The Eire Diaries – days 6-8

27 May 2007

Last night we went to sleep around 12:30. I tried to call my mom but was only able to speak with her for exactly 75 seconds. A whole euro for only 75 seconds. I was a little pissed about that. It was probably my fault though, I can’t figure out these stupid international pay phones.
We ended up rooming with all boys, two from Australia, two from the States, in a tiny little room, with a tiny little bathroom. And boys smell.
Unsure about the weather, we hadn’t made any definite plans but today when we woke (around 7), looked out the window and saw beautiful skies we were ecstatic and discussed our options. The Aussie boys told us they got discount tickets for a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher. So we decided to tag along, and it was amazing. Our driver, Ray (who is also the owner of the Galway Tour Company), was such a great guide, telling us all about the history of Galway and of Ireland; the way people lived in “days gone by” as he often said; the Great Famine of 1845-1850; Oliver Cromwell and his army taking control; Michael Collins and the IRA. Ray was also quick with the jokes, as silly as they were. He called llamas, cow-sheep We spent about two hours at the cliffs which were just spectacular. We stopped at a cafe and store and a few vista points for pictures and also went to a really nice beach, reminiscent (for us anyway) of NorCal beaches. Unfortunately it was littered with trash. After I picked up an armful I realized why: there were no trash bins anywhere! Ray saw me coming, loaded up with garbage, and luckily he had a trash bag in the back of the bus. After the cliffs we went through the Burren, stoppd at the poulnabrone dolmen, saw the Kilfenora High Crosses, Dunguaire Castle and Lisdoonvarna, where the singles/matchmaking festival occurs every September. Kenz and I were like “Great! Let’s go!” Then Ray informed us the average festival attendee wore dentures and had a pension plan in action. LOL Okaaaaaay…
It was magnificent, the whole tour. The ocean is so green and blue and gorgeous.
After we got back from the tour, we showered and walked through town to McDonough’s, where we shared a plate of their famous fish and chips. Then we finally went into The Quays! The pub in my painting. Really cool place, and it is SO much bigger inside than it looks from the outside, we were really surprised. I had a pint of Smithwick’s (pronounced Smiddick’s) and Kens had a Carlsberg (and stole the glass) and we both started to get really sleepy. We did have a long day, after all. So I stopped at a Chat’r'net and called my mom (and for only a euro fifty I talked to her for 15 minutes!), then went back to the hostel as the sun finally set, at about 10 p.m. Mel

journal entry . day 6 . Galway

28 May 2007

Right now we are sitting on a picnic table at our hostel in the Connemara National Park, overlooking the Killary Fjord. So far, aside from the cliffs (or maybe not), it is the most beautiful place I’ve seen in Ireland. Quiet and peaceful. A warm sunny day with a cool breeze, fluffy white cumulus clouds shading parts of the green mountain side. The water in the fjord is calm, like glass. The only sounds I hear are of chirping birds and the joyous far-off cries of people in the ropes course at the Killary Adventure Centre. An occasional gust of wind whips through the trees, creating a whistling music. It is so serene here.
Connemara is well known for its marble and granite. It is amazing because you can just pick up pieces from the side of the road. They mine for the big slabs and probably just turn all the little pieces into gravel. My backpack is at least 6 or 7 lbs. heavier with beautiful pieces of marble and granite and quartz, in all different colors and shapes. They’re all for my mom She’ll be happy. It is all she wanted me to bring back for her. Rocks. Mel

Although there wasn’t much to do except walk the trails and enjoy the beautiful views (downtown Leenane is about 6 km away and the ropes course costs over a hundred euro), I’m glad we stayed at the Sleepzone there. We hung out with the three people running the place, all around our age. Larina, the Irish girl, Ellie, the French girl, and Frederick, the Aussie guy. They were all really nice and totally laid back. Then Frederick explained that their “bosses” were on holiday in France and that was why they were so laidback! ha ha. Reminded me of certain times at La Casa We chilled all day pretty much. Mackensy watched the Lost finale with Larina, although they missed the first hour. Then we had a glass of wine with Frederick (he was generous enough to share his last bottle, an Aussie Shiraz how apropos) and talked and watched Entourage. Their tv shows are so far behind ours, as far as the seasons and episodes go. We also watched a famous Irish comedian named Dylan Moran, I think. Frederick was laughing hysterically and it was funny, but I knew it was more of a, idk, european comedy, I guess? Because it was weird funny. Anyway, I smoked a rolled cigarette with Frederick and Ellie, (and it made me SO nauseous! I’m not a smoker anymore!) and then we went to bed and talked about boys and stuff before we drifted off to sleep. I’m sure I drifted first. Ciao! Mel

journal entry . day 7 . Leenane

29 May 2007

We awoke to another beautiful morning. Kenz went running while I read in the kitchen for a bit, eating muesli and watching the early morning sun illuminate the fjord. We went for a walk after breakfast, looking for more rocks and taking pictures. We had to be out on the main road by around 12:30 to catch the tour bus, so we headed nack to the hostel to shower and pack up. I would have liked to stay one more night, but as there really was nothing to do, we figured it just made sense to continue on. As we made it out to the main road I realized I left my earrings on the bed. So I dropped my pack with Kenz by the road and half ran half power-walked the kilometre back to the hostel, grabbed them from the bunk, said goodbye to Frederick and hurried out to the main road again.
After fifteen minutes or so, we saw the bright blue bus chugging up the hill. Chris was our tour guide yesterday, taking us into Cong and dropping us off at the same spot yesterday, and it turned out that he was the driver again today. We waved at him from the side of the road and he slowed and stopped and got out to help with our packs.
The next stop on the tour was Kylemore Abbey, which is just breathtaking. Unfortunately, you don’t get to see much of the inside, but the gothic cathedral and the Victoria Gardens on the property make up for that. We spent two hours there, and the drive through Connemara and Maam Valley is so beautiful and so different from the Burren and the cliffs that it is amazing to know they aren’t even a day’s trip apart. We saw The Quiet Man bridge, where the John Wayne movie of the same name was filmed. We also stopped in the town of Clifden, a quaint seaside village, where Kenz and I got frozen yogurt. Finally back into Galway, we returned to Sleepzone, made dinner, and went to see the swans on the quay. The weather was so warm and inviting that there were hords of people on the quay, enjoying the sunshine with beers and pizza while it lasted, for rain has been forecasted for the rest of the week. Mel

journal entry . day 8 . Galway

The Eire Diaries – days 4 & 5

25 May 2007

We saw Pirates! It was sooo good! The theatre was amazing too. I think, other than going to the pubs, that going to the movies is THE thing to do in Ireland, or Dublin anyway. There are six floors to the theatre, wiht cafes, lounges, all kinds of eateries, Ben and Jerry’s, and it was PACKED. Granted we did go on the opening night. When you buy you tickets they assign your seat, and three different attendants checked our tickets as we searched for the correct theatre.
Going to the movies is such a nice escape from reality for a few hours. But at the end of the three hours as the credits rolled, and the lights brightened, reality sank in as we remembered we were not at Big Newport or Triangle Square. “Wanna go to Big Belly?” Mackensy joked. I have to admit, I felt a little homesick! We walked down the empty streets of Dublin in the rain, back to our hostel and went to bed. I hardly slept; the room felt like a meat locker, and top bunks are not my idea of comfortable beds. I think I have repressed memories from childhood, of falling off the top bunk. This morning we woke and went downstairs to breakfast which consisted of corn flakes and instant coffee. (I’m beginning to realize that instant coffee is really popular here, or maybe it is just a cheap hostel thing.) After a bit of email checking and necessity shopping ( & Mackensy realizing she lost her ATM card! ) we headed off for Galway. Ciao! Mel

***

I LOVE GALWAY! It is so beautiful here! It is quaint and charming, even though it is one of the largest cities in Ireland. And it’s relatively sterile when compared with Dublin, especially Temple Bar, where the streets are filthy with broken beer bottle glass in all different colors and cigarette butts filling the cracks between cobblestones. If I felt homesick in Dublin, I feel at home here in Galway.
It was a four-hour bus ride of narrow, winding motorways, through even smaller, quaint towns, like Ballinasloe and Athlone to name a few. The views were gorgeous; luscious green fields, adorned with cows and sheep and horses, beautiful country homes, and acres of land separated by centuries-old stone walls, so intricate and delicate, each stone purposefully and carefully set. They look like they could easily be knocked over, yet many have stood there longer than our country has been a country. Finally arriving in Galway (Gaillimh in Gaelic), I knew instantly that I’d love it. We were dropped off directly in front of Eyre Square, where JFK visited months before his assassination. Our hostel is right in city centre, a few blocks from the square. (And it is SOOO nice! The hostels just keep gettimg better!) At the moment we are sitting in a cafe called Java’s, relaxing after our lunch, and planning the rest of our days here in Eire. Mel

journal entry . day 4 . Dublin & Galway .

26 May 2007

Kenz and I are sitting on the patio of a pub off Quay Street. (pronounced Key). I’m having a pint and Kenz, a cappuccino, while we write and watch people stroll by. Saturday is busy here in Galway, hundreds of tourists and such, walking around and filling the pubs and shops. We went to a wonderful farmer’s market that wraps through the tiny alleyways and narrow streets around the Church of St. Nicholas, where, legend has it, that Christopher Columbus went to pray before sailing the ocean and discovering the “new world”. At the market I bought a little painting of The Quays, a popular bar on Quay Street. The paintor himself, Kevin McCarthy, had a wall of his work at the market, about two dozen paintings varying in size, of pubs, or storefronts, or the river walk (also called the quay), and they were all so beautiful, I wanted to buy more. The painting I got is oil on dental plaster! I think they all were though. It is little and in a frame he made as well. Perhaps one day he’ll be famous and I’ll have an original McCarthy! I went to The Quays, the actual pub, and took a picture, to go along with my painting Mel

***

It is pouring rain. I love the rain, but not when I’m on holiday, and meant to be sightseeing. And not when I don’t rain clothes or at least a heavy jacket. Today has become lazy and sleepy and, as we’ve been indoors most of the day, very boring. I took a long walk a bit ago, towards the quay to see all the swans, but the swans will have to wait till another day. I turned around and went back to the hostel. It is too cold and too windy, and even with an umbrella I was nearly soaked. I’m sitting in the kitchen having tea and eating muesli and wondering what in the world to do with myself. I really don’t even want to go to the pubs tonight, to spend money I shouldn’t be spending, and trying to look cute in the windy and rain. It just takes so much effort and energy, energy that has been sucked out of me by this damp day. Perhaps it rains the rest of our trip?!?! Oh, I hope not, we’ll be quite miserable… Mel

journal entry . day 5 . Galway .