Thinking about it now, I've just made an attempt to plan a bit for Dresden, Florence, and Laussanne, and the languages are already kicking my butt--even German, because the vocab is completely unfamiliar to me. I haven't "booked a room" since we booked fake rooms in high school, and real money wasn't at stake back then. I think I did a better job bullshitting my way through the Laussanne tourism page, which randomly kept switching back to French whenever I tried to find an ice rink that would be open in June, than I did trying to figure out how exactly to get from Dresden to the Säschische-Schweiz and back. Oh, well. You live and you learn, and I'll come back to conquering the booking process tomorrow.
What, outside of finalizing my hectic month of insanity, have I been up to in the merry ol' land of Eire? With only two weeks to go, I've decided to adventure (mostly) close to home. (I may have one last big trip to see the Ring of Kerry or hang out in Ennis [since the Siege of Ennis was one of my favorite group dances growing up].) Plus, there's so much that I haven't experienced yet so close to home, and I feel like it would be a bit of a cop out if I said goodbye to Galway too soon.
on the beach where we breaked for lunch and wrote in the sand in a multitude of languages including irish, german, spanish, and japanese
hanging out on the edge at dún aonghasa
On Thursday, I journeyed to the Aran Islands (Inis Mór [literally: the big island]) for a sunny day trip. The weather was amazing and held out the entire day, despite Met Eireann warnings that there would be wet spells throughout the day along the west coast. (Whenever I look at the weather before I plan a trip, I always feel a bit like I'm playing Russian roulette and I'm about to lose.) We hired a bike for the day and once I got over the fact that there were cows and ponies and awesome views every few feet, it was nice to just cruise along with the wind in my hair and my vision unobstructed by awkwardly placed plastic curtain-holders. I am definitely a proponent of biking when you can, in Ireland and anywhere. Something about it is just so liberating. Plus, you don't have to pay for petrol.
the cliffs at dún aonghasa
Like Carraroe and Dingle, the Aran Islands are a Gaeltacht region, meaning that Irish is everywhere. I'm always tempted to practice in the supermarket after hearing people ordering chicken or telling their kids to go grab some cookies (I only know that's what they're saying because it's what they do only seconds later), but my courage fails me at the last minute. But, aside from the exciting immersion in an Irish-speaking region, the Gaeltacht just refreshes my entire body. Even in Dingle and the Aran Islands, where you really can't walk three feet without bumping into a tourist, everyone seems friendlier, happier, more laid back (which is saying something because the Irish are incredibly friendly, mostly happy, and super laid back). The air is fresher, the atmosphere cleaner as well. It's just the kind of place where you feel like you can touch history, and, in this case, it's a long one indeed.
is maith liom rothaíocht
Only about 1.5 hours from Galway City Centre (1hr shutle, 1/2hr ferry), Inis Mór is practically in our backyard so to speak, and I'm glad for that. It just reinforces my already strong feeling that I am in the right place this semester. I honestly couldn't ask for any better.
Saturday was another adventure day, this time even closer to home. On the way back from Connemara, driving along the coast, I like to look out the bus window and make a list of all the places I want to go but will probably never get around to visiting. One one side is the coast, lots of beaches and sparkling water. On the other side, sometimes I see cute little towns or shops or animals out at pasture. Well, one day I was looking out the window and I saw Barna Woods. Really, it's like peering into some mythical creature's secret garden. That may sound beyond dorky, but I'm telling you... I was so enthralled I resolved to find it, looked up its location, found a bus that went to Barna, bought a ticket, and wandered around until I found it.
spring flowers
It was smaller than I was used to as far as wooded parks go, but it was a lot more magical. It's (apparently, if you like to believe everything Wikipedia says) one of the only places in Ireland where oaks are growing naturally, and it's really neat because you can see some of the history of the land in its trees--the older ones are broad and fat, perfect for climbing and as shade trees for grazing stock. They were able to really stretch their limbs out as far as possible because there were no other trees competing for light and nutrients. Younger trees are skinnier and longer. So you can tell kind of where they reclaimed the land from former pastoral land. It's really fascinating. If I would have been more prepared, I would have brought a book to read in the tree I climbed. I could have spent hours there had I had the time. Alas! I was pressed for time because there was cool stuff happening in Galway that I didn't want to miss!
pretty much what i saw from the bus window multiplied by a magical factor of 815.
When we were walking through the city on Friday to get lunch, we stumbled across these signs for a (FREE!!) music festival in the Latin Quarter. After finishing my Castles essay at race pace (4,000 words in 4 hours--wow!), I just didn't feel up for it that night, but on Saturday, Natalie and I hit the streets for some great craic. We saw some trad at Tigh Coili and sort of rock-ish outside of Evergreen, but I think I can say with confidence that our favorite act was the North Strand Contra Band from Dublin. They were an eclectic mix (drums, double-bass, trombone, sax, clarinet, banjo, accordion) with an awesome, totally dancable sound. I did dance, actually. A couple of mishmash reels and some Charleston. :) We loved them so much that we even saw them again tonight outside of the Townehouse and then again outside of Evergreen. And for anyone who's going to be around: they're playing again on May 27th in Monroe's.
the north strand kontra band.
It's a little sad now knowing that I won't have great music to look forward to every evening starting at 5pm, but the Bank Holiday festivities just reminded me how much I love it here. We even stumbled upon some cool restaurants we want to test out before we leave. So, Galway's good and it's going to be really hard to leave and go back home and to Oberlin where, as much as I may have wanted it to, life didn't stop when I was gone. Oh, well, that's a long time coming. For the time being, I'll keep on living in the moment and enjoying life for all it's worth!
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