Friday was a very lazy day for me. I have no classes that day (which will be great once I can start traveling out of the country!). I had planned on meeting up with Allie on campus after she had registered for her seminars, but when I got there she was at the end of the line and they hadn't even started taking people. I took this opportunity to get my student travel card. Basically this card gives you big time discounts on all of the buses and trains in Ireland as well as money off at different stores. Everyone says that having a travel card is super handy when traveling around. I also found out that in the SU (Student Union) Office they sell used textbooks. This was perfect because I had to buy my book for Media and Marketing and the bookstore sold it for 66E. At the SU Office it was only 25E, and I got the last copy! Gotta love a bargain!
Allie, Melon, and I decided to try out the College Bar for lunch. The College Bar is exactly what it sounds like, a bar on the college campus. They serve food and drinks and host a lot of functions there. It's quite a big space and it's wicked cool looking inside. The food that they had was delicious. I got some sort of veggie panini that isn't like a panini you would see in the States. These paninis come on hoagies instead of regular bread and are baked instead of put in a hot-press sandwich machine. Nevertheless, I quite enjoyed it... and will naturally be frequenting the College Bar for the rest of the semester.
After exploring the town that day, a bunch of us went to The Kings Head (as per usual) later that night. While there, I ran into a few American students from Duquense! Turns out, Cory (oh hey if you're reading this...) knows a bunch of my friends from home. He essentially listed off names of all of my friends from high school. Small world isn't it? I'm sure I'll be seeing much more of them since Americans tend to drift towards the same places around Galway. That's another thing. It really is true. Once the foreign students find a few places, they tend to stick to those places. And everybody else from their country seems to be there, too. Take for instance The Quays or The Kings Head. Guarantee that if you go in to either place during the weeknights they will be half American. It's just that these are the names of pubs that they had heard before they arrived in Ireland and so that's where they tend to drift... every night. Don't get me wrong, both places are incredibly fun and I am certainly one of those 'typical Americans' who sticks to certain hot spots in town, but it is quite funny to think about.
Here comes the most exciting part of the week.
The Cliffs of Moher.
Yes, my first trip in Ireland was a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. Fourteen Villanovans signed up for the Galway Tour Co. trip to the Cliffs. We left around 9am on Saturday morning with a full bus of tourists eager to see some of the most beautiful sights in Ireland. It was the most perfect day to go to the Cliffs. Warm weather and not a rain cloud in sight. Our tour guide and bus driver was Desmond Murray (he's the #1 ranked tour guide in Galway on Trip Advisor if you were wondering). We had heard about Des before our trip from the man we bought our passes from (Once you buy the 25E pass you can go on the Cliffs tour and the Connemara tour as many times as you want). Apparently a German girl was studying in Galway last year and went on the Cliffs tour 11 times in one semester. Each time she requested to have Des as her guide... he used to pinch her butt when she got off of the bus... or so the man told us. And I would certainly believe it! Des loves the ladies. He is an old man with a witty sense of humor and a big smile permanently attached to his face. He knows just how to make everyone happy and how to keep everyone's attention. A few of his favorite things to say were: "God help me...", "Are ya prayin' back there?", and "You walk up, you look around, you scratch your bottoms for an hour and a half, and you walk back down." The "are ya prayin' back there' line was frequently said because the roads were very narrow, and very windy. I'm not sure if anyone else was worried, but I was probably doing enough praying for our whole bus. He also liked to change the words to Galway Girl- primarily to make it refer to Kiera, his new Nova girlfriend!
We made stops at a lot of different castles, a fairy fort, the Burren, Doolin, a church, the Cliffs, and Blackhead. Doolin is an amazing little town! That is where we stop for lunch at O'Connor's Pub. It has the absolute best seafood chowder (salmon, cod, scallops, and much more) as well as an unbelievable Guinness Stew. (Both are highly recommended if you ever make it there). They also have the best brown bread I have had yet. We asked them to bring us more and the waiter brought us a good six slices... he may be my favorite man in Doolin for doing that. There is also a chocolate store in Doolin (which is the only reason I will be making this trip again... just kidding, Melon!) I got a bar of rocky road chocolate and a bar of white and dark chocolate with pistachios, peanuts, and cranberries in it. Can't wait to get some more!
(Des and his Nova ladies)
(Dunguaire Castle)
(Me, Allie, Kiera, and Elizabeth at Dunguaire)
(SO MANY COWS! Allie and I were fascinated by them)
(Our leprechaun friends that Des brought with us on the bus.)
(Mike, Shannon, and me at the Portal Tomb in the Burren.)
(Matchmaker festival all September!)
(Hope, Erin, and Chrissy at O'Connor's Pub)
The Cliffs were beautiful. It was so scary walking up the path, but it was also exhilarating! You could see for miles in all directions from the top of the Cliffs. You can even see the Aran Islands (which I'm hoping to go to by the end of September). It only takes one person (in our case, Kiera) to calm the group down and start taking ridiculous pictures. I mean, who wouldn't want pictures of them pretending to fall off the Cliffs? It was fun while we were posing for the pictures... but looking back at them now, I can't believe I got that close to the edge!
(Elizabeth trying to save Kiera!)
(Chelsea is scared of falling, but apparently Allie and I find it to be fun.)
(Some of the gang on the Cliffs)
(The Cliffs of Moher)
A few finally points about my week:
-->Sunday was my first time watching a hurling match! It was Galway vs. Kilkenny and Galway was going nuts! We all headed in to town to get donuts from Donut Man (of course) and then head over to The Kings Head (it's only natural...) to watch the game. Everyone was going crazy in there; all of them decked out in their maroon and white. The teams ended up tying the match and will have to play each other again on my birthday weekend (two weekends from now!)
-->I got my schedule all sorted out! My upper level Theology requirement will be filled by the class I wanted: Landscapes of Cult and Kingship. Now I know exactly what my academic schedule will look like this semester.
-->I cooked tacos for the first time :) Melon and I went to the store on Monday and bought so much taco stuff. We also made sangria to go along with the tacos. Sangria might possibly be one of my new favorite drinks. It's quite tasty with all of the fruit in there!
-->I signed up for clubs (sports) and societies (clubs/organizations) today. The clubs I joined are Sub-Aqua (scuba diving), Golf, and (thanks to Melon) Mountaineering. I figured I would get put on the e-mail list for them and decide which ones were worth it. As for societies, I joined The Harry Potter Club (sorting is at 6pm Thursday; if I go I'll let you know what house I'm in!), Business Society, Photography Society, and International Student Society (they plan trips around Ireland). I'm also tempted to join Nom Society-- essentially it's a food club... how cool is that!?
Okay, well I must get going now since I have class in the morning!
"May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire."
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire."
The Irish certainly have a way with words.
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