Got off to a bad start. We miscalculated how long it would take us to get to the train station so we ran the last 6 minutes of the journey. I went to pick up the tickets I had purchased online but they couldn't find my reservation. We went to the kiosk to try to buy more but our student cards weren't working. Finally, as we were about to miss our train, Nina bought adult tickets and we RAN to catch our train. Since we got there just in time we lost our seats so we stood in the luggage section for about an hour and a half. We found seats and played 'MASH' and 'Soulmate' for the remainder the trip. Awesome.
We got to Galway about 5:15pm and went to figure out the ticket situation. Turns out we only bought one ticket on accident. But we got it all sorted and headed to the hostel. We got there around 6pm. Met some French Canadian guys only to find out that the website I had booked through didn't communicate with the actual hostel so they didn't have beds for us. They apologized a bunch and got us beds at another hostel one block over. It was okay though because we all adored the guys who worked at the new hostel's reception who were awesome and Australian.
We got to our room that we were suppose to be sharing with another girl. We changed and head out for dinner. We walked around trying to find some place to eat and decided on The King's Head pub. We all shared a bottle of wine and I tried my first mussel! Bah! Not half bad. Then I ate potato and leech soup with brown bread. YUM. We chatted with some English guys who were at the table next to us who recommend pubs for when we go to London.
We walked around after dinner for a while and went to a pub called Tuffes and Nina and I had James and Ginger and listened to some Irish music. Best ever. Then head to Supermac's ( an Irish fast food chain) and got Italian icecream. Weird? Then headed to another pub we had heard about that had a live band. Jenni and I ordered a Cider and Black (Cider with Blackcurrent... so gooooood). Nina then decided I need to talk to the group of guys that were eyeing us. To all of you who know me well, you must realize how completely against this I was. Jenni and I went to listen to the band, Molly and Nina talked to them. Finally, I sucked it up and went over.
We spent the rest of the evening talking. They were very interesting guys actually. Their names were, wait for it... Andy, Andrew and Jaime. Sadly, not an Eamonn or Seamus or Patrick in sight.
*giant frowny face*
Jaime and I hit it off, as he was a complete bro. I don't think he realized that that was the only reason I talked to him for so long. That, and he was attractive. But I digress.
He was impressed with my knowledge of Hurling and Irish things. He said I was smart for an American. He was from County Kerry and completely offensive.
Andy was from Kilkenny and was really nice so we talked for a while. He wants to visit America... I recommended Texas; he agreed. He asked how I had liked his town and we had a lovely chat about how its not REALLY 'Medieval'.
We were exhausted so finally around 11 we head back to the hostel. We ended up talking for a while about random things which was really nice.
The next day we all woke up, enjoyed free hostel breakfast and headed to catch the bus, then the ferry to the Aran Islands. We got to Inis Mór around 11am, rented bikes and set off on a fantastic adventure.
It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my entire life. I can't really describe how peaceful and wonderful it was to take a leisurely bike ride. It is the only way to see the Island in my opinion. Little tour buses kept passing us and I felt bad for them actually... they were really missing out.
Just an example. Pictures can not do the scenery justice.
We rode for about 2 hours and stopped for lunch at Dun Aonghasa, a Celtic ruin that dates back to 2000 B.C. We debated taking the hike up to see it as we were having such a fantastic time biking. The lady at the visitors center basically told us not going would be like going to the Grand Canyon and then not going to see it. She was a little intense about it, but we paid our euro and went up.
IT. WAS. INCREDIBLE. I was completely and utterly dumbfounded by how spectacular the view was. You could see for hundreds of miles. The view of the Atlantic will be ingrained in my mind forever. At least I hope so.
We stayed for more than an hour, talking and looking, relaxing and being generally flabbergasted. We reluctantly started our decent as we needed to bike back to port to make the last ferry back to the mainland. Unfortunately about half way through that trip my camera broke so I don't have pictures from the second half of the journey which is really, really sad because it was amazing as well. We got back just in time to make the ferry.
We got back to Galway around 8pm and were exhausted and starving. We had delicious dinner and coffee and discussed our amazing day. We all agreed it was out favorite thing we have done so far. We got some dessert crepes at a local crepery. Greeeeeat stuff. Headed back to the hostel and played cards since no one wanted to spend more money. Spent the night talking, which again, was great.
The next morning we parted ways. Jenni and Molly stayed in Galway to see the sights and Nina and I head out on our bus tour of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. The tour was nice, though we were spoiled by the day before and the bus was not as awesome (especially for pictures). We had a large Irish lunch followed by coffee and cheesecake at a pub called Fitzpatricks then went to the cliffs.
The cliffs were incredible, obviously. We went out past the "Don't go past this point" sign... as everyone does. That was totally worth it because the pictures were so much better.
We spent about and hour there then got back on the bus and saw a Celtic burial site then toured a cave (in which they found bear skeletons). That is a big deal here as bears haven't inhabited Ireland in 1000 years. The cave itself was kind of lame but Nina and I made the best of it.
We got back to Galway around 5:30 then went to the train station to catch the train back to Dublin. However, our train had a technical malfunction and we ended up spending 2 hours on the platform before FINALLY leaving. That got us in to Dublin around 10: 45 and we didn't get home until 11- something. Needless to say I was exhausted.
All in all, it was a completely fantastic weekend.
Jeez, that was a lot to write. If you got to the end of this and read it all, you really are a true friend. ; )
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