Submitted by Cooper Rothman on the 2020 spring semester program in Limerick, Ireland…
My fourth week in Ireland has been a blast! Classes have not really started their work yet, which is much different in comparison to my workload at UD. Instead, there are about two major assignments due for each class at the end of the semester. While that gives me lots of time to prepare, I have to make sure to not procrastinate.
This weekend, we went to Galway, a popular city along the western coast of Ireland. It was my first experience staying in a hostel, but we were able to meet a lot of fellow travelers from Dublin, and get some tips for our future trips. While we tried to make every day in the city full of activities, storm Ciara stopped us in our tracks with wild wind and rain all weekend. The weather didn’t stop us from exploring the local pubs and shops, our favorite being the King’s Head Tavern which played popular American and Irish songs.
Finally, the biggest event of the weekend for me was going on a tour of Kylemore Abbey, a picturesque castle that sits upon a lake. I had first seen this abbey on my computer scene one day when it loaded up a random nature scene from within the estate. I always click on the scenes to see where they are in the world, and saw that the abbey was in Galway! While most scenes I see on my laptop are in places of the world that would be difficult to get to, I was so excited that this one was attainable and it definitely did not disappoint. The whole experience made the world feel a lot smaller because at the time, Ireland seemed like a place I would never be able to go to. It makes me consider other places in the world that have seemed unattainable for me, and how amazing it would be to travel there as well.