You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Galway' category.
This morning we woke up in Galway. We decided to trot around the town one more time before we left, so we packed our things and headed out of our hostel. Galway is such a lovely little place in the morning and early afternoon, with bakeries on every street and people bustling all around. We decided to head back to Thomas Dillon’s, the original maker of claddagh rings. With an executive decision to disregard our inner “cheap starving college student” and take true advantage of our happy accident (ending up in the home of the claddagh ring, unbeknownst to us until our arrival), Nolin and I bought silver claddagh rings. They’re stamped by the Irish government on the inside, which proves that they are the “official, original claddagh ring.” It turns out that the shop didn’t have a ring small enough in stock, so we had the privilege of watching them size my ring by hand. The lovely couple that owned the shop allowed us behind the counter to an old-world looking workbench, where the man sat and sawed minute pieces out of the band with a coping saw. He then placed the ring around a ring sizer and pounded it with a small hammer until the ends met, used some combination of hot welding tools, and delicately sanded it down. Afterward, he polished it on some sort of fabric wheel, and told us about the use of rouge as an abrasive for polishing (he put some on the wheels). Yes, he said to us (though he directed it at Nolin), “so the next time you put blush on your cheeks, you’ve seen what’s in it.” 
After purchasing our rings and getting an impromptu, complimentary lesson on old-school ring making and sizing, we headed to the bus station. Naturally, we hopped on the first bus to Dublin. About halfway through the ride, we took a short stop at a bus station where there was food, restrooms, other buses, etc. Our driver was talking to Nolin and mentioned that there was a different bus a few spaces over that was also going to Dublin, but would be taking a more direct route, which would shave about 45 minutes off of our journey. Sounds great, right? Right. So we headed to the luggage storage area on the side of our bus and flung our packs over our shoulders. By this time, of course, it had begun pouring rain. This was no wimpy California spring rain either. This was proper, heavy, Irish rain. So we sprinted some 40 yards to the other bus, backpacks and all, threw our luggage into the luggage carrier under the bus, and hopped through the doors with barely any time to spare. We took our seats, soaked, and a bit out of breath… but hey, we had made it, and that meant 45 whole minutes less traveling time. Again… great, right? You bet. Flash forward a couple hours: we’re nearly to Dublin… the last 30 minutes of the trip. Looking out the window, something jumps out at me… “20″… the number on a bus in the next lane over. We pull up next to this bus…yes, from behind… and I say “hey Nolin….wasn’t our first bus the number 20?” ……it was. There may have been a bang or two of my head against the window. So when we eventually pull up to the Dublin bus station, who pulls up no more than 4 minutes later, but the number 20 bus. Lovely.
It was all good fun though, no worry, no hard feelings. Switching buses was a fun adrenaline rush, even if it didn’t work out exactly the way we planned.
So we made it back home to the Ashfield house in Dublin, a little tired, a little damp, but no worse for the wear. After that, aside from a stop at our favorite burger place (ironically, a fish’n'chips shop) and a short walk in the city, we had a quiet night in, which was especially nice after the long bus ride earlier today. We watched the Euro2008 soccer game: Russia vs. Sweden. Russia won, 2-0. Luckily, I think the group of Swedish guys left the hostel a few days prior.
Tonight was our first major encounter with Americans since arriving in Dublin. There are some good and some bad, which we definitely figured out tonight. There was the girl sitting behind us during the soccer game, who seemed insistent upon giving her commentary on exactly how “intense” each major play was. Then of course, there was the other group. Nolin and I were curious as to when the group of American teenagers with parent chaperones (an unusual occurrence in a hostel) were going to leave. They were a large group, and their parents cooked them dinner in the hostel kitchen, which smelled delicious. This of course, made us dislike them even more. Anyway, we wanted to know when they were going to leave (hoping it would be soon), but didn’t want to be rude by seeming pushy and asking. I jumped at my chance to strike up a conversation with one of them when he couldn’t get the soda machine to work, and slipped into the conversation “so how long will you guys be staying?” Of course, just after finding out that they’re leaving in the morning, I discovered that he and the rest of the kids (who joined the conversation) were actually pretty cool. So I made about 7 friends tonight. They’re from Kentucky. It figures that Nolin and I go all the way to Ireland, and the friends we make are from the midwest.
Anyway, it was a long, two-city day. Rings, bus rides, sprints in the rain, watching soccer with couchfuls of Europeans, and making friends from Kentucky.
That’s something I love about Dublin, you never know who you’ll meet. Over half the people in the city are actually from somewhere other than Ireland, which creates an interesting mix. Just walking down the street, you can hear English, French, Russian, Dutch, Spanish, Irish, and goodness knows what else.
We’ve really come to love Dublin and the ever-exciting Ashfield house. We can’t wait for Josh to come in the morning.
Hope these blogs are reaching healthy and happy people back home. You’re in our thoughts all the way over here.
Love always from Dublin.
Hello all!
Today is our second day in Galway, the fastest growing city in Europe. With our “breakfast at the hostel is over by 10am, so eat early” burden lifted during our time in Galway, we were free to “accidentally” sleep in until 11 this morning. Well, for Nolin it may have been an accident, but when I woke up briefly around 8, I didn’t exactly make an attempt to inform Nolin of the time before I snuggled back into my nest of comforters that I collected from surrounding empty beds the day before.
Recharged from our blissfully long night’s sleep, Nolin and I headed into town again, which is basically a two block trot to the main streets. Today was a lovely soak in small-town life, as we spent the majority of it waltzing around town, peering in bakery windows, splashing in the Irish rain, and sipping freshly blended juice from a place called “Pulp.” We also decided to explore a few of the many grand churches in town. Most of the churches are scattered on the outskirts of the main streets, and tower over passersby with their beautiful but unimposing stone walls and pillars.
Today we stopped into Thomas Dillon’s, the original maker of Claddagh rings. We also visited the small museum attached to the store, which tells the historic tail of how the Claddagh ring was first created, and the many people and stories related to it. The shop and the people that work there are lovely, and we’re planning on returning tomorrow, possibly to purchase a ring or two.
On a small and personal-victory sort of note, Nolin and I have officially decided that my health is on the incline. He was actually able to hear me speak today…though the extent to which that is defined as a good thing is debatable, from his point of view. 
Hopefully I’ll be good as new in the coming days.
We’ll be heading back to Dublin tomorrow afternoon, and though I’m sure we’ll both miss the sweetness of Galway, we’ll be happy to return to our hip and happening home at the Ashfield house in the city.
Hope everyone is in good health and spirits!
We send our love from across the globe.
After talking to the cool people behind the desk at our hostel this morning, we decided to skip town and head over to Galway, Ireland. Since we still have a few days before Josh gets here, we wanted to make sure that we didn’t overdo Dublin, and that we got to explore some other area in Ireland. Josh, if you’re reading this, don’t worry, we have plenty of ideas for Dublin stuff once you get here. So anyway, we decided to go to Galway this morning, and within the hour we had bought our tickets and were on the bus. The funny thing about bus Eireann is that it is kind of like the Irish equivalent to the Greyhound bus system in the US, especially because the mascot for bus Eireann is also a dog (just like on Greyhound), except that it’s a golden retriever. And there’s a picture on the side of the bus of it running…yes, again, just like greyhound. I was rather amused by it. I tried pointing out the similarities to Nolin, though his level of excitement was considerably lower than mine.
After about a 3 hour ride, we arrived in Galway, a lovely little seaside, formerly fishing, town. It’s definitely a shift from the bustling streets of Dublin… everything here seems to close at 5pm, until the clubs open at around 11. The pubs, as is to be expected anywhere in Ireland, are open all day. There’s the main square (Eyre Square) and two popular pedestrian-only streets (Shop Street and High Street), which are lined with restaurants, pubs, bookstores, cafes, and clothing stores. Nolin and I have enjoyed trotting up and down these streets all day long, along with all of the surrounding side-streets. What neither of us realized until we got here is that Galway is the town where the famous Claddagh rings originated. Claddagh rings are the ones with the hands holding a heart topped by a crown, symbolizing friendship, love, and loyalty.
We also took a walk out by the seaside, which was incredibly windy, but rather beautiful. An approximately 1 mile walk down a jetty, led by our thirsty inner-photographers, toward a red and white lighthouse. Of course, we discovered that the entire area at the end of the jetty was locked off, and we couldn’t get anywhere near the lighthouse. We did get some good exercise though, that’s for sure, and by the time we reached town again we had the classic pink noses and cheeks caused by cold and windy Irish weather.
coast of Galway: 
Thanks to our “Let’s Go: Ireland” (our bible here), we ended up finding some live jazz music at a pub. It was a full 18-piece jazz band, accompanied by some old-fashioned swing dancing. It was great fun, and a nice change of pace for us. We’re hoping to find some good live traditional Irish music once we get back to Dublin.
Yes, I may have been a little skeptical when we first arrived, but I think that’s because I’ve grown so attached to Dublin. We both quickly discovered what a great little find Galway is, the history that it holds, and the nice little change of pace to a quiet seaside city. We’ll be spending all of tomorrow here too, and then will be heading back to Dublin on the 18th before we meet up with Josh on the 19th.
We’ll hopefully upload some pictures tomorrow of our trip so far. Thanks to all those who have been reading along with our adventures! We’ll try to keep the updates coming.
Peace and love from Galway, Ireland
