Galway and Dublin

Ok, I'm finally getting around to writing about my time in Ireland, even though it's been several weeks. After my stay in Belfast, Northern Ireland, my first stop in the Republic of Ireland was Galway. Galway is cute little city on the west coast of Ireland, and many people say that if you want an authentic experience of Irish culture, you're better off going there than to Dublin.
Although as I discovered pretty quickly, it is a very small city so there isn't a whole lot to keep a tourist occupied for several days, at least a tourist like me who was trying not to spend too much money. But overall I really enjoyed the city, and it is the sort of place I think I would enjoy living because it's not too big but there are still things going on, like many restaurants and bars to explore.

My first day I did a free walking tour, which over the course of my travels became the first thing I would look for in a new city because it's a great way to get oriented and get history and stories from someone who knows the city well. By this point in my trip I was also starting to get a bit tired of sightseeing alone, so it was a great way to meet new people to see the city with, even if it was just for the duration of the tour.

Here are some of the sights we saw on the tour:

The Cathedral

Part of the old wall that surrounded the city

The Spanish Arch, one of the old entrances to the city through the wall. 

One of the main streets in the old town center of Galway, called the Latin Quarter

A pretty row of houses along the water.

Then later in the day I returned to the cathedral to go inside and look around. The interesting thing to me about this cathedral is that is it not nearly as old as most of the others I saw on my travels. This one was built in the 1960s but in the same style as many that are much older, so it looks similar but you can tell that it was built recently. The stone hasn't aged, everything is very clean, and there is more of an order to how the stones were placed. I always marvel at how people built such amazing buildings so long ago when I look at old cathedrals and I've often commented that people just don't do things like that anymore, but this proved that wrong. People still are capable of building something that beautiful and awe-inspiring, although it isn't quite as impressive knowing they had more modern technology and equipment to help them. Here is a (not very good) picture of the inside of the cathedral:

The next day I went to the Cliffs of Moher, which were highly recommended and are a must-see during any trip to the west coast of Ireland. Again, like with Giant's Causeway, I decided to do a bus tour because it was inexpensive and easier than trying to get there myself with public transportation, and we also got lots of information and history from the driver and saw many more things that I would have seem on my own. So even though I was one of "those tourists" that show up in big groups and all pile out of a bus to descend on the tourist attraction, I thought it was worth it for the ease and convenience, and also for the same reason I liked the walking tour, because I got to interact with other people along the way. The only problem was that if I had been alone I probably would have spent more time at the cliffs because I didn't have time to really look around the visitor center and read a lot of the history, but I was satisfied with how much time I got to spent outside actually enjoying the views so it was fine. The cliffs were beautiful and the views were amazing. And as with many attractions I'd been to, I was very happy I was visiting in the off season, despite the cold weather, because I can only imagine how crowded it gets in the summer given how many people were still there on a cold winter day, and it was quite nice to enjoy it without hoards of people all over the place. Here are some of the pictures from the whole tour:

Castle we stopped at on the way to the cliffs, I can't remember what it's called now (I should have taken better notes...)

Corcomroe Abbey

Corcomroe Abbey

Cliffs of Moher! Of course pictures don't do them justice. 

Little castle at the main cliff overlook

Cliffs from the other direction

I don't remember exactly what the name of this was either, but the structure is called a dolmen, and it's an old tomb.

Next we went to see an old circle fort, which is a small area surrounded by two walls that people used to live inside. 

View from the circle fort of The Burren, the area we spent most of our time driving through which has cool rock formations on the hills. It's hard to explain, but you can sort of see it in this picture. 

Door of the circle fort from inside

Door of the circle fort from the outside

That evening I went out on the town in search of some good live music. I got a few suggestions from the front desk at the hostel, so I tried out several places. The first few places I went were so crowded that I could barely move, which I was fine with in college but have found recently that I just have no patience for it, so I went to the place that was recommended that was slightly farther away. This place was much more my speed. I actually got a place to sit, the music was great, and because it wasn't directly in the town center, it seemed like it was mostly locals instead of filled with tourists. I really like Irish music, and the band was cool because they all sat in a circle as if they were just having a jam session, so it was really chill and it seemed like they were having a blast.

My last day in Galway I had pretty much seen everything I wanted to see, so other than a stroll along the water, I basically just relaxed at my hostel. Then it was off to Dublin! I also really enjoyed Dublin, and because it's a much bigger city there was more to see. I was couchsurfing again this time, and the guy I stayed with was really nice. There was also another couchsurfer there most of the time I stayed there, a girl from Russia who was spending a few weeks traveling before starting school and a job in London. The three of us spent time drinking tea and chatting in the evenings and I got to hang out with the Russia girl, Yulia, a bit during the days too, which was a nice change.

The first day I yet again started off with a free walking tour, and then after that I hung out with some people from the tour at a bar that was doing a lunch special for the tour group. I didn't usually go out to eat much on my trip, but I was getting tired of just eating bread and cheese all the time to save money, so I decided to go for it. It was really fun, and I ended up staying at the bar chatting with a couple from Belgium and a group from Australia for about 2 hours. After that I spent some time wandering in the nearby shopping area before heading back to my host's house. Here are some pictures:

Dublin Castle

Dublin Castle

Ha'Penny (or Half Penny) Bridge, so named because there used to be a half penny toll to cross it

Grafton Street, which has a lot of shopping and street performers

Trinity College

Trinity College

Trinity College

Molly Malone statue

The next day I spent going to museums, many of which are free like in the UK, which is always great for my budget. The first one I went to was the Chester Beatty Library, which is a collection of artifacts from all over the world, mostly Asia, that were collected by an American named Chester Beatty throughout the 1900s I believe (maybe starting in the late 1800s, I can't remember exactly). It was not huge but it had a lot of cool things, and was named one of the best museums in Europe a few years ago. Then I went to some of the national museums, including the Archeological Museum, the National Gallery, and the National Library, the first two of which I enjoyed, the last was disappointing because as a visitor you cannot go in past a small viewing area and you cannot take pictures.

My host lived about a 30 minute train ride outside the city center close to a small coastal town called Howth, so my last full day I decided to go there and do some hiking up to Howth Peak, a hill overlooking the water. It was only about a mile or two away, so I walked along the beach, which was a really nice and relaxing walk. Once I got to Howth it started to rain though, so I took refuge in a cafe to warm up and dry off. Once I started the hike it cleared up and the weather was beautiful! I got a bit lost trying to find the trail I wanted and ended up hiking it the opposite way than it was designed so sometimes I had to search for the signs pointing the way, but eventually I found where I was going. I enjoyed the hike and the views, even though it was very muddy because of the recent rain and snow.

View of Howth from the pier

View on the hike when the weather got nicer

View of Howth when hiking back towards town

Then that evening, Yulia and I went to a meetup I found on the couchsurfing website that was designed for people who wanted to practice English but said native speakers were welcome. I had often checked out the couchsurfing events in the cities I visited but had never gone to one, so I figured now was my chance. It turned out that this meetup wasn't just a couchsurfing thing, it was a well-established weekly meetup that attracted tons of people, so the bar was already packed by the time we got there. I had a great time getting to know new people, and the bar was even giving out free food that night! I really enjoyed it and I'm glad I went, and it was interesting that I only met one other native English speaker, and no other Americans. I think it was probably the first time I had been in a large group of people from all over the world like that and been the only American, so that was kind of cool.

Also, another note about language...an interesting thing about Ireland is that Gaelic (or simply Irish as most Irish people call it) is actually the first official language of the country, so all road signs, announcements on public transportation, and other official notices are in Gaelic first and then English. When the Republic of Ireland became it's own country separate from the UK, they wanted to promote Irish culture which at many times in history had been suppressed by the British, so now all Irish students learn Gaelic in school. However, even though people know Gaelic and it is an official language, you will hardly ever hear people speak it, at least in the bigger cities. English is still the language that is used in daily life, except for in some small villages mostly in the western part of the country. As a lover of languages this is fascinating to me, and I'm glad that the Irish people were able to keep their language alive in the face of adversity.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Ireland, and it is one of the places I visited that I most want to go back to and explore more of. I still have two more places to write about, Romania and Turkey, so I will try to get that posted as soon as possible.