I would like to take this time to dedicate this post to my late godfather and uncle, Martin Sullivan. You were such a wonderful person, always bringing laughter to our family gatherings. Sending prayers to the family from Ireland. Love you always, Uncle Marty.
Where to begin... It has been some time since I last posted so I have quite a bit to share. I left you all with the story of how we got here and our minor trip to the Galway Shopping Centre -- that pretty much sums up our first day in Ireland. The next day, Wednesday, Molly, Meghan, and I decided to go out again and explore more of the city centre. The day went off without a hitch. We got to William Street and Shop Street where Molly and I decided to buy our international phones. Satisfied with that purchase, we set out to wander down more of Shop Street. Here are some pictures of sites along the walk to and down Shop Street.
It was great to see some Christmas decorations still up!
Shop Street, Galway
More of Shop Street!
It was at about this time that our stomachs told us we needed food. We walked into a nice looking place called Taaffe's, which turned out to be a great find.
It was there that we had our first pints of Guinness with a delicious Irish meal of turkey on brown bread and vegetable soup. This was conveniently a special for students and therefore cost effective! Luckily, we had a great waiter who was aware of it being our first Guinness and kindly snapped a photo of us.
We got the vibe that he had to do that a time or two before. Playing on the speaker throughout the pub was The Saw Doctors, so I felt properly at home. Better yet, at 5:30 the live traditional band started to play, and we had front row seats. For a while, after they would end a song, a new member would walk in and sit along side them with his/her respective instrument. There was even a solo performance by a talented harmonica player.
Photo credit to Meghan
We got the vibe that he had to do that a time or two before. Playing on the speaker throughout the pub was The Saw Doctors, so I felt properly at home. Better yet, at 5:30 the live traditional band started to play, and we had front row seats. For a while, after they would end a song, a new member would walk in and sit along side them with his/her respective instrument. There was even a solo performance by a talented harmonica player.
After some time we met up with Joe and Amy who are also from SLU and Joe's two roommates, Tobi (from Germany) and Boyd (from the Netherlands). We all went out with our other roommate Kevin (from France) and his friend to a pub called The Quays, which was a fun time and a great way to get to know each other.
The next two days (Thursday and Friday) consisted of orientation with NUIG and preparing for classes. We heard speakers from each department and it made the beginning of school seem less ominous. Friday night Molly, Meghan, Deirdre, Elisabeth and I went to dinner in city centre and then ventured over to The King's Head, which is a popular spot. We had a blast chatting and listening to a cover band play some of my favorites, from U2 to Kings of Leon to Mumford and Sons. The music scene over here is fabulous. In fact, this coming weekend we are going to Dublin to see Dropkick Murphys!
Saturday night, our friend Tobi made us a pasta dinner and we all played catchphrase. The food was delicious! Although the game did get competitive at some points, it was mostly hilarious. On Sunday, we went to Mass at Galway Cathedral, a very beautiful and interesting experience.
The next two days (Thursday and Friday) consisted of orientation with NUIG and preparing for classes. We heard speakers from each department and it made the beginning of school seem less ominous. Friday night Molly, Meghan, Deirdre, Elisabeth and I went to dinner in city centre and then ventured over to The King's Head, which is a popular spot. We had a blast chatting and listening to a cover band play some of my favorites, from U2 to Kings of Leon to Mumford and Sons. The music scene over here is fabulous. In fact, this coming weekend we are going to Dublin to see Dropkick Murphys!
Saturday night, our friend Tobi made us a pasta dinner and we all played catchphrase. The food was delicious! Although the game did get competitive at some points, it was mostly hilarious. On Sunday, we went to Mass at Galway Cathedral, a very beautiful and interesting experience.
Monday we started classes. Registration is a bit difficult over here as I keep having to check and make sure that my classes are approved back home. So far, I will be taking Drama and Theatre Studies, Contemporary Irish Literature, a Philosophy class, and The Development of the Castle in Medieval Europe. And yes, the last one does include field trips! On Monday night we stayed up late to stream the Notre Dame game live, which as you all know, did not go in our favor. Tuesday there was an information session and a meet and greet with the RAs at Corrib Village. They were all super nice and we even got to meet some of the Guards. The two Guards gave us a talk about how Galway is the safest city in Ireland (that's for you, Mom!) but that "if you're going in twos and threes, come back in twos and threes". One of the best parts of the meeting was the pizza they provided. Definitely not the same as Lou Malnati's back home but still pretty good!
Wednesday was full of classes and also included the clubs and societies fair at NUIG. I signed up for the Film, Mountaineering, Surfing, and International Student Societies. Not so sure I will do the Mountaineering and Surfing ones but I am very excited about the Film Society. This day was jam packed with events, so when night came around I was ready to relax. That night we went to Townhouse Bar to meet the members of the Mountaineering Society. This is where I was able to drink a Guinness the proper way. We met some very cool people from Galway, Australia, and France. Thursday night we went out to Kelly's Bar for a welcoming party with the International Students Society. There, we also met some interesting people from all over. That same night, we moved on to another pub called Roisin Dubh, which had a dance floor and played some upbeat music.
Today, Friday (the last part of this blog!!), I got up early to register for an English seminar (Contemporary Irish Literature). I must have had the luck of the Irish with me because I was able to get the last spot for the seminar after waiting in line for almost two hours. After that, the group (Meghan, Molly, Elisabeth, Deirdre, Tobi, Joe, Amy, and I) walked down to McDonagh's to get fish 'n chips... and boy was that good! Fully fed, we walked up to see Galway Bay as well. The sights were absolutely majestic! Here are some pictures:
The girls by the bay
Whaddup fam!
Chicago on a building in the Latin Quarter!
Fish 'n Chips! Nomz!
Well, that's all for now! But there will be more after the weekend in Dublin so stay tuned and I will try to write more often instead of cramming it all in the same post :)
Have a great day!
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