After finishing my final exam for my early start class on Friday, I caught a bus to meet some friends in Galway for the weekend. It was about a 4 1/2 hour bus ride from Cork and is a very popular city for tourists. Bridget and I stayed in Woodquay Hostel, the oldest hostel in Galway, and it definitely showed. Although the hostel wasn't the greatest, we found out we were sharing a room with our friend's older brother who just moved to Galway for the year and is having trouble finding an apartment due to the housing crisis in Ireland. We explored the city and the nightlife that night and definitely could have gotten more sleep since we had to wake up early for a tour the next morning.
Our hostel provided student tours to Connemara and the Cliffs of Moher for a cheap price, so we chose to spend Saturday and Sunday visiting both respectively. Our bus driver for Connemara drove us through a bunch of small towns and let us get out often so we could take pictures. He knew so much about Ireland and the history of each town, which I've noticed is common with a lot of people here. We spent a majority of the day at Kylemore Abbey, an enormous castle built on a lake overlooking the mountains in the Connemara region. The castle was completed in 1971 and has served as an estate, an abbey to Belgian nuns that fled Belgium during World War I, and a boarding school that was closed in 2010. The views were incredible and is a must see for anyone who is in the Galway area.
Our hostel provided student tours to Connemara and the Cliffs of Moher for a cheap price, so we chose to spend Saturday and Sunday visiting both respectively. Our bus driver for Connemara drove us through a bunch of small towns and let us get out often so we could take pictures. He knew so much about Ireland and the history of each town, which I've noticed is common with a lot of people here. We spent a majority of the day at Kylemore Abbey, an enormous castle built on a lake overlooking the mountains in the Connemara region. The castle was completed in 1971 and has served as an estate, an abbey to Belgian nuns that fled Belgium during World War I, and a boarding school that was closed in 2010. The views were incredible and is a must see for anyone who is in the Galway area.
When we got back into Galway, we decided to check when the last bus back to Cork was the next day since the tours got in at about 6. The last bus was at 6:05, which we would never be able to make, so Bridget and I went to 5 different tourist offices before we found a tour to the Cliffs of Moher that got back at 5:00. For dinner we went to a hole in the wall restaurant called The Pie Maker. The only things on the menu are savory and sweet pies and they had great reviews on Yelp. I ordered the chorizo, pesto, and mozzarella option and it's the best meal that I've had here yet.
We had to check out of our hostel by 10:00 the next morning, but our tour didn't leave until 12:00 so Bridget and I found a cafe for breakfast and walked around the city and a flea market. Galway was in the All Ireland Hurling Finals and the entire city was getting ready for the match because the team had never made it that far before. It was about an 1 & 1/2 hour bus ride to the Cliffs of Moher and we were given 2 hours to explore before we had to get back on the bus. The Cliffs stretch for 5 miles, reach 700 feet, and have been featured in Harry Potter and The Princess Bride. There is a guided walking path that keeps you far from the edge, but we climbed over the wall like most of the tourists were doing in order to get better pictures. For how many people that get close to the Cliff's edges, there are only about 15 deaths a year and they are often intentional falls. After getting back into Galway and catching a bus back to Cork, I spent almost 8 hours on the bus yesterday.
The semester officially started today, but I don't have my first class until Tuesday afternoon. Freshers Week is a big event put on by the student union and offers a different party with DJ's every day and night of the first week of classes. It's weird how we are taught to basically avoid alcohol at school in America, but drinking is practically encouraged here. The university promotes Freshers Week and there are 2 bars on campus where students hang out between classes. With classes starting, having to register with immigration, freshers week, and leaving for Paris on Thursday, it's shaping up to be a busy week.