Semester in Europe Part Three - Erin Go Braugh

So back to reliving my semester overseas. I forgot to mention the other parts of Spain we visited on our weekend trip. We started in Segovia – which I learned holds the original "Cinderella" castle. Well, I was learning this in Spanish so the man could've been telling me HE lived in that castle for all I know. But I think he was telling me it's the one that Disney based Cinderella's on....(if he was telling me that was his castle, I so should've talked to him longer...)

And we also saw Madrid – which I loved. But we saw a real life Bullfight there. And maybe the Southerner in me was thinking Bull Riding rather than Bull Fighting but I surely did NOT know

-they KILL the bull.

So my eager friend Laura and I start the day ALL ABOUT THE BULL FIGHT. We’re wearing hats, we’re cheering, -- then as the fight goes on, our enthusiasm wanes. And wanes. And we realize the matador is NOT going to stop stabbing that bull until it was dead.

We were Horrified. Laura and I walked out somber and numb, shells of our former excited selves, and vowed never to watch a bull fight again.

Which is fine because there’s so many other traditions in the world I can still do. Like RUNNING with the bulls...

Anyway, that was one of two weekend trips I took during my semester. The other – was to Ireland.

Two of us, Missy and I, had already been to Ireland once on a church mission trip but there was one place we hadn't seen and were dying to -

The Cliffs of Moher.

(Cue angelic choir: *Ahhhhhhh!!!!*)

So for our other "Free Travel Weekend", Me, Missy, and our other friend Tiffani (good Southern Belle-sounding crew) decided to go to Ireland, hopefully to see these elusive cliffs.

Again, the details are fuzzy and I recently had to ask Tiffani to jog my memory, but long story short - we couldn't get to the cliffs without a car. So we looked at places we COULD get to, by bus. And the place we were offered?

Spittle.

The town's name is SPIT-TLE. We were thrilled....

But, determined to make the best of it, we jumped on the bus bound for Spittle. And have you ever been to Ireland? When it WASN'T raining? Yeah. Doesn't happen much. It rains a lot. And it rained that day. And at some point, Missy asks the bus driver where we are and they proceed to get in an argument (Missy, as her name suggests, is usually about as easy to argue with as Mother Theresa. I guess the rain and SECOND thrwarted attempt at seeing The Cliffs got to her) and the bus driver KICKS US OFF THE BUS.

Three little American girls. In the middle of nowhere Ireland. In the rain.

And as I'm reliving this with Tiffani, she says "I do remember you having to pee next to a cow."

I remember that too. And it was a bull. Not my finest momest.

In the end, we asked some people how to get to our original place and their answer?

By taking the bus you just got kicked off of.

Somehow we got back on later and the rest of the trip was pleasant and Missy and I even got to meet up with a friend we had made on our mission trip years before. I love Ireland. I love its stone fences and green pastures. But I have to admit - I was ready to see some more of Europe.

Thankfully, we still had our 10-day Independant Travel coming up...