The second day started with an early wake-up call for breakfast, and shortly after the bus left for the day. While I would have enjoyed a little more sleep, I am glad that we got going so quickly because we had a jam packed day.
Our first stop was along the way to our second stop where we got out on the side of the road to take in the giant cliff we were driving along.
Our second stop was to the bottom of a hill where the tour guide dropped us off and said "You have one hour, try and get to the top its a beautiful view, but not everyone can make it so there are stopping points along the way". We looked at this small hill in front of us and almost laughed at her and quickly started climbing.
At the top of the hill we realized this was actually a mountain, and there were about five more massive climbs to the top. We were panting, and sweating so hard we were peeling off all of our layers. But as I've learned this year with so many other sites, the higher the climb the better the view. This theory could not have been more true with this site; it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
Caitlin and Me at one of the stopping points:
We stopped on the way down to see what we missed, on the way up we were so focused on just making it to the top we didn't look anywhere but up
The view from the top of Geoghan Mountain
Me, Caitlin, Julia, Nicole and Chelsea
One of my favorite pictures from this year, it doesn't look real
The Holy Cross girls trying to contort our bodies into an HC!
When we finally made it back down to the bottom of the hill again we walked across the street to visit a local farmer. He and his wife showed us their baby calves, some weeks old and some a month old and explained what they use, and what they sell.
We then got back on the bus and headed off to our next destination of the day. We went to Valentia island, which is an island that inhabits only about 600 people, and until recently the only way to get there was on a boat because there was no bridge connecting it to the mainland.
Valentia Island is home to the first international cable, allowing Ireland to make calls overseas. Our first stop on the island was to meet the crew of volunteer rescuers. These men all have jobs of their own, but volunteer to be the ones to respond to calls of distress anywhere on these waters. They let us explore the boat and answered our questions about their training, rescues, and more.
Julia and I on the boardwalk
Rescue boat and crew
Me "driving the boat"
Boats docked on the island
After this we went back to the hotel for lunch, and then had some free time. The girls and I decided to walk into the town of Cahersiveen, where we were staying, and look around a bit. It is a very small town, there is one main road, but it is very traditional Irish. There is really only about one grocery store, one repair shop and two pubs that make up this town.
The pub: Mike Murts
The Church
Classic colorful street
That night we had dinner back at the hotel and then there were more entertainers. The first was a local singer who taught us famous Irish drinking songs, and we had a sing-a-long. After that, we had a game of trivia, but unfortunately my team did not win anything.
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