I took a bus tour to Kylemore Abbey this weekend and let me say that this was one of the best spent Saturdays yet! I caught the bus from Sleepzone Hostel and then switched to a smaller one a short ride later. Two girls were also on the same bus and voila, instant friends! These two friends are Carina and Yuri, from Germany and Japan respectively. Both were just traveling through Ireland separately and we're all students. We also met two other German girls, Josefine and Mareike (Mareike is studying at NUIG this semester) and then Juliana from Brazil. I find that it might be easier to meet people this way because you're all sharing the same experience at the same time and most of the people you meet are also traveling and friendly and interested in making friends. At school, most people are focused on their studies and have an established group of friends in some cases. Either way, we formed a little group and went gallivanting around abbeys, friarys (what IS the plural of friary?), and the town of Cong. Cong is actually the town where a good part of "The Quiet Man" was filmed, so if you grew up on John Wayne films like I did (though I maintain "The Searchers" is the best of all), you'd be pretty excited. It's funny though. Since I've been here, I find it hard to be a tourist with abandon. I don't know why, but I think maybe it's because I'm finding that a lot of pre-conceptions about Ireland isn't really accurate, which I knew going in, but still, it's interesting. Plus, I don't think anyone on the bus could really fully appreciate that banter caught on screen between the Duke and Maureen O'Hara. Of course, Carina, Yuri and I were a bit late catching the bus.
The bus driver, Mike, already knew Carina from a previous tour and now we had established ourselves as the "troublemakers". Mike was a really funny guy and a great guide, he definitely knows his stuff. Imagine the Irish version of my Dad as a tour guide and you've got Mike. We stopped somewhere along the way, and we saw two men wearing foil coats. I figured it was to keep warm, but I wasn't sure, so I asked Mike. His response? "They're cookin'!". So I rolled my eyes, replied "har. har. har." and went and asked the men myself. They were doing an adventure race and it was to keep them warm. Mike loved it. Once we got to Kylemore Abbey, we grabbed some lunch and invited Mike to sit with us. He plays in a brass band which apparently involves a bit of drinking. Who knew? Now, the Abbey was originally a castle/summer home built by a man for his wife's wedding gift. It was later bought by a bankrupt Duke and then when he lost it, Benedictine Nuns acquired it and turned it into a boarding and day school. Today, the school is closed and there are 3 rooms open to the public. We had to run off to see the Abbey and the gardens before the bus left us (as was threatened). We thought we'd timed it perfectly. We'd seen the Abbey, the Gothic Church and chased a stray sheep (he didn't want to play) around a graveyard. We got the bus to the gardens and figured we'd get back just in time though we'd have to forgo the gift shop. No big deal. The gardens were gorgeous! They were walled in by brick with giant teal colored doors (I love teal) and just amazing. One of the gardeners was around and he looked like he could just as easily work at Bollo's or Gillie's. We raced around the gardens taking pictures and trying not to wake the cat that we found asleep on bags of soil. I was tempted to jump into an empty wheelbarrow, but at the last second, I caught the gardener in the corner of my eye and refrained. We were going to be late if we didn't hurry to catch the bus (the gardens are a mile from the Abbey). We made it. BUT, the couple with a baby in a stroller did not. They didn't rush either. They moseyed on over to the bus in their own time. By the time we got to the let off point, we should have been at our bus, so we took off running down the hill, over the bridge and into the parking lot. Of course, we were late, and we were the last ones. Somehow, I was targeted as the culprit. (This always happens...) One note before I continue: Connemara is gorgeous. Indescribably .
On our way back, we passed the Courthouse, so just for the craic (fun), when Mike shouted back at us and told us if we weren't well behaved this weekend, we'd end up there on Monday morning, I shouted back that I knew the Courthouse well (I do, I pass it on my way to school sometimes). As he dropped us off, he told me he'd look for my face in the papers the next day. I am definitely going on another tour with this guy.
The rest of the weekend was spent devouring trick or treaters candy, watching bad t.v. and reading. We did have some trick or treaters last night which was really fun, but for the most part, Halloween was rather tame this year. For now, having devoured some lunch, I'm going to head off to the library before class, then starts my marathon of the day. Wish me luck!
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