Exploration

I made it! I am here in Galway, Ireland. The ride from Boston was  easy, no hassle at all! Aer Lingus was a great, inexpensive airline to use with a direct flight into the Shannon airport an hour outside of Galway. On the plane, every passenger got to watch the plane's course of travel on individual screens on the back of each of the chairs. They even played music, movies and a variety of t.v. shows! It was SO COOL! Getting settled in has been a bit more of a challenge because of the scheduling of classes, finding my bearings, and dealing with phone and bank issues, but I have tried to just keep an open mind and explore in the times that I have felt overwhelmed.

I am living in the student apartment complex called Gort na Coiribe which is where a vast majority of the students at the National University of Ireland at Galway (NUIG) live. The complex is made up of an assortment of apartments and villas all with different styles. My villa is a 6 person place with a full kitchen and living room, 5 bedrooms, and 3 bedrooms! It is huge! There are 4 single bedrooms and 1 double on the third floor which is where my American roommate Rachel and I live. We have yet to meet our other roommates because they are all Irish students still on holiday who won't be back until tomorrow.

Across the street from the apartment complex is a great shopping plaza, kind of like a mini mall. There is even a McDonald's here, though the Irish have a version of it called SuperMacs! A big thing over here is the garlic sauce, it's like mayo with garlic; so yummy and a great replacement for ranch which NOONE carries! In the plaza there is also an amazingly cheap Irish store called Penney's which is similar to our T.J. Maxx, I got all of my bed linens and towels and other small toiletries here it was perfect. For cheap groceries, there is Aldi's in the plaza. It is a smaller grocery stores with great prices, but very local foods and not a lot of options. Next to the plaza, Dunnes Stores is like the Irish version of Walmart; they have EVERYTHING! It is a grocery store, a pharmacy, a pastry shop, and a clothing and home goods store all wrapped up into one. They even have American foods like Doritos and Oreos!

They aren't kidding when they tell you to bring your raincoat and rain boots to Galway, or slicker and wellies as the Irish call them. It rains here everyday. The first day was by far the worst! It was like a tsunami outside because of the insane winds! We were all thinking to ourselves, "What in the world did we get ourselves into?!" But, even the locals said that it was a bad day and that most days it only
sprinkles. The sun made a debut today for 3 whole hours! That's the most I have seen it all week! But, surprisingly with the sun came the cold air; there were no more clouds to provide insulation.

I have mostly just explored the downtown area in the three days that I have been here. It was crazy to first set foot on Shop Street, where all the postcard pictures are taken. I was standing in the middle of the scene which had taken up residence as my cell phone background in the weeks preceding my departure, and now I was finally there! Downtown looks like a larger version of Church Street in Burlington, Vermont. There are coffee shops, restaurants, pubs, stores, and even live music on the streets. The pubs were filled with music, both traditional Irish as well as famous cover songs everyone knows. The Quays, The King's Head, and The Front Door have all been my favorites as of yet. I have heard the song "Galway Girl" by Steve Earle from the pub scene in the movie P.S. I Love You every night I have been at the pub! Of course I sing along!

This is called Lynch's Castle. It is now a bank, but it was originally built as the house for the Lynch family and protection from the raids of the original 14 tribes of Galway. The story goes that in 1493, one of the city's mayors, James Lynch Fitzstephen, hanged his own son after he discovered that his son had murdered a Spanish sailor who had become involved with a female family member. It is now known as Lynch's window.

Galway is also the home of the Claddagh Ring. For anyone who doesn't know, the ring is a symbol of love. It is a pair of hands holding a heart and it is said that when a person wears the ring with the point of the heart facing in towards their own heart, then their heart is already taken by someone. But, if the point of the heart faces out and away from them, then their heart is ready to be given.






The most beautiful building I have seen yet in Galway is the Galway Cathedral. The Cathedral actually stands on the grounds where the city jail once stood many, many years ago (ironic right?). I haven't had the chance to see the inside yet, but I heard that the entire floor is made of Connemara Marble, just one giant slab of it stretching the length and width of the cathedral!

Also, if any Irishmen ask you, "Where's the crack?" They are actually asking you, "Where's the craic?" and craic is actually the Irish word for fun.