Harry Potter Cliffs!

Hi, loves!

It’s official: Galway stole my heart. And I don’t think I’ll be getting it back anytime soon. I’m actually devastated that we’re already leaving. I miss all of its beauty already, and I sincerely hope that I can return in the future. I’m currently writing this blog entry on the train, and my mind is still a little scattered and trying to register the stunning sights I just saw, so I apologize in advance if this entry is poorly written.

Today, we took a bus to the Cliffs of Moher. Along the way, we stopped at a family farm near the Burren Hills and got a beautiful view of the surrounding area:

At first glance, the landscape just looked like a bunch of grass and flowers and stones/stone walls with livestock roaming around and grazing everywhere, but the owners of the farm explained the history of the stony ruins surrounding us, bringing history to life before our eyes. For example, the walls running up and down the mountains were structures created during the Irish potato famine. The British gave the Irish people work in exchange for soup, to prevent chaos from exploding in the country. Interestingly enough, the walls served no purpose. The British didn’t want the people to do anything productive in fear that France or Spain may attempt to use Ireland as a means for attacking Britain. The British also didn’t want Ireland’s economy to grow and eventually surpass the UK, so they gave the Irish people meaningless, insignificant tasks to keep them busy. Additionally, some of the trees, according to Irish traditional stories, were deemed “fairy trees” that served as connections between the real world and the underworld. Sometimes, people tied objects to the tree to represent “leaving their problems behind”:

 Afterward, we drove to the Cliffs of Moher. These cliffs were actually featured in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie; they serve as the backdrop in the scene in which Harry and Dumbledore brave stormy seas in an attempt to find the Horcrux. We definitely got lucky and were blessed with beautiful weather once again, so the Cliffs were very visible. The Cliffs of Moher have been on my bucket list for years, so it was still difficult to believe that I was standing in front of them and seeing them in person, with my very own eyes. They were an absolutely stunning 650-feet of rock towering over restless seas. They were, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen:

I wish we had more time to sit and ponder and take in the beauty before us, but we unfortunately had to sprint to the train station to make it back to Dublin on time. I’m incredibly grateful for the wonderfully relaxing, breathtakingly beautiful weekend that we spent in Galway; we got to see a different side of Ireland, a more rural but equally beautiful part of Ireland. But it’s time to refocus our minds and prepare for work. Derek and I get started on real work tomorrow, and I’m excited to see where our research takes us!

Smiles,

Anna