The good, the bad, and the salty.

This weekend I was in Bundoran, Ireland with the UCD Surf Club. Bundoran is on the West Coast of Ireland and has absolutely stunning scenery. Both across the bay and back towards the interior of the island were mountains. From the moment we arrived, I spent as much time as possible walking along the cliffs and paths that overlooked the ocean. I ended up taking over 200 photographs - none of which included pictures of me surfing ha.

We left campus on Friday around 1:30 p.m. During the ride one of the guys asked the bus driver to pull over cause he needed to go to the bathroom. The bus driver ruthlessly heckled the kid, saying, "Isn't it long enough that you can tie it in a knot?".

We finally arrived at our lodging around 5:00 p.m. I ended up in a house with four other girls: Margaret, Cecelia, Deborah, and Cherry. Somehow I ended up in my own room with a whole double bed to myself. And there was still space for about 7 more people to stay in our house.

It was a self-catering lodge, so we used the kitchen to make some dinner and then went for a stroll along the "Cliff Walk". Along the path there were patches of what appeared to be wild growing blackberries and blueberries - though I didn't brave actually taste-testing any of them. We also found a bathing pool, which was naturally filled by the ocean when the waves would come in or the tide was high.

That evening there was a party in one of the houses that everyone on the trip went to. It basically reminded me of a stereotypical frat party. There were games of beer pong, beer bongs, people playing "never have I ever", and even one random couple making-out on a chair in front of everyone. Needless to say, other than drinking a total of two beers for the evening, I did not partake in the debauchery. I felt I was there to surf - not get a hangover.

Probably the worst part of the night was when they made this guy Dylan do a beer bong, but it wasn't filled with beer. No, they were quite cruel. They had put together a concoction that included beer, cider, vodka, gin, cream, milk, and even yogurt. The dairy products curdled instantly, but I guess they wanted to teach him a lesson because they said he had cheated at beer pong. All I know is I couldn't watch.

The bus picked about half of us up at 9:30 a.m. the next morning for our surf lesson. We actually went all the way to Rossnowlagh Beach to meet our instructors from TurfnSurf. After changing into wetsuits, we walked down to the beach and they taught us some basics about getting up into a standing position on a board. Then it was out into the water!

I have to say it was one of the greatest experiences. There were probably only 3-5 times that I actually managed to stand up and ride a wave, but it was fantastic. At one point I had what I can only describe (cheesy as it sounds) as a magical personal moment of reflection. I had just gotten off a wave and was turning around to head back out and try again. Suddenly I stopped and took in the amazing scenery of the beach framed by the grass covered cliffs, and realized I was actually in Ireland learning to surf. Never in my life would I have thought that would happen or guessed just how spectacular it felt. Even despite all the times I was thrown from the board and took in mouthfuls of salt water, I didn't want my time out there to end.

Sadly, after only about two hours, it did have to end. After showering and eating, I set out to walk along the Bundoran coast some more. My roommates decided they would rather nap, so I was on my own (thank goodness for camera self-timers!). While exploring, I realized the ocean swells had gotten considerably larger and made for huge waves splashing along the shore and cliffs. I don't think it's possible for the photos I took to truly capture how wonderful it all looked but here are a few pictures:

There was also a great sunset that I tried to capture:


Saturday night there was another party in the lodges and then people went out to a club in Bundoran. I managed to sneak back to my room before everyone went into town and my roommates ended up not going either. Suddenly at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday morning I heard a bunch of guys barge into our lodge and go upstairs. They had been drinking all night and were going around to houses trying to basically "haze" the new club members. Thankfully they didn't seem to realize there was also my room on the main floor.

Sunday morning I got up and enjoyed my first proper Irish breakfast at a place called Mello Cafe. It included toast, rashers (which I had to ask the waitress what they were - turns out it's bacon), eggs, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, and a huge pot of tea. Yeah - I skipped the pudding.

Unfortunately the rest of the day did not go well. I had been told the bus would be there to pick us up for our surf lesson at 12:30 p.m. Instead it came at noon and left at 12:15...without me on it. So when I found out at 12:30 that the bus had already come and gone, I was not very happy. Ultimately, I was able to at least ride the bus to the beach at about 1:30 so I could at least walk around, take pictures, and ask other surf shops about their lesson packages. Then at 2:15 it was back on the bus to return to our lodges. So yeah, I didn't get to surf on Sunday at all. As you can guess, I was pretty upset. Especially since two of my roommates knew I was at the lodge and didn't bother to say anything when they left on the bus early.

Then there was a huge fiasco with the bus that was taking us back to Dublin. We were supposed to leave at 4:30 p.m. but didn't end up going until at least 5:15. Then a guy got sick, so we had to pull over a couple times. Instead of getting back to campus at 8 p.m., I got off the bus in Dublin City Centre around 9 and finally got home to my dorm at 10 p.m. Needless to say, Sunday seemed very unorganized and I wasn't very happy. But overall the weekend was a pretty good time and I've definitely caught the surfing bug. I've already looked into going surfing on my own in a couple weeks when I get back from traveling with my family. Sorry for such a long-winded post, but it was an adventure filled weekend. Hope you enjoy some of the photos!