I participated in the faculty led study abroad UA in Ireland: Geography of Europe. Throughout my study abroad we traveled all across Ireland and learned lots about the culture and geography of Ireland. One of my favorite places I got the pleasure to visit was Dingle, Ireland. Dingle is a small town right on the west coast of Ireland. It was the farthest west we had been during our time in Ireland. We spent two nights in Dingle and one of the days we were in Dingle, we took a sea life boat tour of the Blasket Islands. The Blasket Islands are considered the Galápagos Islands of Ireland and have a fascinating history. Throughout this tour, we went into different sea coves and sea caves, saw lots of geological formations, saw puffins, seals, deer, and dolphins! The geological formations were so cool and we learned that they were actually pushed upside down when the earth shifted from Pangea. On our tour of the Blasket Islands we were also able to see Skellig Island which is famous for being the place they filmed the new Star Wars movies. It is also a monastic island where monks would go to find peace from their usual monastic village. After our tour, we did a driving tour on Slea Head Loop around the Dingle Peninsula where we got to see old forts and beehive huts and learned more about the people who used to live on the Blasket Islands. This day was so interesting and beautiful and one of my favorite days during my study abroad.
