We flew to Shannon, then caught a bus to Galway for a night of enjoying the pubs in the cute little downtown of the city. Galway is probably the smallest city that I've been to all semester and it was so nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of London for a little bit. It was just such a quaint, cute city, with a small downtown that even I could navigate after two days there and then a beautiful area right on the water. W
e did a mini (very mini) pub crawl Friday night, going to Tig Coili and Taffes. They were just up the street from our hostel and everyone I had talked to who had been to Galway said they couldn't be missed. The first pub was fun; I tried some Smithwyck's (pronounced Smid-icks, I'm told by the Dans) on Jordan's recommendation and once again came to the realization that I just don't like beer or ale. But since I was at an Irish pub in Ireland, drinking Irish ale, I powered through and finished the pint. Then it was on to Taffes, where there was an awesome live band playing Irish music and a ton of happy Irish people having a good time. I went for Bulmer's cider here and was a happy camper--it was delicious! And it was in a Guinnes glass, which was also pretty cool. Highlight of the night: a hilarious drunk Irish guy grabbing Kaitlin and swaying with her, then proceeding to kiss her on the cheek.
Saturday was an absolutely perfect day. We took a tour of the hills of Connemara, basically the prettiest place I have ever seen. Everywhere you looked there were rolling hills, sheep, and beautiful scenery. And since it was March it wasn't even that green yet; I can't imagine how amazing it would be in the summer. It was just so wonderful to get out of the city and enjoy nature again. I have been missing grass a lot this semester, as silly as it sounds. We had an awesome Irish tour guide who told us funny stories, sang Irish songs, and told us a little about the history of Connemara, like the traditional Irish thatched roofs. He also emphasized that the whole day was going to be in Irish minutes...their leisurely way of keeping time that often has them arriving five or ten minutes after they said they would. Which was perfect for me! All my friends joke that I operate on "Maura time," arriving exactly 5 minutes after I said I would be there. I knew that I would feel right at home in Ireland! I loved taking it easy and not frantically rushing from place to place to make sure we saw everything. I'm thinking that life should just be lived in Irish minutes. Everybody in Ireland was so happy and friendly, so they must be doing something right!
The funniest moment was when we got off the bus to walk down the street in a tiny little Connemara town and there was a donkey just wandering along the road. Naturally, I squealed and ran down the street the second it looked like it was coming near me. I wanted to get back in touch with nature...but not that close...
We also saw beautiful Kylemore Abbey, which our bus driver said was so gorgeous it should intice us all to be nuns. And we even stopped and saw some precious baby lambs, sinc
e it is lambing season in Ireland. There were sheep everywhere in Connemara. The big joke in Ireland is that rush hour is when the sheep cross the road and we did manage to run into a little traffic! It was just a wonderful, leisurely day riding around on the bus enjoying the scenery, and then occasiaonlly hopping out to get a closer look and take about a million photos. The tour took all day and we were pretty beat by the end, so no pub crawl for us on Saturday night. We got up early on Sunday morning for Mass in the beautiful Galway Cathedral and then spent the day walking along Galway Bay and shopping downtown at all the cute souvenir stores. I had actually splurged the day before and gotten a pair of shamrock earrings for myself at Kylemore Abbey. I justified that the profits were going to the nuns, and, there was no way a McGlinn Shamrock could pass up real Irish shamrock earrings! So day two of the shopping was mostly for other people, although I did pick up a print of beautiful Connemara for my room next year.When it was time to take the bus back to the airport, I was a little sad. That whole, your vacation is ending and you don't want to go back to the real world sadness. It was different than spring break, because I think by the end of the ten days we were so tired that we just wanted to get home and rest. But I just wanted to stay in Ireland as long as I could. I definitely want to go back someday and stay at one of the adorable Bed and Breakfasts right on Galway Bay with the beautiful views.
And since I loved Galway and Connemara so much, I took about a million photos, so here is the link if you want to check them out: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=11709797&l=db8065d396&id=538960556
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