Toasted bread in Galway

I got my weekly roster on Saturday and saw I had Wednesday and Thursday of the following week off, that same night I checked Ryanair for offers but they all had to be booked 14 days in advance, so I decided to take a bus and go somewhere in Ireland. I'd heard a lot about Galway, and felt like being outdoors, so I decided to go there.

I started looking for hosts through couch surfing, and after reading a few profiles I sent 3 couch surfing requests and got an answer the next day. The night before I prepared my bag with the essentials: sneakers, a jumper, a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, toiletries, camera, spare batteries, mp3 player, extra pair of socks and underwear, my diary and pens. Knowing the Irish weather, I set the clothes for the next morning, all water proof and very warm.

I woke up at 6 the next morning, took the Luas to the Busaras bus station and bought a return student ticket to Galway for 16,50 (I wonder until when will I be able to pull off the student discounts?). I was hoping to see some of the scenery on the way, but truth is I fell asleep as soon as the bus pulled off the bus station and woke up in Galway.

Pedestrian walk in Galway

It was 10.30 am and the sun was shinning, I just got this holiday feeling straight away, I love it. I walked through the pedestrian path looking for a Cafe to have some breakfast, read my Lonely Planet and plan my day.

Canal walk

I first took a walk by the Canal, then went into the Lynch Castle (now a branch of the AIB bank), took a couple of pictures by the Spanish Arch and went into the museum. Then I went to the University to meet and have lunch with my Couch Surfing Hosts. They had to go back to work so we agreed to meet later by the Spanish Arch and I set off to do some more sightseeing, buy my ticket to go to Aran Island the next day and walk by the coast. The whole town was revolutionized by the upcoming Volvo Sailing Race, which is taking place between the 23 of May and the beginning of June. After walking by the coast I took a nap in the grass by the canal and then met my hosts at their new flat (which was very nice and had an impressive view of the bay).

Galway Bay

I barely made it to the supermarket as it was closing and quickly grabbed a few essentials to make Tacos. I missed the tabasco, and my hosts didn't have any, but they seemed to like them anyways.

The next day I woke up early, and after a quick breakfast of tea and cookies I went to take the bus to Ros a Mhil (Rossaveal) from where the ferry to Inis Mor (the best known of the 3 islands that conform Aran Islands). By 11 am I was at the island, I rented a bike and set off, trying to get away from the loud american and french tourists.

First I went to the old Lighthouse, which is the highest point of the island, what a steep ride! and walked through the ruins to an old circular stone temple.

Temple

Then I took a back gravel road, it was like a labyrinth, snakelike and with stone walls on either side and bifurcations everywhere. I finally made it to one of the main roads and started pedalling towards these incredible cliffs I saw in the distance. I got to the base of the Dun Aonghasa Fort and had to leave my bike there. There was a 1 euro fee to go up, lucky thing I found 1 euro somewhere in my bag. While I was going up there were groups of americans coming down, fortunately there was almost no one when I got up.

I was dazzled by the cliffs, I went right to the edge and lay on my stomach looking at the water hit the rocks below for like 1/2 an hour, lost in thought, only cm away from nothingness. When I came back to reality I realized there were quite a lot of people around so I decided to go back down. Next I went to the Seven Churches (ruins) and then started pedalling back. I got to the village just in time as it started raining. After a whole day of cycling in very uneven gravel roads and stone paths, with a lot of wind and sun, I was exhausted. I fell asleep in the ferry, and again as soon as I got on the bus that took me back to Galway.

That night my CS hosts cooked and we had a lovely evening just talking and having dinner. There were plans to go out, but I was way to tired, so by 12 I was asleep.

I woke up before dawn, it was pouring outside, I quietly gathered my stuff and left for the bus station to take the first bus of the day back to Dublin.

Raf