In the End...Ireland & Scotland

Well my final month in Granada was bittersweet, but I am very excited to come home and see everyone I’ve been missing, as well as get organized for the massive amount of work I need to do in the coming year.

I spent two Saturdays this month at the beach of Nerja near Granada, both were great. The first I went with Kathleen and Claire, and had an interesting experience as I was robbed yet again, very embarrassing for me. However, it was more of a hilarious experience to look back on than a traumatic one, and only lost 5 euro, so I guess I just paid to have a funny story. We were sitting in what appeared to be a private alcove, huge rocks surrounded us on three sides and the ocean was the fourth. We got in the freezing water for a bit, but spent most of our time laying out under the sun. I applied sun block and as per usual received an uneven blotchy sunburn on certain areas I missed, like part of my left ankle and right arm, etc. Kathleen and Claire closed their eyes for a bit but I decided to play a little sudoku under the sun, until I realized my skin was starting to get real hot and it was probably time for another sun block application. I turned around and did a double, then a triple take, as my bag was gone. It had been sitting behind my back! I told the girls I didn’t know where my bag was, and after a brief panic, saw it sitting just to the right of me between two rocks, were a rocky uneven path wound behind us. I didn’t understand why my bag was there, obviously someone took it, but why they didn’t take everything inside is beyond me. I was grateful nonetheless, but mystified as to how the culprit had actually taken my bag without my noticing! Not 10 minutes later, as we were calming down, Kathleen felt a tug on her backpack which was under her head as a pillow. She thought she was being paranoid after what had happened to me, but 30 seconds later she feels an even stronger tug and looks up to see a guy with a long rod attempting to attach it to her bag and rip it from beneath her head! She starts shouting at him and he runs for his life, I jump up (mind you in my bathing suit, no shoes), and try to climb the painful rocks to chase after him. I had no idea where he went, but we couldn’t believe that had happened. That he had the nerve to try and steal her bag after he took my 5 euro! We were on the alert after that event and our paranoia kept us from lounging any more. As we were leaving, Kathleen saw the guy coming down some rocky stairs, see her, and turn around and run. We ran after him but it was a secluded area and we didn’t want to get stabbed so we decided not to chase after him. Another couple walked by and we warned them, and they said they had been robbed there the day before – 500 euro! The man tried to climb up this hiding spot but didn’t find that little thief, so we left to our bus and he got away!

The second trip to Nerja was less eventful, thank god. Liz, Megan and I chose a far more open area to sit so no one could sneak up on us. Instead, a little homeless dog joined us for the afternoon sitting next to us looking for attention. He was cute, but seemed to be part of a band of dogs that lived there, so we didn’t feel bad leaving at the end. He seemed content to live the beach life.

Claire and I spend the last part of our stay in Europe in Ireland and Scotland. After our exams, we took a flight out on Wednesday, May 19^th to Ireland where we stayed at the Times hostel in a six person room. We got in pretty late but Thursday morning we went on a free walking tour that lasted three hours. It was great – we saw most of the city and learned all about their history and rebellions, although I couldn’t tell you now what I learned. It was a lot of information all at once, but basically Ireland doesn’t like England too much because of it. We saw the Dublin Castle, some statues around the city, the City Hall, Christ Church, the Temple bar and Wall of fame – famous artists from Ireland, and a park where some civil war type things occurred. Then we went to lunch and afterwards took a train to Howth, a fisherman’s village. The weather was gorgeous that day, and we got to spend it outside. We first stopped by a pier where wild seals gathered and waited for people to buy the garbage fish from the market and feed them. They looked well taken care of, and obviously this was their spot. There were at least 10 visible at that point, and we later read the area had over 50. Claire and I donned gloves to throw them fish and then walked to another pier for a majestic view of the nearby island and blue water. It was sunny so we sat and relaxed a bit before going to try fish and chips – which was a bit more like fast food but still delicious. We took the train back and hit up the internet café for a bit as I had some work to do for an online course that just started last week.

Friday we went to look for some souvenirs before meeting up with Claire’s friend Sadie, whom she has been a pen pal with for about 6 years but never met. She was very nice and we went to a pub for lunch where I had roast beef and potatoes. We walked around and went inside Christ church to see the crypts before walking to see St. Patrick’s church, and finally walking to the museum in Dublin. Then we went to a pub where I got to try Bulmers – a delicious alternative to beer, and we spent the afternoon there and then in a park before meeting up with one of her friends to go out to the bars nearby.

Saturday we went on a Celtic tour in a small van and got to see some countryside and old Celtic crosses, mounds, tombs, churches and monasteries. The weather was beautiful again and we had a great time, but had to catch a flight to Scotland that night. We got in and checked in to the Euro Hostel which was much more of a party atmosphere than most of the hostels we’ve been to, but still a nice place to stay.

Sunday we took the train to Edinburgh and saw the beautiful castle, listened to one of the free guides, saw the war memorial and crown jewels as well as some of the apartments and prisoner’s areas. Afterwards we went into Camera Obscura, an optical illusion place filled with neat pictures and tricks of the eye. Afterwards we walked the royal mile and then took the train back to Glasgow where we met up with Keith, Janet, Katie and Jenna, our Scottish cousins. It was so great to see them and we went out to dinner nearby and chatted for about 3 and a half hours. I haven’t seen the girls in five years and look very grown up. We had a great chat and tried to convince them to come visit us in America soon, which they said they’d like to do during the end of June next summer 2011. Hopefully that can work out as I know the entire clan would be ecstatic to see them.

Monday Claire and I walked around the city of Glasgow and saw the cathedral as well as an art museum before taking the train back to the airport and flying to Malaga. Our flight was a bit delayed and we had already been on a tight schedule, so we had to pay extra and take a taxi to the bus station. We arrived a few minutes after the bus was scheduled to leave, so we were sure it was gone, but we lucked out and it was still there. A lot of people were waiting outside of it, trying to get seats, but it was full and the next one didn’t come until 1 in the morning. We told the bus driver we already had tickets bought and assigned seats, but he had sold our tickets when he thought we weren’t coming. He agreed to let us come anyways, but said there were no seats, so we were forced to sit on the ground on the steps near the door for an hour and a half. It was very hot and uncomfortable, but we made it through and got back to Granada before midnight. The next day was spent packing up everything I own before heading to a final dinner with my friends here and saying goodbye. It’s too hard to say goodbye forever though, so we have plans to meet up again soon – I am going to ISU June 2^nd and plan on seeing at least Kathleen and Claire for a meal, and I know I’ll see the other girls as well. I am not looking forward to saying goodbye to my senora tomorrow, I think that will be very hard for me. She has been such a kind soul to me during my stay and made the journey that much more special.