It's all CRAIC in Ireland

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By the way . . . Craic is slang for "fun" in Irish. . . just so you know.

After briefly visiting one of my best friends in London for New Year's 2007, I arrived on the Emerald Isle on January 2nd and quickly fell in love with the place. Like I said in my intro, I'm studying at the National University of Ireland at Galway (NUIG) for the semester. I guess this first entry can be my attempt to summarize the last three and a half weeks of my life. . . .

My first impression of Galway was me getting caught in a torrential downpour on the ten minute walk from my flat at Dunaras (a student residential complex about twenty minutes from NUIG and thirty minutes from the city center) to the local Dunnes store . . . my jeans were absolutely soaked through and my backpack started soaping up (from what, I have no clue), and Ireland still managed to get on my good side. Pretty impressive I think. Galway itself is one of the most picturesque towns I have ever visited, and I am so excited to call it home for the next four months. If you're a wanderer (as I am realizing myself to be), it's basically your ideal spot. Plus, the city is quite vibrant (as the locals boast). Since it is a college town, there is a lot of energy from all the students . . . but it definitely doesn't end with that generation. You can walk into a pub and spot people of all (legal) ages, all of whom are enjoying their pint and the atmosphere. I'm quickly finding that the pubs are definitely the place to get the best sense for Galway's energy . . . I've only tried about six at this point, but I'm working on hitting them all. Hey - I have all semester, right? My other favorite thing about Galway is its location on the bay - I come from St. Louis where the closest body of water is the muddy Mississippi, but I think I'm meant to live by the ocean. The smell of salt air, the seafood, the therapeutic sound of the ocean . . . LOVE IT. And yes, I did just get a bit cliche. What can you do?

As for the other parts of Ireland I've seen in the past few weeks . . .

Our first weekend here (I came with a program called API which sends students from all over the US to various cities around the world) we went on a bus tour of the Burren and saw the Cliffs of Moher. Yes, once again it was a wee bit rainy, and kind of cold . . . but it's Ireland, so you learn to love it. Desmond, our tour guide, introduced us to the vast countryside green-ness that gives Ireland its nickname. We got to see lots of stonewalls, random castles, some remnants from the stone age . . . and lots of sheep. Perhaps it doesn't sound exciting, but if you have a preconceived image of Ireland in your head this tour will confirm all your expectations. Plus, who can't get excited about sheep? The Cliffs of Moher were absolutely amazing, and I saw them on a day when the clouds severely restricted visibility. I can't wait to see them again in May when the family visits. So excited!! My best attempt at explaining them is to compare them to another traveler's dream spot - the Grand Canyon . . . The cliffs are a little smaller, yes . . . but add an ocean. Just try not to get blown off. Don't worry, they have signs to remind you.

The next weekend five of my friends and I hopped on the bus to Cork in the south part of Ireland. After walking a good forty minutes in the dark to the bus station (we had to be there at 6:45 and the sun doesn't rise until quite late in this country), we slept through a four hour bus ride and arrived in lovely Cork City. Just kidding - Cork really isn't that exciting. I suppose its nice enough . . . but I think my highlight of the actual city was spotting an Afro store, which was just amusing. It basically feels like a smaller version of Dublin, and all the stores are repeats of ones I've either seen in Galway or in the states. If you are going to stop by though, I recommend visiting the market . . . that was quite a lively spot, and it was a nice place to roam around for about 20 minutes. Otherwise, methinks Cork functions best as a base camp. The six of us, after doing a wee bit of shopping (my friend Kat bought some boots), headed out to Kinsale. It's a seaside town that takes about 45 minutes to get to by bus . . . we went because of a recommendation in Rick Steve's guide book - LOVE Rick Steves - and it was well worth the trip. Kinsale is another picturesque seaside town that is great to wander around in. There's also a great amount of history associated with this historic harbour . . . the sinking of the Lusitania about 10 miles offshore might be the most notable. Our first stop was Charles Fort which provided an amazing view of the town. We did get rained on for about five minutes, but after that the sun came out and we got a BEAUTIFUL day. It was perfect for our walk right along the ocean between the fort and the town center. After Charles Fort we stopped for a quick dinner, and then said goodbye to two of our friends who had to catch the bus back to Cork early (one of whom was Kat who coincidently left her boots behind for us to lug around for the rest of our trip). The rest of us caught the bus back to Cork a little later after a wee bit more exploring. That night we stayed at a Hostile - basically your typical spot for a college student/traveler on a budget. Nothing too exciting to report (except for a kind of creepy man in the bathroom . . .but we'll not go into that.) Day two consisted of Ireland's tourist Mecca . . . aka the Blarney Stone. Even though Rick Steves would have been quite disapointed to know we ignored his wishes, we felt you can't visit Ireland without kissing the Blarney Stone and acquiring the "Gift of the Gab." We hopped on another bus (about 25 minutes this time), and spent more on admission to Blarney Castle and the grounds than on our roundtrip bus ticket. I would say we were pleasantly surprised by this little excursion . . . Blarney Castle is quite pretty (and we lucked out on the weather this time), so we had tons of fun exploring. The four of us (plus Kat's boots) made it to the top of the castle and risked our lives hanging upside down to kiss a stone that probably gave us hepatitis. But I'm sure I'm the most eloquent person in the world now, so it was well worth it. I'm also probably quite lucky seeing as another attraction of Blarney Castle was the wishing steps (which you have to venture down forwards with your eyes closed, and then up backwards with your eyes still closed). All four of us succeeded though . . . so I'm waiting for my wish to come true. Just a matter of time. Overall Blarney was quite the enjoyable experience . . . although (word to the wise), it would have been hell during tourist season. The way up to the stone consists of a rather tight stone staircase that would have been rather uncomfortable if forced to trek up in the middle of a line. Also, like I said, we lucked out on the weather. . . Otherwise, the experience may not have been so craic-tastic . . . just so you know.

My most recent excursion was to Dublin. It was basically just an introduction to the city since we were only there for one day, but we did hit some of the highlights. Our first stop was the Guinness Brewery, so I got to partake of my first pint of Guinness at about 11:30 am - hey, welcome to Ireland. I have to say, it was almost palatable since it was free. After the brewery we jumped on a "hop on, hop off" bus tour of the city. We hit the book of Kells which was rather impressive to see. It's an illustrated copy of the gospels, and has some amazing Celtic designs mixed in with the text. It was moved to Dublin during the Viking Raids and is now at Trinity College . . . definitely worth the visit. My friends Jenny, Emily, and I attempted to see the General Post Office (GPO) which was central to the 1916 Rising. However, when you put together 3 girls with really bad senses of direction and no idea what "GPO" stands for, plans don't always work out. We tried, and now I have something to add to the list when the family comes. That was about if for our first taste of Dublin . . . like I said, basically just an introduction to the city, but I'm excited to get back there.

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Photos

Galway
From a bridge over the River Corrib

NUIG Quad
aka the Harry Potter building

Pubbin it Up
One of our favorite activities . . . Kat, Jenny, Katie, and me at the King's Head in Galway.

The Mountain Climbers
It may look like a large hill, but don't be deceived. We had the option of stopping at a cave during our Burren tour . . . but that cost money, so we climbed a mountain instead. . . . caves are caves, right?

Sunset on the Beach
The sun decided to pop up over the Burren just in time to go down, but we enjoyed it.

Being Tourists. . .
Jenny, Emily, Krista, and Me in front of Blarney Castle

Gotta Love the Guinness . . .
. . . or just be able to finish a pint. Me, Emily, and Katie at the Guinness Brewery in Dublin.

Trinity College
Jenny and Emily on Trinity's campus in Dublin.

Comments

[Emily]

Lovely recap