Welcome to the Working Week

I realize that school is the entire reason that I am in Ireland, but that I haven't commented a whole lot on it here in my blog. School has been good, I enjoy my classes enough (my favorite being beginner's irish which isn't for credit of course) and it helps fill the days between going to the pub and traveling on the weekends. But it isn't a top priority, even my professors don't expect much out of me as a visiting student. I'm getting more involved with the school though, last night I went to the first Choral society practice and ate free pizza and then afterwards I went to the Crane Bar to listen to the school's traditional music society. I am very excited to join the trad society. Last night was great, we arrived at the Crane Bar early enough to get a seat and watched the number of musicians and patrons swell. The students who came played all sorts of instruments, squeezeboxes, fiddles, mandolins and they were all very talented. It was amazing to see kids my age play music so rich with culture so well and confidently and having a good time. I am hoping to buy a banjo while I'm here as my big souvenir, I talked with one of the society members and he said if I bought one there would be someone to teach me in the group and he could also give me lessons on American Bluegrass, I am very excited but I want to make sure it will happen before I put any money down. I'm also excited for photography club to start up, I was a bit disappointed that I forgot to bring my film camera as the school has a darkroom available, but I was assured that the society would provide some and a guest lecturer would take us through the process, and I'm also excited to head out with my digital camera as well and learn some new things. I have a few papers due soon but then really nothing until finals so I am looking forward to traveling a lot in the mean time. The pace of school I admit keeps me a bit bored, I'm not as stressed as I would be this time at UW, but it is such a blessing. Everyday I am able to walk the streets for an hour and not feel like I'm wasting time (or sit by the bay as I did today), and I have also been able to read for fun. I have decided to enrich myself by reading irish literature, I read Synge's Aran Islands which helped me fall even more with the islands and I'm about to finish Donleavy's The Ginger Man which I have enjoyed very much, next up is Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman. Thats it for now, Slan go foill.

The Hills of Connemara

Ireland has yet to cease to surprise me. Every time I set out on a trip I fall a little bit more in love with the country, and every time I declare the setting the most beautiful yet. The Aran Islands set on the sea were isolated and traditional, the Burren desolate and ancient, while Connemara felt wild and majestic, it was breathtaking, my favorite yet.

Norah and I got off the bus a little after one in Clifden on Friday. We were already excited because of the views on the bus there and Clifden proved to be a nice small mountain hamlet. For the first time I didn’t feel like I was in some Disneyworld version of Ireland. Clifden was traditional and small, and not crawling with tourists, it felt like you were home, somewhere where people actually live and not just visit. We ate at a restaurant attached to a B&B, I ate deep fried Brie, which was like the best fried cheese curd I have ever tasted, and the woman who served us flattered Norah by saying she sounded like she was from Northern Ireland. We spent the rest of our time wandering around the small village. We had decided on Clifden because they throw an Arts Festival every year and this was the week it was being held. Friday turned out to be a very quiet day for the festival. We stumbled upon an event that hadn’t been listed in the brochure when we decided to explore a church. We were able to get in for free for the tail end of a concert; it was traditional Irish music and was very beautiful. We stopped in a pub later to listen to Les Follies, a French jazz band from Paris. It was lovely; the entire time we listened I felt like I should be on a boat sailing for 1930s Paris, sort of like Porter’s Anything Goes.

We then caught the bus to Letterfrack where we spent two nights. We got there at dusk and headed straight to our hostel. The hostel was great; located in an old monastery it was eclectically decorated, filled with fun baubles from travels and was very homey. Walking in I said to Norah, “I feel like I have just entered a really great 70s commune,” you will see why from the photos. We shared a room with two lovely german girls, and met a Swedish boy who is also going to NUI-Galway. We stayed up for a bit in the living room chatting with him (I don’t know how to spell his name, he says everyone here calls him email with a soft e, but that’s not actually how it is pronounced). We found we had a lot of the similar problems and compliments of Galway, and he recommended places for us to go if we made it to Sweden. He was in town to deep sea dive at the dive center, we should see him next week at a hike so I will have to ask him how it went.

The next morning Norah and I headed out around 9:30 to start our hiking in the Connemara National Park. It was misty as we took off but we were hopeful it would lift. We wandered around the visitor center of the park for a bit, were warned not to proceed up the mountain by the rangers, and then left deciding to do it anyway. Walking the bog land of the park through so much mist was one of the most surreal feelings. We were probably the only two people hiking that early, and it felt in all the fog that we were the only two people on earth. I loved the feeling of it all, and felt pretty safe although we kept discussing the rangers’ warning. We were able to see the path clearly ahead of us and it was well marked. Though as we ascended higher we could see how visibility was becoming a problem, even more so behind us. We would turn around and the land we had hiked through would have disappeared, obliterated into a white expanse. We made it up pretty far, to the very base of the top before we decided it wasn’t worth it. Where it was exposed it was very windy and even if we made it to the top we wouldn’t be able to see anything. So we headed back down. As we descended we could see the mist had lifted from the valleys and we were able to see more. It was neat to see the land unfold before us, it was the same land we had hiked but now populated and ongoing. I imagine it was like Brigadoon, waking up from barren sweeping bog land to modernity and progress.

We were pleased with our hike and still had most of the day ahead of us, and decided to find a taxi out to nearby Kylemore Abbey. We tried a few taxi companies but none would come to Letterfrack and pick us up. We found out from the hostel manager that the abbey was only 5km, about 3 miles away, and we figured it would be an easy enough walk, heck we had practically climbed a mountain that morning, plus the manager made it seem like it was common for people to hike. So we got to the crossroads and took a right. It was a wonderful way to see more of the Connemara region, but I’ll admit not the safest. The roads run right up to the fences of the land leaving very little shoulder for us to walk on. It was not too busy but cars would come fast so we were constantly switching sides to maintain our visibility. But it felt like the perfect way to go, we were two poor college students on a holiday in Europe hiking the roads, plus I got a free souvenir, an old license plate. I would have felt pretty safe hitchhiking in the region and would have thrown out my thumb, especially on the way back, but was unsure anyone would have seen it by how fast they were going. It took us about an hour to get to Kylemore but it was well worth it. The abbey was an old summer home for a surgeon in the late 1800s but became a refuge for Irish Benedictine Nuns from Belgium after World War I (that makes a lot more sense when you know the whole history). The Abbey is still home to the nuns and the international all girl boarding school they opened up (although its closing in 2010), to help raise funds they have made certain areas of the castle open and the church, plus the gardens. It is absolutely beautiful, nestled in between the mountains and set on its own lough it was a wonderful sight, although Norah and I felt there was a certain mystery about the place. There was only one mention of the boarding school, we had no idea where the girls were kept and how so with all these tourists coming and going, and the work the nuns did for the ‘community’ was very enigmatic. There was a brief glimpse of a singing nun but otherwise nothing, very odd.

We left Kylemore, walked back and very nearly collapsed when we got into the hostel. But it was short lived as we went back in to town to buy some food to cook (I bought myself a pint can of Carlsberg, I deserved it). We cooked our food in the kitchen and read in the living room for a bit. More guests were filtering in, and a cacophony of foreign languages began, it was fun to sit next to the fire and listen. I went outside for some air to wake myself up as we wanted to go to a pub for some traditional music and was joined by one of the hostel cats, the prettiest cat I have ever seen and the nicest, brown with black tipped fur and beautiful green eyes. I sat on the ground and let it crawl all over me purring (as it nuzzled me I was reminiscent of La Dolce Vita), as some man came out of the darkness to get something from the hostel I realized what a sight I must be, a young woman playing with a cat in her knit hat and how much I probably looked like I belonged in a hostel, it was wonderful.

We did make it into town for one pint and some music. The feeling was very different from the pubs of Galway, actually more like the bars of Northern Wisconsin, all locals who greeted every one who entered and gently heckled the musicians. It was nice but I was glad to get back to the hostel and fall into bed. We checked out this morning and took the bus back to Galway. But now I’m back, sad that I have to get back to classes and have no food, nor energy to go to the grocery store and get some, but grateful to have a warm shower and no where I need to be for the rest of the day.

Connemara Photos

UPDATE

Here is an update on past blog topics and future ones:

My hand is healing quite nicely, I suspect I'll have a good scar.

The internet is still in and out but I have been having good three or four hour blocks of it before it goes out.

Tomorrow the 24th of September is Arthur Guiness day to celebrate the 25oth anniversary of the beer and the man. We will find an appropriate way to celebrate I am sure.

Friday Norah and I are setting out on our first overnight trip. We will spend the day on Friday in Clifden at the arts festival and then move on to Letterfrack where we will spend Friday and Saturday night in The Old Monastery Hostel, a converted monastery where each room is differently themed. We plan on spending Saturday walking/biking through Connemara National Park. Pictures and stories are coming.

I have added Curry Chips as one of my favorite foods, perfect for the walk back from the pub.

I officially registered with the Garda and am no longer an illegal alien in Ireland. The hike out there is a tale onto itself, although not a very interesting one.

Further updates to come.

Greetings From The Burren

This is a long post, but as its more interesting than my last three posts combined I’m sure you will forgive me. It picks up where I left off on Friday…

After spending most of the day in our apartment due to a temperamental dryer, Norah and I decided to pop over to the pub for a pint. We chose Monroe’s because it’s a few blocks from our house, is usually pretty casual and low-key and always has live music. We had planned on sipping on one pint and then heading home, but our plans quickly changed on arrival. Monroe’s was the busiest we had seen it and with good reason they were hosting a great band, Without Charge (incidentally I found out they drink for free at the bars, and they drink a lot). I know this will sound like a harsh criticism but I mean it as a compliment, they were what I can only describe as the ultimate wedding band, a band I would gladly have play at my reception. They had a few of their own songs but they mostly stuck to covers, everything from Bob Dylan to Stevie Wonder to Stevie Ray Vaughn (for my dad: they even threw in a shout out about Kinky Friedman). I mention the wedding band thing mostly because they played a great set of funk songs, the kind of thing that would have fit in great at any reception, you know right between the father-daughter slow song and the chicken dance. Needless to say I stayed for three pints and had a great time dancing with some lovely Germans.

The next morning (Saturday) I awoke early so we could head out for the tour company. After picking up our neighbors, Sammy, Steph and Brianna, we were running a bit late. I began to get nervous as it got to be 9:15 and we didn’t have our tickets for the bus that we believed to be leaving at 9:30. But all was fine as it turned out that it didn’t leave until 10. So at 10 we boarded the bus and headed out on our full day tour to the Cliffs of Moher. Our first “destination” was a castle, although it’s closed until spring. We were allowed fifteen minutes off the bus to take a few pictures in front of it. We then began the long ride to our next stop, Doolin, where we would have lunch. Of course once we arrived there we were strongly advised to only go to the pre-approved restaurant associated with the tour as we only had forty-five minutes. There we were only allowed to choose from the carvery menu and I took this opportunity to try salmon for the first time. I really liked it, I believed it to taste like chicken (and not in that mocking sarcastic sense) but I was informed that chicken tastes nothing like salmon. Which makes sense, I mean why would you pay 15.00 for a dinner that tastes exactly like the 11.50 one, but that tells you how long its been since I have had chicken. Sammy declared it the best salmon she had eaten and it seemed pretty good quality. I unfortunately wasn’t able to eat all of it, I have to admit I had to struggle a bit to eat it at first, and it became easier as long as I didn’t look too long at it before I took a bite, but soon I began to see remnants of its grey underbelly and I started to feel a bit queasy. I was surprised that I had such a strong reaction, I don’t know if it was because I have always been a bit put off by fish or if it actually was because it had once been a living thing, although I would and will eat salmon again.

We had a bit of time after our lunch, so I went to a local shop and bought my first souvenir, a lovely silver ring. From Doolin it was a fifteen-minute ride to the Cliffs of Moher, we really lucked out on the weather, after days of grey overcast dreariness we had blue clear skies. They have done a lot of work on the Cliffs since I had been there last and with some controversy. They have added railings, keeping people farther from the edge than had previously been allowed, but the controversy was about the visitor center installed. Our tour guide called it a Teletubby building because like the dwellings of the creatures on the children’s television show it is built into the hills. It ended up costing more than had been planned to build it and at first a high parking and admissions fee was going to be put in place until the difference was made up, but after much protesting they settled on a one euro facilities fee. I don’t know how I feel about the visitor’s center, but I did buy a candy bar from the gift shop.

The cliffs were beautiful, I still feel that I liked the ones on the Inis Mor more, maybe because it took so much work to get there biking and hiking to the top, instead of just being dropped off, or maybe it was the fact that one could go straight to the edge of the cliff and look over which allowed you to really feel the magnitude and height of the cliffs, or maybe it was how crowded it was on the Cliffs of Moher, probably all three. From the cliffs we headed to Poulnabrone Dolmen, a 5,000-year-old megalithic burial tomb, we were only allowed fifteen minutes there before we headed to the last stop. The area around the burial sight, the Burren, was beautiful, but I will talk about that later. Our last stop was the Aillwee Cave, and though we didn’t have to take the tour, we all decided to pay the eight-euro fee. Our tour guide had made it sound spectacular but it was just a few stalagmites and stalactites and the otherwise standard cave tour, although the underground waterfall was kind of neat. We then headed back to Galway.

I will be honest I wasn’t too pleased with the bus trip. It wasn’t the cost, but the feeling of being on a schedule and stuck with time limits. I would rather spend time at one or two sights than rush to fit in six. But the bus did allow me to see a lot of the Burren in a short amount of time, and its actually one of the only ways to see the Burren if you don’t have a car. The landscape was gorgeous, but again seeing it from the bus wasn’t ideal. As Norah put it, it was like being in a movie, I couldn’t feel the reality of my being there. I would love to bike through that area, although I’ll have to work on my uphill skills.

I never realized the subtle variance of the landscape in Ireland. The coastal areas are beautiful, somewhat hilly but open, so like an amphitheater there are always great views. But traveling today I saw some surprising landscape like forests of towering pines that made me feel like I was back in the north woods of Wisconsin, but the Burren was something else completely. Its beautiful in exactly the opposite way one thinks of picturesque Irish scenes. I’m sure many of you are picturing lush rolling green hills and sweet seaside hamlets and there is plenty of that here as my pictures will show but the Burren is much more-- barren. Its composed of large rocky hills, the grey stone broken only by patches of grass that come in varying shades of brown and deep green. I’m sorry we never stopped where I could get good pictures of the scenery and I stopped trying to take pictures on the bus when I realized how much I was missing outside of the frame of my viewfinder. The Burren has been the most striking landscape I have seen here and I will be going back to it soon. Again I’m exhausted so that’s all for now, wish you were here.

Cliffs of Moher photos

School Daze

My internet has gone out once again at my apartment. It should hopefully be completely up and running by this weekend. I am writing you from The Restaurant or the school cafeteria. I have to say a lot of the student facilities, i.e. the cafeteria, union, pub, are all very nice and modern. It may not have the history and flair of the Rathskeller, but at least its not antiseptic and bland. So today is finally registration, yes after almost a month I will officially be put on the roster. Many of you are curious about the classes I am taking so here they are:

Geography of Health

Northern Ireland Conflict

English Language in Ireland

History of Irish Thought

Ireland a Changing Society

I am also paying and taking for voluntary credit beginners Irish, Irish is the P.C. term for Gaelic, it seems. As always I admit I am having a bit of a hard time paying attention in lecture but that always takes me a few weeks to get back in the rhythm. The registration process has been less than ideal, and I realize for those of you from a simpler generation that my complaints of running around campus and waiting in line for hours for one class probably doesn't cause you too much pity, although alternatively it could cause a lot of empathy. I believe this weekend we are going to do a Cliffs of Moher tour, so next post should be a little bit more fun.

Whew

Alright, so it was my most stressful day so far, but I am now functional both on my computer at my apartment, and at school! I'm proud I didn't cry, so while it was a surrender it was also a victory. For future notice the internet is pretty fickle here so I may be in and out.

Waving the White Flag

I feel defeated. I am truly sorry to my parents, I wish them a very happy belated 25th anniversary. My internet is down, although only it seems in my room. On top of which my student account at school has been disabled which I was informed by the Computer Services Geek was no fault of my own. But it has left me out of touch, its been a long time since I haven't had internet and a day without it has caused me a lot of stress, mostly because I felt I was letting people down who were trying to get a hold of me and I especially didn't want to cause anyone concern with my silence. I am probably overreacting, but along with my internet problems I also spent three hours today waiting outside to register for an english seminar. So later post another time, I am exhausted. Sorry if I don't respond, I will let you know when my internet is back up.

The Secret of Inis Mor

Today was beautiful, the best day I have had since getting to Ireland. I don't know if I can properly put into words how great today was, but I will try and bear with me because I am very tired. Also please note that since it takes forever to upload photos on blogger and because I took so many I started a Flickr account to share today's snaps with you, the link will be posted at the bottom, feel free to skip ahead.

Norah and I awoke early this morning and headed to Merchants Road to pick up our bus. Thanks to good values instilled in me from my mother we arrived before the ferry office opened. So we grabbed coffee and sat in Eyre Square where we bonded over our love for that Irish cinematic gem, The Secret of Roan Inish. We caught our bus at 9:30 and travelled to Rosseveel. I should mention the bus ride took us through An Spideal and I made sure to wave to Eamon Wright as we passed Twar Beag. Our ferry left shortly after we arrived at the dock and took about 40 min to arrive at the island.

To get around the island one has a few options: minibus tours, carriage rides, bike rentals or walking. I warned Norah before we got off the boat that I was willing to rent bikes but it might be slow going and she was okay with that. I am so happy we decided to rent bikes, the island is only nine miles long, but biking allowed us to see all we wanted to and do it at our own pace and it was affordable. We started out well taking the coastal road and stopping from time to time to snap photos of our beautiful surroundings.
But of course I had to mess it up, it was completely my fault and could have been avoided if I was willing to be a bit immodest. I chose to be decent and try and pull down my shirt so my underwear wasn't hanging out for the walkers to blush at, but being unused to biking and not use to hand brakes I lost my balance and rammed into a wall, covered in thorny raspberry bushes. I survived and things are not as bad as they look, but I did walk away with a nasty gash on my left hand and a few cuts from thorns on my right (yes there are pictures). We were unfortunately a few kilometers away from anything and I had to ride with my hand uncomfortably perched. Norah was great about it, laughing at me the entire time (I forgot to mention I also was covered in berries when I straightened my self out). I asked a few other bikers if they had any band-aids but they simply looked at my hand in disgust and shook their heads no. We did eventually get a band-aid from some lovely women in a gift shop, they looked positively horrified as I showed it to them, probably clucking to themselves as I walked out about how worried my poor mother would be if she knew.

Continuing on though we stopped at Seal Cove, although there were no seals to be seen, at least not clearly. We also stopped at a beautiful beach, as you will see from the photos, it felt more like a tropical oasis than the cool coast of Ireland. We journeyed on to our main destination the ancient fort Dun Aengus. I can't tell you much about the history of the fort, and honestly while impressive it was just a series of rock walls, a sight we had been seeing all day. The truly spectacular thing about Dun Aengus is its setting on top of sheer cliffs. I actually enjoyed these cliffs more than the Cliffs of Mohr, even if there were no great crashing waves. We took a lot of pictures but mostly sat in amazement of our fortune and also in terror of the hike back down.

Our bike back was almost completely uphill as we took the road up to the highest point on the island, the lighthouse. I did not do well with the hills, I jumped off my bike frequently and walked and yes I might have yelled a few expletives about the lighthouse as I did this, much to the Irish residents' amusement. We arrived at the lighthouse but decided not to walk up to it and the rest of the journey was an easy coast downhill.

We arrived back in the main town, Kilronan, with two hours to spare. We returned our bikes and used the deposit to buy lunch. I did include a picture of the food only to prove to you that I....ate seafood! Yes, I decided while I am here I want to try some seafood since I figured it would be fresh here and probably well prepared. I only ate chowder today with my sandwich, I am not sure if it was oyster or clam I ate, but I didn't really like it. I tried a bit of Norah's salmon and was pleased with that, I will try it again. I am interested in trying shellfish, lobster or crab while I am here but I thought I'd wait til my parents are around to pick up the check (our whole day cost us under 50 euro). After our meal we caught the five o'clock ferry back, caught our bus and still had time to stop at the pharmacy and pick up some first aid for my hand. I am exhausted but the day was well worth it.

Enjoy the pictures, I'm going out for a pint I deserve it.

My photos from Inis Mor

Day 10

I was settling in earlier today to write a post about the strange lull that has taken place over this adventure. What I mean to say is when you leave behind everything you know, settle into a place with limited comforts and no responsibility, it can feel like a nice vacation but now it would seem the vacation has gone on too long. I don't mean to say I am itching to come home, but I have exhausted my initial thrill and curiosity of the city. I know my way around pretty well, I know more than one place to go to pick up milk or cheap shoes or late night snacks. Its beginning to feel like home, a little less special, more ordinary. Which is nice but I can't (and don't want to) do the same things I use to fill my time back home. I am not going to work, I can only do so much school work and watching television feels like a waste. So until things pick up with societies, I figured a good way to keep busy would be to travel. So my roommate Norah and I decided we would find a place to travel for the day, at first we settled on Kilkenny "the medieval capital of Ireland" and we were excited, reading our guide books and picking the places we would go, until we looked at the train and bus schedules. It would take us half the day to get there, and anywhere else it seemed that had good sites to see. I will eventually travel to these places and stay the night, but we were hoping for a quick trip to break up our empty Friday. And our answer was staring right back at us from across the bay. We hadn't been considering the Aran Islands because the International Student Society plans a trip there, and it didn't seem far enough away, but its easy and filled with beautiful historical landmarks. So tomorrow Norah and I are taking the 10:30 ferry to Inishmore the largest of the Aran Islands. Let the adventure resume.

May The Road Rise Up To Meet You

Today was a walking day. At first it was just to finally get an ethernet cable (which I now have two of), but it was such a beautiful day and I have been promising more photos so I headed out. I'm glad I did, I'm not sure when will be the next time I'll see the sun here. I took lots of photos but it takes forever to upload to the blog so here are just a few....

I like the traditional old irishmen as you can see.

There are palm trees in Ireland, it looks almost tropical!

A glimpse of me and the beautiful blue sky, not a gray cloud in sight!

A fine day out on the bay.

She was just too adorable in her school uniform, plus I knew my father would appreciate this picture.

Another shot of the houses on the bay, I have to say their colors work better on the overcast days, but still a beautiful view.

There are birds everywhere here, and they love to fly low.

Here is the cathedral, its not the one Columbus prayed at but its in the center of town. I have not journeyed inside yet, I'm not sure what the admission costs but I walk by it everyday.

This is the canal right outside our front door, again I walk along it everyday, in one direction to school and in the other to downtown.

We are out tonight to the International Student Society's welcome party at a downtown pub. I will soon know my class schedule and will let you know once it is definitive. Cheers!

A Quick One While I'm Away

I am off to get an ethernet cable which means I will very shortly be able to Skype and video chat and regularly be online. I also wanted to say I do get your comments on the blog so keep leaving them. Aunt Mary Pat I meant to post on the other entry that they also mark whether items are Gluten Free, I know you would like that. I also forgot to mention the beautiful rainbow that was here yesterday, very vibrant and clear, although it was after a very heavy downpour that shredded my paper bag of groceries. I love you all!

The Irish Gormand

So this is just sort of a fun post, because classes haven't really started and other than walking around the city I spend most of my time eating. Plus I know my mother is probably curious about what I am finding to eat here as a vegetarian. I can't speak a whole lot on traditional irish food as most of that does have some sort of meat in it and as I have not dined out a whole lot, although I should add from the menus I have looked at Galway is VERY accommodating, at least one vegetarian option on each menu. This post will mostly discuss the little quirks of food here that I love such as...

THE ELECTRIC KETTLE

Probably my favorite thing here. It is a plastic kettle that you plug in and have boiling water in minutes. With this great novelty I have been eating a lot of instant meals of the cup of soup variety. Although the meals are not all soups, I had a tasty pasta instant meal that used the water left over to create a thick spicy sauce. These instant meals are not particular to Europe I'm sure but the convenience of the electric kettle (which it appears everyone has here) probably is, I may invest in one back in the states.

HALF PAN BREAD

Sandwiches are always an easy cost effective meal, but buying a whole loaf of bread for one person is not. But here you can buy half pan presliced bread. It gives you ten slices, just enough so that your not stuck eating bread at every meal so it doesn't go to waste.

PORTION SIZING

It is smaller here, and at first it can feel like your getting gipped, but once you realize how little you can actually subsist on you can be grateful. I am not just talking the portions on the labels, but also on bakery goods, drinks, everything.

SUITABLE FOR VEGETARIANS

Probably my favorite thing about buying food here is that it comes with a little decal that says whether or not it is suitable for vegetarians (not vegans, just vegetarians), and its on everything including candy bars. But I love this label most on the instant meals I buy, because while at home I admit I cheat and eat chicken flavored Ramen noodles, here most of the meals with chicken flavoring actually have no relationship to meat whatsoever. I have been eating chicken and mushroom instant soup without any guilt, and I bought a vegetarian friendly Southern Fried Chicken soup today so we will see how that goes.

HEINZ SANDWICH SPREAD

Without meat everything counts in a sandwich, so back home I try to find interesting spreads to liven up the taste, usually that means hummus or miracle whip, I didn't look for hummus but there is no miracle whip here. Instead I found Heinz Sandwich Spread. It smells like coleslaw and actually has chunks of carrot, onion and cabbage in it. It seems to be a good substitute for miracle whip, and is almost similar in taste.

WALKER'S SENSATIONS CRISPS

Crisps, for you Americans, are potato chips. Chips here are more like french fries, only thicker cut. Sensations crisps are delicious and have the weirdest flavors imaginable, my favorite so far have been Thai Sweet Chili, but I recently tried the Buffalo Mozzarella and Herb chips with mixed feelings. Other flavors include: Roasted Chicken and Thyme, Vintage Cheddar and Onion Chutney, Balsamic Vinegar and Caramelized Onion, and Oriental Red Curry.

KINDER BUENO BARS

We have been sampling a lot of the chocolate offerings here, and so far our favorite a million times over is the Kinder Bueno Bar. Its a German named chocolate bar from an Italian manufacturer, so while steeped in a fascist history, its also filled with a delicious hazelnut center, surrounded by wafer and covered in chocolate.

I was delighted to find the frozen fake meat section today in the grocery store, I haven't tried anything yet, but will keep you posted. I bought some fake ground chuck which I have used at home, but am curious about the fake garlic butter kiev I bought and more so the vegetable sticks which look like fish sticks filled with veggies. We went to the local farmer's market here on Saturday but other than buying delicious savory crepes made no purchases. I am hoping to buy some fresh things there this weekend. The market featured three all vegetarian food carts, an olive bar, and a stand that sells fresh hummus, I am sure it will become one of my favorite places.

A Slow Start

I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. I do not have an ethernet cable and as such do not have regular access to the internet. I am borrowing my roommate's cable at the moment. I also haven't posted because not much has happened. Orientation was on Wednesday but classes don't actually start for another week. I have been shopping a lot, finding things to fill our apartment to make it a home for three months. I have been exploring Galway as well, below are a few pictures I took when Norah, Sammy and I went down to the bay area, about a five minute walk from our apartment. But I have also been taking a lot of walks on my own. I try to get out everyday and walk in a new direction for an hour. Its help me fall in love with Galway. I promise to bring my camera with me on another walk soon, but today it was overcast. I have to admit the city acquires a certain beauty on the overcast days, being a city built to withstand rain and wind but it doesn't quite translate in pictures. We went out again last night to a great pub on Shop Street, the main street of town similar to State Street in Madison. The Kings Head was featuring a great cover band Milhouse and we stayed until they kicked us out a little before three. I have been drinking a lot of Smithwicks, and have had one Guinness. We are all taking the evening off tonight and staying in, but we are headed back out tomorrow night.
The city is built around a series of canals and they all feature these lifebuoys along side of them. I believe LaCrosse should think of investing a few.

Here is a postcard view of Galway, often an image that will come up when you google Galway. These houses are just beyond the Spanish Arch, I walked by there today, they are very lovely.

Here is a view of the bay, you can see some of the mountains in the background.

More of the mountains and the bay.

Even more of the bay.

After we were done with the bay we walked to an Off Licence store which is a liquor store and I made my first ever liquor store purchase (in any part of the globe). I bought us a bottle of wine and some hard cyder. On the left is Norah my roommate and on the right is Sammy my neighbor, I felt we all looked so grown up sipping cyder and waiting for our dinner to be ready.

Cheers!

Day One and I'm Already Home

Hello from Galway! Here I am in my apartment, fresh from a full day's travel and with a pictorial account of my travels by land in Ireland

This is the bus station from the Shannon airport
A few of my fellow travelers these are Sammy and Katie, also from Wisconsin, Sammy lives next door to me and Katie lives in another apartment complex

This is one of my first glimpses of Ireland. It was beautiful when we landed, crisp but sunny.
A very picturesque scene with the fishing boat in the rushes.
One of many beautiful historic buildings I am sure I will be seeing on my trip.
The row houses were beautiful and everywhere.

Our long trip begins to show itself, I myself fell asleep for twenty minutes after taking this photo.

Upon waking I was greeted by this lovely figure and....
some of the local color.
Beginning to see the mountains
And of course it rained on and off, and of course it poured as soon as Sammy and I exited the cab with all of our belongings, but we had such a wonderful cabby who took good care of us.
This is the view from my apartment's balcony.
More of the view from the balcony

Here is the kitchen/dining room/living room
This is the Fish Monger shop I was excited to spy from my bedroom window until my roommate informed this took place there: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/man-on-trial-for-fishfreezer-murder-1328039.html Don't worry the neighborhood is very safe.

More of my wonderful view from my window, I can already tell I will miss it. There is also a bakery next to the fish monger, but it was closed when I took pictures, as were most shops by six at the latest seven.

My bed

From the otherside.

I love my apartment it is beautiful and the location is perfect. I unfortunately did not have my camera with me tonight when we ran errands. We ended up eating dinner outside and I had the vegetarian lasagna which turned out to be steamed and spiced vegetables covered in half an inch of cheese, lasagna it was not, but delicious it was. Tomorrow I have a walking tour of the campus and then I need to finish some errands and I plan to bring my camera with me, so I can share more of this beautiful city with you. But now its time for sleep as it is close to midnight here.

To All Of You Back in Yesterday

I am writing you from the Dublin airport. The flight went so quickly I can hardly believe its been seven plus hours since I was home. I sat next to a lovely irish woman who said cheers after just about everything. I have yet to feel weird about the fact that I am thousands of miles from home in a different country, but give it time. The Dublin airport is basically a giant shopping mall with terminals so I am off to do a little browsing, who knows maybe some shopping? I'll write you next (hopefully) from my apartment in Galway, and yes there will be pictures.