Leaving on a Jet Plane

One last look towards the bay.

Well once again I’m stuck in an airport. Oh the joys.

I spent my last day in Galway on a walking tour of the city and wandering on my own taking photographs. Uploading them last night I realized that I took over 100 pictures just yesterday. Most of them are of storefronts in the shopping district as well as a few other things. I’m thinking about turning them into some sort of collage, but I’m not sure how just yet.

Today I woke up bright and early to catch my bus. I got on a bus at 7:05 for an hour and a half ride to the airport to learn that my first flight had been delayed. That worked out for me though because getting through customs is more of a maze than I expected it to be. I felt like I went through security about three times before I could get to my gate. I was not helped by the fact that I was going to gate 111 and I only saw signs for gates 1-14. Not sure how they got gates 101-114, but I feel like their numbering system could have been improved. Anyway, I made it onto my flight without any problems.

On my 7 or so hour flight I got the joy of sitting next to the man who didn't know about personal space. Is it just me, or are 5 trips to the bathroom in 7 hours a little too much? Maybe that’s just my opinion because I was in the aisle seat. At least then I got a break from his elbow being in my arm. I shouldn't complain so much, but I’m writing this fresh off of that 7 hour flight while waiting for my delayed flight to Chicago so I've built up a little frustration towards the airport system.

Back to thoughts on Ireland. I've been thinking about my past month’s adventures over the past few days. My highs and lows, the things I would do again, and the things I would do differently. I think my favorite memories are of wandering around Galway on the rare sunny afternoons. Walking through the Latin Quarter and seeing the street performers. That one warm weekend walking down the promenade and discovering the beaches. Seeing Trad on the Prom with my classmates.  Even exploring Ennis and Limerick on the drearier days. My low point would obviously be getting mugged. Even with that one day ruined, I can’t say that I have any regrets. Everything I did, I would do again. Sure it would have been nice to travel a bit more or visit a few different places, but I can honestly say that I am completely satisfied with my trip. If I were to go again I suppose I would travel more. I think it would be nice to go with just a few people and to have the luxury of a rental car to explore without the confines of a bus schedule. There's always next time, because I certainly don't think my desire to travel will go away any time soon.

With any luck I'll be home before midnight! (I'm half joking, but the way today is going...)

Signing off,

Devin

A Night at the Prom

Tuesday was our last official day of classes. After class was done I wandered down to the Claddagh and looked for seashells on the beach. I couldn't believe how many shells were lying everywhere!

At least I got a little use out of my rain boots!

That evening we all went to a show called Trad on the Prom to celebrate one of our last nights in Galway(http://www.tradontheprom.com/video). Trad on the Prom is traditional Irish music and dancing with performers from shows like Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. Several of the performers were world champions. If you happened to see my Facebook video of the dancing street performer, you actually saw a snip-it of the show because she was one of the dancers. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos during the show, so it's pretty cool I got to see her performing in the street.

Today we didn't have class or a field trip, but I had to take both my Museum Studies final and my Psychology final. Neither were too hard, but I did have that finals mentality of wanting to be doing anything rather than a test. I spent the rest of the day on the river walk and walking around the Latin Quarter with friends as they shopped for souvenirs.

There isn't really much else to report, I'm just packing up my room to check out tomorrow. I'm still spending one more day in the city and flying home Friday, so I have one last chance to eat fish and chips down by the quay.

I'll be seeing you soon,
Devin

It's Only Liquid Sunshine

This weekend my entire group visited Dublin. We started our trip by making a stop at a neolithic tomb called Knowth. It's a passage tomb, and it contains a third of all megalithic art in all Western Europe by means of very large stones surrounding the entire mound. We were able to climb on top of the mound and see for miles around. 

We arrived in Dublin later that afternoon. I wandered around the city centre with some friends from my group, and that evening we stopped by a few pubs trying to find some live music. Unfortunately we didn't stumble upon anything good, but it was a beautiful night to explore and I was able to get a few good photos.

Spire of Dublin, Monument of Light, Millennium
 Spire, or a giant heroin needle, take your pick

On Saturday we hopped on a bus to tour the city. We checked out an old jail with a lot of interesting history, and two museums. It rained on and off all day, but we were told by one of the bus drivers that it never rains in Dublin, they only get liquid sunshine. They got an awful lot of liquid sunshine at inconvenient times that afternoon. One of the museums we visited was the National Museum of Ireland archaeology museum. This was a neat old museum that reminded me of Night at the Museum. The building itself was old and just plain cool to look at. There we saw "bog bodies", bodies that had been preserved in the bogs of Ireland since the Iron Age. Saturday night we went to a gay bar for karaoke with drag queens. A few girls from our group went up to sing, and we all had a great time.

Kilmainham Gaol Dublin's jail from the 1870s

The National Archaeology Museum

This is where the story gets a little less cheery. Sunday was a dreary day. I got on the bus again with the intent of visiting the National Gallery. I got off the bus near the gallery and decided to walk through a park. I rounded a corner in the park and was stopped by two men. It seemed odd, but I had had other odd encounters with Irish men before, usually ones who had drank too much. These men weren't the overly friendly drunk type though. They asked me for money and my phone, and when I wouldn't give them my bag, they pulled it from me. It's not necessary to go into the details, but I can't sugar coat it either and say that it wasn't a scary experience. I was lucky that they only wanted my bag, and they left when they had taken it. People had heard me scream, and helped me find the police near-by. I met several wonderfully friendly and kind people when I left that park, and I will be eternally grateful to them. I spent the rest of the day filing a police report and canceling bank cards. I have never been so ready to get on a bus and leave town. I don't share this story looking for sympathy or pity, but I didn't feel that I could simply leave this out either.

Now it's my last week in Galway. We're finishing up classes and tomorrow we're headed to Trad on the Prom, a show similar to Riverdance. I'm told it's one of the "must-dos" in Galway so I'm pretty excited for it.

I'm headed home Friday!
Devin

P.S. Look what I found cruising around Dublin! No one else seemed nearly as excited as I was.

Even Dublin has Ducks!

Seeing Moher of Ireland

Sorry for the terrible pun in the title. Clearly I'm writing this late at night. This week's journey was to the Cliffs of Moher. I should mention that on Tuesday evening many of my classmates and I participated in a pub crawl around Galway. There isn't a whole lot to say about this, but I feel like it's worth mentioning. We went to a few of the popular pubs and ended at a club, all of which are a very different scene from La Crosse. I'm not sure I could pinpoint what makes their drinking culture different from ours, it's really more the feeling of the scene. Unfortunately I have learned that I do not care for Guinness. I had fun anyways and met a few cool locals throughout the night.

So Wednesday we jumped on another bus and took the trip down the coast to see the cliffs. I'll admit that before getting there I thought "oh I'm sure they're pretty, but they're just cliffs, how great can they really be." I was happily proven wrong. Along the way to the cliffs we made a few stops including a castle and a tomb. Sadly we couldn't really explore the castle.

When we arrived at the cliffs I couldn't see a whole lot right away, but I went to check out the visitor's center to learn more about them. They have a really cool interactive visitor's center, and they show an IMAX type video that makes you feel like you are the various animals that live in that environment and you dive off the edge of the cliff and into the water. Not the point of the trip, but definitely worth checking out if you ever have a chance to see the cliffs. 

When I did climb the hill to get a view of the Cliffs of Moher my breath was taken away. They really are more beautiful than I could have imagined. I don't think I can come up with words to describe them, and my pictures don't really do them justice when compared to the real thing. There's a walking trail that you can take for quite a ways in either direction that goes close enough, but not too close, to the edge. I had no desire to get closer to the edge than the suggested fence line, though there were plenty of people who had gone further than I had. I wish we could have had more time there so I could have wandered around more, but sadly our time had to come to an end.

We got to enjoy a beautiful ride home along the coast while the sun shined. I never did figure out what Moher was/meant. I guess I'll have  to do some research on that. Today we had the day off of classes, but my partner and I worked on a psychology project. We had a nice time wandering around town and saw more great street performers. Check out Facebook for more videos. 

Now I'm off to Dublin for the weekend. Good night,

Devin

A Hostel Situation

Don’t worry! It’s not what you think. Though hostel and hostile sound similar, in my experience they are completely different.

This weekend I chose to travel to Ennis, a town of about 20,000 people a little over an hour away from Galway in County Clare. It’s a cute little town known for its narrow streets and boutiques. I stayed at a hostel rather than a hotel, simply because that’s what you do when you travel Europe. It’s very common for students or single travelers to stay in hostels, and they’re much cheaper than hotels. For instance I’m staying for only €24 a night (about $30) which in the states would only get you a cheap hotel with bedbugs where a horror movie might take place. This is actually one of the top ranked hostels in Ireland and is kind of a combo between my residence hall at school and a hotel. There are three bunk beds in my room, but there are only three people staying here right now. We also have a private bathroom in our room, but some rooms use a more public bathroom set up similar to college dorms. Basically it’s really nice here, so no need to worry.

I took the bus into town on Friday morning, and though there were grey skies, I was hoping it would stay dry. Unfortunately it rained on and off all day, from a fine mist to a downpour. So I sucked it up and got my shoes wet so I could explore the city. They have a really nice river walk, lots of sculptures, and this thing called Wallcandy where artists have created murals and things all over the city (http://www.wallcandy.ie/home.html).

On Saturday I visited Dysert O'Dea Castle and Archaeology Centre. This is a castle and several other ruins not too far from Ennis. Unfortunately it's kind of out in the country, so it's a little hard to get to without your own car. Luckily I made friends with one of my roommates who has been at the hostel for a few weeks while in Ireland doing research and she was also looking to visit the castle. She had made friends with one of the people at the reception counter who lived near the castle and offered us a ride there. We traipsed through a field of wet grass and cows to check out the High Cross, a tower, and an old church. When the castle finally opened we wandered up and down the five stories and onto the roof.

Sunday morning I went to mass. No, I'm not Catholic, but I'm in a predominantly Catholic area so there's no shortage of old churches and cathedrals. I thought attending a mass would be a better experience than wandering around in an empty church. After mass, I maneuvered my way back to the bus stop and rode back to Galway. The rest of the day was spent shopping for groceries and catching up on psychology reading and an archaeology test.

Just two days of class this week, a trip to the Cliffs of Moher, then we're off to Dublin for the weekend.

talk to you later,
Devin

My hostel room in Ennis. A little like summer camp.

Disney Had It Wrong

Maybe Walt Disney had it wrong, maybe Disneyland is not the happiest place on Earth. Why, you ask? Because I think I found it right here.

I was sitting around wondering what to do with my evening when it occurred to me that the sun was out. It had been one of those days when it had rained on and off all day, so I decided that I had better go outside and make the most of it while the sun was here because you never know how long it will last. I chose to walk down the path along the river, a route I've taken before. I noticed a little trail off the main path going through the woods and I decided to take it.


I suddenly felt like I had stepped into a movie. What I was surrounded by was a magical world where fairy tails are set. Everything was covered in ivy and all I could hear were the sounds of birds chirping. Through a gap in the trees I could see the ruins of the castle across the river. It was the sort of place I felt I could stay forever simply absorbing its beauty.

As the sun sank lower in the sky, it was time to return to the village. I can honestly say that if I had to leave Ireland tomorrow, I would be content because I got to experience a true gem on the Emerald Isle. If you are a fellow Ireland traveler reading this, I hope you have the chance to experience this hidden treasure. I was almost to greedy to share this with you, but I couldn't hold back my excitement at the beauty of this little woods. My pictures cannot fully share the experience I had. If we're friends on Facebook, feel free to check out all the pictures and the videos I took trying to capture the charm of this little nook in the woods.

Devin

Another Island Adventure

Today we made a trip to the Aran Islands. The day started off sunny and beautiful, so I had high hopes it would stay that way. We didn't have the best of starts though. Apparently the bus company forgot to pick us up, and we left 45 minutes later than we were supposed to. We were also told that once on the island we would be taking a tour that had been planned through the study abroad office. Sadly this was not so. There were, however, plenty of bike rental shops and small tour buses you could jump on.

Cute roadside stand with its own donkey

I have no idea what this says, but I think
it's pointing out tourist destinations.

I chose to grab a bike and explore the island on my own. I had been given a map when I boarded the ferry and the route to the various sights of the island looked pretty simple. There really weren't too many roads to choose from on this island with about 800 inhabitants. I set off the way the rental man suggested along the coast and quickly learned that navigation might be a little harder than I imagined due to the fact that most signs were written only in Gaelic. This is one of the few parts of Ireland were Gaelic is truly the  dominant language. Everyone speaks English of course, but for some reason very few signs, even those for tourist attractions, are written in English.

I road along the cost and enjoyed the sunshine for a while and even got to see a few seals! After not to long though I could see the sky starting to darken. I was hopeful that it would be a passing shower, and at first I was right. It was a light rain and only lasted a short while. 

Seals!

I continued my journey around the island, praying the rain would stay away. Unfortunately it came back and gained strength. I got dumped on before I decided it was time to head back to the village and find a place for a cup of tea. I hid inside for a bit and enjoyed tea and scones like a true European while I waited for the rain to subside. Eventually it did and I wandered out to check out a few shops before I had to get back on the ferry to go back to the "mainland". Apparently the Aran Islands are known for their wool sweaters and the sheep that used to inhabit the island. Somehow I didn't manage to see any sheep, (apparently they're all gone now) but I did check out their famous sweaters and bought a pair of cozy mittens for myself. It might seem like a silly purchase in the summer, but they actually came in handy already when I was waiting in the cold and drizzle for our bus to take us home.

After such a dreary day, it felt good to return to Corrib Village and take a hot shower and put on dry clothes. It looks like it will be raining for the next few days straight. Oh well, I was told to expect this after all.

Devin