Galavanting in Galway

We’ve returned from our adventure in Galway. The three-day-two-night excursion was the perfect break from our Dublin routine. It allowed us to meet lots of new people, see some breathtaking Irish countryside and add a handful of hilarious stories to our summer chronicle.

Immediately after work on Sunday, we sprinted to the Heuston train station carting our massive backpacks to make the 18:50 train. After a celebration of having hoodwinked the train company into selling us cheap Irish student tickets, we settled down for the picturesque three-hour ride to Galway. The scenery featured rolling green hills with small farms, which were divided by ancient stone hedges and held sheep, cows and horses. There were also occasional castles and medieval towers scattered between the small villages along the way.

Upon arriving in Galway, we checked into our Kinlay Hostel which was far superior to Dublin’s Kinlay and located conveniently in the center of town, only two minutes from the train station. As we set down our bags, our new roommates introduced themselves and we were shocked to discover they came from Niwot, a small town next to Mer’s! The number of mutual acquaintances was almost creepy and epitomized the sentiment we’ve felt several times this trip: It’s a small world after all. We spent the evening with these guys and heard stories of their trip around the world, which started in Beijing and was concluding in Galway. What fate to meet them!

On Monday morning, we hopped on a bus to the Cliffs of Moher. The tour included the 1.5-hour bus trip there, 2 hours exploring the cliffs, and 1.5-hour bus trip back. That may sound like a lot of time in a vehicle, but the bus proved to be an equally enjoyable part of the trip. The driver sped along winding roads along the coast which were framed by high stone walls and hedges, stopping often to let cars squeeze by on the impossibly narrow passageways. We also stopped once to watch a little Irish boy frantically scream at his cow to shoo it off the road so traffic could pass.

The Cliffs were a truly spectacular sight. The walkway stretched a couple of miles along the coast, allowing for excellent viewpoints. We were blessed with sunny weather which made the hike much more enjoyable, though the gale force winds made us a little nervous to get too close to the edge. (We later met a guy who told us that on his last trip to the Cliffs a little dog had been chasing seagulls around and had chased them right off the cliff into oblivion. What a way to go!) Two hours of strolling and watching waves crash was the perfect amount and by 3:30 we were ready for the scenic ride back to Galway.

That evening began with a delectable dinner out (only our second since we’ve been in Ireland) in which Al had Guinness stew, Mer had grilled aubergine and butternut squash, and we split a bottle of Savignon Blanc from Australia. (We can be such classy broads if we try.) Back at the hostel, we met two new roommates whose impossible names led us to refer to them as simply, “Finland.” They were blonde, blue-eyed and completely nuts, but their English was solid enough to make for an excellent night out. We began at Taffe’s for some traditional Irish music, then traveled to King’s Head for an acoustic guitar duo whose singing got significantly better each time they ordered another Guinness from the bar. There we met two guys from Chicago, one of which works on David Street in Evanston! They were on vacation in Ireland and it was great to talk about Goose Island, the Cubs, and Lake Michigan, things we’re started to miss. So while Mer chatted with the Chicagoans, Al experienced an intense dancing session with Finland which included Matrix-style backbends and numerous enthusiastic spins. We danced at Central Park, or “CPs,” allegedly the best dance club in Ireland. Monday nights are probably not the best showing, but we certainly had a great time.

We began our last day in Galway with a walk along the beach. Again we were blessed with perfect weather, so we climbed on the rocks and experimented with how close we could get to the swans without getting attacked …pretty darn close. We did some shopping to build our Eurofabulous wardrobes and ate an early dinner at Coach Patatas, a baked potato restaurant that features a menu of over 40 varieties of baked potatoes. Delicious.

We spent the final couple of hours in the sun in Eyre Square, (also known as the Kennedy Memorial Garden in honor of JFK who was a Galway frequenter) reading, journaling and napping. On the train ride home we sat by a ridiculously good-looking veterinarian from Kildare who entertained us with stories of hedgehogs named Pignug, ducks with malfunctioning quacks and dogs jumping off of cliffs. The three hours breezed by.

We’re back home again, looking forward to a couple of days in Dublin before the itch to travel sinks in again, at which point we’ll begin our trek across Northern Ireland with Mark and Julie. Ah, what a life.

In the words of Queen, in a song that is totally overplayed here, “Don’t stop me now, I’m having a ball. Don’t stop me now, ‘cuz I’m having a good time and I don’t wanna stop at all.”