Hiiiiii! As I am sitting here, enjoying a nice cup of tea, I am remembering all the wonderful and beautiful moments from this past weekend... so, I thought it was time to share! My girls and I (meaning, my lovely friends Kali, Mary Beth, Kate, and Jeanette) headed to Galway for a little weekend adventure. We woke up atrociously early on Friday (4:45 a.m.) and made it down to city centre to catch the tour bus that we would be spending all day on.
After the long-ish bus ride to Galway (about 3 hours), we picked up more people and set out on the actual tour for the entire day. The main reason we chose this tour was to see the Cliffs of Moher, a staple beauty of Ireland, but this tour included 6 other stops along the way. So we definitely got a great deal because we got to see some other really amazing things that weren't on our original checklist.
The weather in and around Galway, which is on the west coast of Ireland and right on the water, is completely different than the weather we get in Dublin. On the west coast, given the close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, the weather is insane! I have never encountered such crazy and whipping winds in my life! They were 60-70 MPH and made my not-in-a-hair-tie- hair rage like a maniac. The pictures are quite amusing though.
On our little stops along the way, my favorite being the Poulnabrone Dolmen tomb, which was constructed by Neolithic farmers approximately 5,800 years ago, were grand. We visited Dunguaire Castle, a Ballyalban Fairy Fort, Kilfenora Cathedral, among others, and got to stop and see many quaint little villages nestled into the Irish country side (something that I have been dreaming about).
Here are some pictures!
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| Dunguaire Castle |
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| Dunguaire Castle |
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| Dunguaire Castle |
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| I love the little colorful villages |
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| Monks Pub |
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| Stopped here for an Irish Coffee |
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| Poulnabrone Tomb |
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| Kilfenora Cathedral |
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| Kilfenora Cross |
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| Kilfenora Cathedral |
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| Kilfenora Cathedral |
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| The door was perfect size for Kate but maybe not for Kali and I. |
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| This pub is famous - every September, they have a match-making festival in which the man on the sign matches people for a long and prosperous love life. This festival brings tons of people to this little town of Lisdoonvarna. |
THEN, it was time for the Cliffs of Moher. It is truly astonishing, the beauty of the earth. The entire time we were at the Cliffs, I could not believe that I was physically there. The grandness and awe-inspiring atmosphere was tangible from the moment I set my eyes on them. You could walk on top of them and get a view of them from many different angles but every time, I felt like I was experiencing them all over again; every view was a new one.
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| The weather changed so many times while we were there that I tried to capture it every time. |
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| For scale, if you can see the tower on the top. |
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| The trail on top of the cliffs |
I had such a blast here. The wind was unlike I have ever experienced, even with my thousand layers of clothing, but it was well worth it.
So, after that, we headed back to Galway to get settled in our hostel. I'll admit, I was a skeptic about the whole hostel experience but this one was very nice! Even the girls met some very helpful guys who had lived in Galway for school so they showed us around and took us to some pretty cool spots. It definitely was a fun evening!
The next day, we did a free walking tour of Galway city that only lasted about 2 hours. That is how small Galway is; you can see pretty much everything in a very short amount of time. I loved every second of it and now I love Galway more than Dublin. The people are nicer and more Irish. It is such a grand city.
Here are some shots around the town:
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| The original Galway "Hooker" - look up the famous song named after this |
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| JFK came to Galway and gave a speech to 100,000 people. He is absolutely loved here in Galway and they even put a mosaic depiction of him in this new-ish Catholic cathedral. |
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| This river is a lucky river to make a wish on with a coin. So, obviously we did. |
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| This is the spot where the term "lynching" comes from. This is window in which James Lynch, mayor of Galway, hanged his well-liked son Walter Lynch after an act of murder. |
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| Oldest street; 800 years old. |
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An amazing market right outside the oldest working Cathedral in Europe.
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Overall, this trip was eventful and so fun. We didnt even spend 2 days here and yet, we got a good first experience of Galway. We all decided that we will for sure visit this lovely city when the sun is shining more. More trips to come though....
Northern Ireland this weekend, Scotland the following weekend and now IM SEEING MY BELOVED ROOMMATE IN LONDON THE NEXT WEEKEND. Life is grand. Stay tuned :)
xoxo,
Halle
p.s. RIP Brendon. Thoughts and prayers go out to the Arce family in this tragic time.
