In my first trip outside of the U.K., I ventured to Ireland, that land of green and lepercons, to visit my friend Jess and her boyfriend, both of whom are studying in the same city. (If I could have chosen, I would obviously have gone there on Leap Day, but sadly, that didn’t fall on a weekend.) Anyway, both of my friends are studying in at the National University of Ireland in Galway–the third largest city in Ireland (located on the West coast). Canterbury is about as far away as I could be, being on the next island over, but after catching various planes, trains, and automobiles (all by myself! I’m officially an adult.), I arrived. Here’s a few pictures, of Galway Bay and downtown:

I had originally planned to stay at Jess’ apartment, but due to my excellent timing, something called “Rag Week”–which seems to be an Irish version of State Patty’s day–made the authorities tighten security and not allow any non-tenants into the building at any time. So, we all camped over at another apartment, which luckily for me, only had security stationed between 10pm and 7am. This gave us a few time constraints to work around, but it wasn’t really a problem…I was just happy not to need an emergency hostel. (Interestingly, though, I never heard noise the whole week…either security was effective or “Rag Week” went underground.)

Jess and I spent Monday in Galway, as she needed to go to class. She showed me around downtown Galway first–pointing out Shop Street, along with a mall with the city wall intact inside it, countless pubs, and the river Corrib. While wandering the streets downtown, I noticed a few things: 1) the weather is actually really nice in England (Galway, being by the ocean, was very rainy, windy, and cold…although I didn’t really mind), 2) not having to use pounds (euros!) made me feel rich, 3) you can never take enough pictures of the sea, and 4) I really like the “quiet city” vibe Galway gave. Since I’m on a university campus about a mile from a town at Kent, I don’t live in a city, and I liked stepping outside the door and being in a semi-busy place. In fact, if you walked out the door where I was staying, you’d be a five-minute walk (along a scenic canal) from the city-center.

The National University of Ireland is located in the city as well, only a ten-minute walk from where I was staying. I even went to one of Jess’ classes, Modern Irish Literature, where the lecture was luckily on Ulysses. Besides the fact that reading Ulysses in Ireland is pretty much the best thing ever, I was supposed to be reading the novel for one of my own classes at Kent, and had brought my own copy to Ireland! (Of course.) Although the lecturer was American, I enjoyed sitting in the giant lecture hall and learning more about Joyce in his homeland.

On Tuesday, we embarked on our day trip to the Aran Islands–specifically, the largest island of Inishmore. Dan and Jess had already been there, but the island was interesting enough for a second visit. The island–which sits on the west coast–is small, with only 800 full-time residents, and a ferry brings tourists over a few times a day. The landscape, as I’d hoped, did feel extremely remote–very Irish and almost, even, backward in its nostalgic ways. The island seemed the epitome of what I’d always pictured as Ireland: full of endless green, rain, and stone walls. Lots of stone walls. The island is literally partitioned into tiny squares from them, as each generation would pass down the land to each of the sons, dividing the land more and more as time passed. These plots are now used as gardens, grazing pastures for livestock, or simply for a house.

Inishmore is narrow enough that, at a few points, you can see both the ocean and the Irish Sea: the cliffs by the ocean are massive, rocky walls with jagged edges. On part of the tour, the bus stopped and we walked up to an old fort, right by the cliffs. With no fencing (Jess says the Irish motto is “Just enough” as in, “We tell them not to go too far just enough for them not to die”), seeing the cliff drop off into ocean–with the wind swirling and the ground slippery–I stayed well away from the edge. Ireland is full of wildness, and the sheer power of the ocean against the rocky cliffs was an amazing sight. Eventually though, the wind and cold make you run to the nearest pub/caf� for lunch, which is what we did next. Some of us had apple pie and tea and scones for lunch. I had a very warming Irish stew.

We spent the rest of the day finishing the tour, shopping at the authentic, local wool outfitter, and then grabbing fish and chips back in Galway for dinner. (Note: In England, mushy peas are included. In Ireland, I had to order them extra. This is a tragedy. However, what isn’t a tragedy is that portions of Leap Year–an amazing rom-com–was filmed at the Aran Islands! I’m not sure what scenes or what landscape they used, but I guess that just means I’ll have to watch the movie again to see.)

The next day, I spent more time in town and, in the evening, got to experience live Irish music at a local pub. With old pictures and newspapers lining the walls and rain pouring outside the windows, the comforting atmosphere felt warm and jovial. An old man sang a folksong (his voice blended with the music too much to tell if he was singing in Irish/Gaelic or English), and a few others fiddled or played guitar. I see why people love pubs so much in England and Ireland; on a cold, windy, and rainy day, there’s no better place to warm up, and my friends and I enjoyed our Irish Bulmer’s watching the windows cloud as the rain continued to pour outside.

That concluded my first trip to Galway; however, I’m planning a second! In April, I hope to spend another four or so days in Ireland, seeing Dublin, Galway again, and Cork. I can’t wait. For now, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Irish toasts:

“May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light.

 May good luck pursue you each morning and night!”

Location: Galway, Ireland