Blogs from Galway, County Galway, Ireland, Europe - page 24

Tammy here: We spent the day getting on tour bus to see the Burren and Cliffs of Moher (better known to us as the Cliffs of Insanity from the Princess Bride movie). It was fraiken cold. Turns out the Burren are a lot of rocks and the Cliffs are cliffs. We did go inside the very cool Aillwee Cave where the guide had us turn off all our cameras and cell phones and then shut off the lights so where in pitch darkness. Totally no lights. He left the lights off just long enough so it starts to get uncomfortable like he might have left us there. We also saw a cool ancient burial ground that looked like a mini Stonehenge. One of the best things on this trip has been watching Jackie's self-proclaimed narcolepsy ... read more

. . . and St. Paddy´s Day will never be the same again . . . API (and my cousin, Bennett, who came in from Scotland for the weekend) celebrated the 17th in style. We started out with a potluck brunch (if you can call 9am brunch), and then headed into the city center for the parade. Of course, the sky opened up (as we´ve heard it always does on St. Paddy´s day in Galway), so we changed our plans and spent the entire afternoon in Taaffe´s pub listening to some traditional Irish music (and, of course, singing along when we could . . . I´m still working on learning all those pub songs). It turned into a party with all of our closest friends . . . even the ones who are strangers.... read more

Monday was our last day in Galway. The students had their final lessons, and I took the chance to walk round Galway one more time. There are so many things to see. When you take your time you will see many quaint shops, picturesque restaurants, and colourful pub signs. Despite its size, Galway is one of the fastest growing cities in Europe, some parts of Galway still look like an old fishing village. In the evening the students had their last dinner with their hostfamilies, Irish home cooking, like lasagne and chips, which they didn't really like. We, the teachers, however, could choose from the finest restaurants for our dinner. That evening we went to Conlons safood restaurant and oyster bar, where had the famous Galway bay oysters and excellent fish and chips. Afterwards we went ... read more

Hello again, after a great and interesting weekend I have time now to update my blog. Friday was a day of mixed weather, however, I could still take some nice photos while the students were having their lessons. Just have a look, there are many colourful art galleries, and quaint shops in the historic part of the town. One special feature of the town is the river Corribb, which runs through the town into the sea.... read more

On Saturday the students had their day off, so we teachers decided to visit Inishmore, the biggest of the Aran Islands. From Galway City we went to Rossaveal by coach, where we boarded the ferry to the island. First we actually wanted to exercise and walk round the Island, soon, however, we were persuaded by the driver of one of the many minibuses driving tourists round the island to get on his bus. And it was a good decision because walking round the island would have taken us the whole day and we would have missed the ferry back. The bus took us to Dun Aonghasa, a 2500 year old fort standing on 300 feet cliffs. We walked up to this interesting site and had a great view. The weather was also quite nice, it only ... read more