Week 7 was an especially fun week for me because my family paid me a visit for the weekend. Although they were only here for a short time, I took pleasure in showing them around the city that I have called my home for the past 6 weeks.
My weekend with my family began with a Friday trip to Howth Golf Club with my dad. After dropping off my mom and sister at the Howth summit, my dad and I enjoyed a relaxing round of golf at the seaside links course. I have to say, this was easily the most gorgeous golf course I have ever seen. The views from every tee box were stunning, and since there were hardly any players on the course we were able to take our time and soak in all of the views. After losing to my dad in our 1v1 match, we headed down to the heart of Howth and enjoyed some pizza and fish and chips. All in all, it was a super relaxing day, and I’m so happy that I got to spend it with my dad.
Saturday was a gauntlet of activities where we got to explore the Irish countryside. Although this was guided tour with everyone in our group, my family followed along with us to each destination since they had a rental car. The day trip comprised of visits to the Hill of Tara, Trim Castle, the Loughcrew Passage Tomb, and the Hill of Uisneach. My favorite destination was the Hill of Uiniseach since we had a wonderful tour guide who gave us detailed accounts of the importance of the land and some of its ancient artifacts.
For my last day with my family, we traveled to the west coast of Ireland, with some pitstops along the way so we didn’t have to drive 4 hours straight. We first stopped in Limerick, which was almost completely empty of people. It felt like a ghost town. Nonetheless, we stopped at an unbelievably delicious place for breakfast where I enjoyed French toast. Next up was the Cliffs of Moher, for the second time. I expected to not enjoy the cliffs as much since I had already seen them earlier in the trip. However, we walked along a part of the cliffs that I hadn’t gone to last time, with some much cooler views. Afterwards we arrived at Galway where we explored the city and got dinner at Dough Bro’s. I had wanted to try out Dough Bro’s when we were in Galway earlier in the trip, but the line was too long. I’m really happy we went back and tried it out since it ended up being the best pizza in Ireland to date.
Though I was sad to say goodbye to my family on Sunday night, I had a really fun time on Monday. Our group took the train to Howth where we hiked for a couple hours in the Howth mountains. Though a large portion of the hike required us to hike through heavy thicket and thorn bushes, we were pleasantly surprised at the beautiful view at the top of one of the mountains. One side of the mountain gave us a phenomenal view of the ocean, while the other side of the mountain was Howth Golf Club, where I had played just 3 days prior. Afterwards we got some delicious fish and chips and ice cream from local shops. This is sort of a lie, as I was the only person to order chicken since I don’t like fish. Nonetheless, it was a really fun day filled with hiking and delicious food and dessert.
After taking a lengthy break from the gym upon the arrival of my family, I have tried to get back into it over the past few days. I also took a five mile run to to the beach with Max, though I wanted to quit halfway through. I went to Cloud Nine once again with Jackson and Clara where we all got delicious sundaes. It’s now starting to hit me that I only really have less than a week left in Dublin, since I will be in Amsterdam for 4 of our 9 remaining days. Though I’m excited to see my friends and family when I get back home, I already know that when school gets tough in the fall semester, I’m gonna have taken this amazing trip for granted. I’m grateful to have gotten the opportunity to be in Dublin for the past two months, along with the friendships I have made along the way!
Week 7 in the books! To say the highlight of my summer was the four days spent in Ireland with you…is an understatement! I wish we could turn back time and do it all over again! Ty, I have seen so much growth in you during your time in Dublin. You are more confident, self assured, funny, and adventurous. Thank you for being THE most amazing tour guide and showing your dad, sister and me your favorite places to go in Dublin. While I’m sad the 8 weeks are almost over….I can’t wait to have you back home with us before you begin your junior year at Bucknell! Keep up the amazing work and always remember how proud I am of you!
I enjoyed reading this blog and seeing the fabulous pictures! You did a great job chronicling your adventures and I would love to go see all these places. Be safe the remainder of your trip. Love you so much and very proud of you!❤️🥰
Great job with the blog Ty. I have been so impressed with the way of expressing yourself in summarizing your weekly activities and experiences. In case you don’t enjoy success with your current course of study at Bucknell, you definitely could have a successful career as a writer or reporter. So proud of you and the fact that you have had a chance to visit Ireland. The couple times Mimi and I have visited Scotland we have had opportunities to meet several of their neighbors from Ireland. They are a great bunch always happy, friendly and welcoming to strangers.. Lol Gpa
Tyler – what a recap! Our golf outing was such a bucket list experience for me! There are few things in life that lift me up more than playing golf with you (despite you taking the L this time!;) Thanks for being such a great travel buddy and host for the family throughout our visit to the Emerald Isle. It was great to see everything first hand and meet some of your classmates! Have fun in Amsterdam!