Galway Girl

It’s now day 4 in Ireland and it’s a rainy day, as always, and we get most of the day to relax and rest up for our first excursion this weekend. I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night, because when I got home from town I found a huge black spider on top of my bed, so I was paranoid all night that there were more spiders in our room….. So needless to say, I’m really appreciating a slower day to relax and catch up on some sleep.

While today is a nice relaxing day at our home at the Park Lodge, yesterday was a busy and amazing day in Galway. I am absolutely in love with the city, and I am so glad we live so close to it and will be going there frequently throughout the semester. It is hard to even explain the city to someone who has never been there, because I cannot possibly do it justice. The center of the city, Eyre Square, is a lively youthful place with beautiful cobblestone streets for walking between the amazing restaurants, pubs, and shops that fill the streets. The buildings are colorful and decorated with traditional Irish banners and décor that make it such a hub for the Irish culture. Throughout the day we saw several amazing street performers and bands playing traditional Irish music that was amazing to listen to and makes me excited to hear all of the live music that they have frequently in the pubs. We had lunch at a really great artisan bakery called Griffin’s, which had amazing desserts and really good soups and sandwiches. All of Galway is so beautiful, and we walked around as much of it as we could. We went to the pier by the river, the dam, a gorgeous Irish Catholic Cathedral, and so many other amazing places around the town. We also did a little bit of shopping around the mall and found a store that is the equivalent of Forever 21 in the states, so I’m sure we’ll be back sometime soon to do some shopping there. I can’t wait to go back at night so we can check out the pubs when they all have the live music and dancing that we’ve been hearing about. Plus, Galway is a college town, so it will be the perfect place to meet Irish people our age and hopefully make some local friends! I absolutely love the city and I can’t wait to spend more time there. J

Last night after getting back from Galway and resting up a bit, we decided to go into Spiddal to check out the pub scene for the first time. We’ve discovered that drinks are very expensive, especially in a smaller town like Spiddal, so none of us have been drinking a whole lot. I did get lucky though, because I was talking about how I hadn’t tried Guinness yet, so the bartender gave me a smaller glass to try for free. It’s definitely an acquired taste, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world…. He eventually added some sort of raspberry flavoring in it for me, which did help it a lot so it’s probably something I could get used to.

We also got pretty lucky again when a large group of college students our age wandered into the pub we were in. We have heard that Spiddal doesn’t really have any people our age once school starts, so we weren’t really expecting to have local people to hang out with. But last night it just so happens that a group of high school friends who grew up in Spiddal decided to get together one last time before they all go back to school. We started talking to a couple of them when they came up to the bar to get drinks, and eventually they invited us over to sit with them and chat. One guy in particular, Einne, had a really good time talking to us and he gave us the “lowdown” on everything we should know as college students in the area. He told us the best places in Galway to eat and go out and where we would find the best entertainment and the most people our age. He also told us little cultural tips about Ireland and what Irish people think of Americans. Luckily for us, he said most Irish people really enjoy Americans and that we blend in pretty well until we start talking… haha J. He also had a pretty hilarious American accent that he did for us, using the phrase “I want a hamburger.” It was just really fun to meet some of the local people our age, and they’ve invited us out with them in Galway so hopefully we see them again!

Well that’s most of what has been going on here in the last couple days! Tomorrow morning we head out to the Aran Islands for the weekend, which should be amazing so I’m very excited! So far the trip keeps getting better and better, and I can’t wait to see what else it has in store for us! J