bye bye bye, bye, byyyyyyyeeee.
On our first day in Dublin Katherine and I convinced the other kids to join a free walking tour. Our guide was fantastic as he told us countless stories about his country and the beautiful yet rowdy city he lives in. Like the tour in Galway, he started off with a quick summary of the history of the country, talking about how his country was invaded by Vikings and how the fight for independence in the early 1900s affected his country. He also gave us some insight into the political warfare over the debate about whether or not the country should accept the terms and conditions that Great Britain offered for their independence. This, he explained, sparked a year long civil war which eventually ended in the pro-treaty side winning and accepting the terms and conditions. Our tour ended at Trinity College where our guide explained one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. At this college you can take a test which is not mandatory and has a very high failure rate. However, if you pass the exams with high enough marks, you become part of an elite club and you receive certain perks that would definitely improve your college life. First off, the school will pay for your tuition, living expenses (if you already have a house they will pay you the equivalent rent that you would pay in the dorms) and they get a free three course meal and Guinness each day with the profs. Now for the fun part. If they own sheep, they are allowed to bring their sheep to school and let them graze in the courtyard as they attend class. Secondly, they are allowed to rest their sword on their desk as they take an exam (just imagine if that exam goes poorly). Finally, while taking an exam, they can call the professor over and order a pint of Guinness. I mean that sounds amazing but I think I would be half in the bag if I was able to order Guinness during an exam. After our tour we walked to the Guinness factory and did a tour. It was there that we learned how to pour a perfect pint and I am happy to say we are all certified Guinness handlers. After a few free pints Justin and I went back to the apartment to drop off the camera as we had signed up for a pub crawl and I was NOT about to make that mistake again. We met up with the old people for supper and had a delicious meal before meeting everyone at the first bar. We went to five bars and met some very fun and interesting people! We finished at around 12:30-1:00am and then walked home. We finally got to bed around 3:30am which meant we got a little three hour nap before getting up to catch our bus tour to the Giants Causeway.
Our bus tour left at 7:30 and it was about a 3 hour trip before we arrived at a beautiful limestone cliff. Although we did actually make a quick stop at the dark hedges which are featured as the entrance to kings landing in game of thrones. They are beautiful 250 year old trees that have intertwined to make an astonishing roadway. At the first cliff we had the option to walk to a little island over a rope bridge. It was not a very long bridge but it was made like 250 years ago by a couple of fisherman, so that was reassuring. All seven of us crossed over the bridge despite the hesitation of Dev and Mom. Once we made it over we started exploring the very small island and we noticed that a family of Dolphins was swimming by. They were so close and we watched them for about five minutes. In my opinion, there is not too much that is more magical than watching animals in their natural habitat. After the Dolphins swam out of sight we made our way back across the bridge and back onto the bus. The next stop was the Giants Causeway. We got the audio guide and took off down the foot trail to experience the ancient volcanic rocks. We learned about the mythology behind the Giants Causeway and were told that it was the eighth wonder of the world (still waiting on confirmation). The story is that there was a giant from Ireland and a giant from Scotland who were due to battle. There was a bridge that was built from Scotland to Ireland by the Irish giant made up of rocks in order to find a Scottish giant. When the Scottish giant started walking across the bridge, the Irish giant was terrified as even from a distance the Scottish giant was... Well.. Giant. So he did what any ferocious warrior does when he gets scared. He ran home to his wife. He was the brawns and she was the brains as she came up with a scheme. She made him dress up as a baby and when the Scottish giant got to his house the wife said that her husband was gone but he was welcome to have a look at her baby. When the Scottish giant saw the size of the "baby" he was terrified at the potential size of that baby's father and he ran back to Scotland, destroying the bridge along the way. That is why it is now called the Giants Causeway. It is made up of pentagonal, hexagonal and sevenagonal (anyone actually know what that word is?) rocks that had been formed thousands of years ago. There was once a volcano on that spot and when it erupted and the lava made its way to the cold water it hardened. However, this lava cracked into similar shapes because of the repetition of cold water with hot lava. It was a pretty amazing sight! We hiked that area for about an hour and a half and then had a bit of lunch. Our bus driver made a quick stop at a nearby castle on the way back which was in ruins but was also very cool. Finally, we made a stop in Belfast where we went to the beer museum and had one final Guinness in Ireland.
When we made it home we had to pack our bag one last time (do you know how hard it is to pack when you're crying) and that essentially ends our five month trek around Europe. It was an absolute blast and there are so many memories that I will remember for the rest of our lives. Unfortunately, Katherine has pissed me off and we are breaking up (Katherine says that I need to tell everyone this is a joke). So, I guess this will be my last post. As all of you are now inevitably crying I will let you know that you can follow my day to day activities in Canada at tandkliveboringandsimplelives.weebly.com. Thank you all for reading and if any of you are planning on heading to Europe feel free to contact us for some tips (or you can just pay us to be your tour guides for an indefinite amount of time).
As the Irish would do, bye, bye bye bye, bye, bye bye, bye, bye, bye bye, bye, bye bye bye bye bye, bye, byyyyyyyeeee.