Hypothermia and a Hen Party

Day 14, & 15: June 30 & July 1, 2012

            Friday I sat around and pretty much did nothing besides try to catch up on some blog posts and journals. It is getting sort of tiresome to continuously update the blog after each day. I hold off a couple of days and then try to write everything down before I forget it all. It would be smarter for me to just take a few minutes at the end of each day and write down everything that happened, but I am just not the journaling type of person. So I did not do much on Friday and that is why there is no post from that day.

The sketchy carnival.

            This weekend was our scheduled travel weekend for our trip. We had Friday Saturday and Sunday to go wherever we wanted. One group flew to London for the weekend, another took a train up to Belfast to see the Giants Causeway, and then there was the five of us that decided to head east to the beach. The beach in Ireland you say? Why yes! Tramore, in Waterford Co. is one of the top 10 beach towns in Ireland. It was a picture straight out of the late 80’s early 90’s Boardwalks. After we took a two hour bus ride we arrive in Tramore only to see a carnival set up right on the water. There were more arcades than kids in the town and the rides looked like they were built in the early 20^th century. But this place was absolutely gorgeous.

The beautiful beach.

            We headed straight to the water. No place to stay yet, no food in our stomachs, we just had to see the beach. There were cliffs to our right and left, old sketchy carnival rides behind us, and waves crashing on the shore in front of us. It was the best picture to start our adventure in Tramore. We headed off to find real food, instead of fake Irish boardwalk food. We wanted substance. We headed up the street to O’Shea’s Hotel and Pub. We sat down and got pretty good food to fill our growling stomachs. Once we had finished eating we headed to the front desk in the hotel to get a room. We were handed a set of keys. Actual keys that turned locks. Not electronic card keys to swipe into your room. We had a key that opened the front door to the building across the street where our room was and a key to our actual room. This was the second clue that lead me to believe that this town was not living in the year 2012 (the first was the carnival). So when we got to our room and found out there was no wifi, I was disappointed, but not surprised in the slightest. So many pictures to instagram, but the ability to do it just disappeared right alongside the ability to have any communication at all with anyone outside of the tiny seaside town.

Our "family sized" hotel room.

            After we dropped what little things we brought for the weekend in the room we changed into our togs (swim trunks) and sweatshirts and headed to the water. It was about 5:30 when we got out to the beach and where the waves used to be crashing against the sea wall, we were now walking beside it. The tide had gone down greatly. Anyone crazy enough to go into the water had wet suits on, and there were a good amount of surfers further down the beach. The constant waves were much better than anything we have normally in Virginia. After about twenty minutes of taking pictures and walking around with our feet in the freezing cold water one of the girls gets the crazy idea that we should all go in. And like fools we all decide we are going to be dumb enough to go along with this. My feet were already numb from walking through the shallow waves but when we ran into the water a cold burn shot through every inch of my body. Whatever wasn’t cold was already starting to turn numb. I can only imagine tomorrows Tramore Times front-page reading “5 American college students die from hypothermia after attempting to dive into the icy waters of the Atlantic.” So after barely 5 minutes in the water we got out, dried off, and put what warm clothes we had back on. We hung out at the beach for about another hour or so taking some more pictures and doing some people watching.

The next morning at the beach.

            After the beach we headed back to the pub where we grabbed dinner. We had some delicious warm chocolate cake and an Irish coffee. It took about an hour or so but the pub started getting crowded. There were families coming in with little kids and older folks, but not many people close to our age. At one point the door that connected to another side of the pub swings open and we hear this pounding beat and see laser lights but this soon disappears as the door closes again. We all look at each other in agreement. We needed to be over there. So a little time passed and then we decided to head to the other side. What we didn’t realize is that we walked right into a “Hen Party” which is the equivalent to a Bachelorette party. There were women dressed up in Halloween costumes all around the bar, from a zombie to a bumblebee and everything in between. Meaghan became quick friends with the bride to be and the night began. We drank and joked and danced for a few hours enjoying the small group of the 5 of us, but also laughing at all the fun the “hens” were having. 

           The next morning we got a complimentary Irish breakfast from the hotel, complete with blood sausage and all. It wasn't actually that bad, but it's not something I will probably eat again. We caught the bus back to Cork and reality set back in when the rains started coming down. The beach was far in the distance and the bustling streets of Cork took us back with a cold and wet welcome. Overall the trip to Tramore was a great weekend!