Hello everyone! It has been a pretty busy weekend, and I've finally organized everything so I can tell you all about it. There was so much going on though, so I've split it into three separate posts. So here's part one of my trip to Galway/Western Ireland...
On Friday morning, we boarded buses of the popular Irish tour service Paddywagon at UCD. From school we made our way west towards Galway. Along the way, we stopped at a really fancy rest stop that had a coffee place, convenience store, Burger King, and a small cafe. It was a really nice place, kind of like those rest stops that have a bunch of restaurants and tourist info in the U.S. We then continued onward and arrived at Kinlay hostel in Galway City. We had a quick lunch there and checked into our rooms. I was rooming with some of the Italians I met earlier on my Wicklow trip, as well as one of their Italian friends, a Spanish guy from Madrid, and an American guy from Syracuse University.
After lunch at the hostel, we went for a walking tour of the city. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera back at the hostel so I didn't have any pictures during the tour. But, it was still a good tour. We started at the main square, called Eyre Square (although officially it's the John F. Kennedy Memorial Square), then saw the main river and a magnificent cathedral. We then walked along the river/canal which was a beautiful little stroll. We ended up at the main street of Galway, and saw what used to be the port used by the Irish and Spanish. The tour ended with a walk up the main street where most of the shops, cafes, pubs, and clubs are. After the tour, we decided to continue walking around the city. We went back down the main street of shops to look around, and I ended up going in with friend on a CD deal, so we got two CD's (Irish drinking songs and traditional music) for just 10 euro. We then met up with our Italian and Spanish friends for exploring the parts of the city not included in the tour. Surprisingly, we covered the entire city within about an hour and a half to two hours. It's pretty small, despite being the third largest city in Ireland.
After all that walking, we were pretty tired, so we came back to the hostel for some cards, relaxation, and music. We then had dinner as a group at a restaurant called An Pucan. There was some traditional Irish music being played which was cool. Unfortunately, we had really really long wait for the food, and the only vegetarian option they had, stir fry, was very unsatisfactory (in both quality and quantity). So after a disappointing meal, we decided to go back to the main street and get some gelato. It was soooo good! Lastly, we ended up at a two story bar/club. The first floor was called Coyotes, and they had a live band in there playing some classic hits which was great. The second floor was called the Stock Exchange. I didn't quite understand the purpose of this bar, but they had a bunch of screens showing the price of different drinks and how they were changing by the minute. I'm not sure why, but people seemed interested in it. I just thought it was weird. So after all that, we were pretty worn out, so we called it a night and went to sleep.
Here are some pictures:
I'll post Parts 2 and 3 a little later. It's 10:15 here and I haven't had dinner yet, so I'm going to go eat and then go to sleep.
On Friday morning, we boarded buses of the popular Irish tour service Paddywagon at UCD. From school we made our way west towards Galway. Along the way, we stopped at a really fancy rest stop that had a coffee place, convenience store, Burger King, and a small cafe. It was a really nice place, kind of like those rest stops that have a bunch of restaurants and tourist info in the U.S. We then continued onward and arrived at Kinlay hostel in Galway City. We had a quick lunch there and checked into our rooms. I was rooming with some of the Italians I met earlier on my Wicklow trip, as well as one of their Italian friends, a Spanish guy from Madrid, and an American guy from Syracuse University.
After lunch at the hostel, we went for a walking tour of the city. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera back at the hostel so I didn't have any pictures during the tour. But, it was still a good tour. We started at the main square, called Eyre Square (although officially it's the John F. Kennedy Memorial Square), then saw the main river and a magnificent cathedral. We then walked along the river/canal which was a beautiful little stroll. We ended up at the main street of Galway, and saw what used to be the port used by the Irish and Spanish. The tour ended with a walk up the main street where most of the shops, cafes, pubs, and clubs are. After the tour, we decided to continue walking around the city. We went back down the main street of shops to look around, and I ended up going in with friend on a CD deal, so we got two CD's (Irish drinking songs and traditional music) for just 10 euro. We then met up with our Italian and Spanish friends for exploring the parts of the city not included in the tour. Surprisingly, we covered the entire city within about an hour and a half to two hours. It's pretty small, despite being the third largest city in Ireland.
After all that walking, we were pretty tired, so we came back to the hostel for some cards, relaxation, and music. We then had dinner as a group at a restaurant called An Pucan. There was some traditional Irish music being played which was cool. Unfortunately, we had really really long wait for the food, and the only vegetarian option they had, stir fry, was very unsatisfactory (in both quality and quantity). So after a disappointing meal, we decided to go back to the main street and get some gelato. It was soooo good! Lastly, we ended up at a two story bar/club. The first floor was called Coyotes, and they had a live band in there playing some classic hits which was great. The second floor was called the Stock Exchange. I didn't quite understand the purpose of this bar, but they had a bunch of screens showing the price of different drinks and how they were changing by the minute. I'm not sure why, but people seemed interested in it. I just thought it was weird. So after all that, we were pretty worn out, so we called it a night and went to sleep.
Here are some pictures:
The trip was done through this tourist company "Paddywagon"
The hostel we stayed at
The main square, with 15 flags for the 15 original clans/families that lived in Galway
The main street in Galway
The music store
Another view of Eyre Square
My friend Elliot and I at Coyotes...getting photo-bombed
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