Tuesday, July 7th, 2009—Friday, July 10th, 2009
When forced to attend the obligatory “Don’t Be A Jackass American in a Foreign Country” orientation at the end of last semester, one of the first thing they impressed upon us was the fact that we were studying abroad. As in going to class. As in reading. As in homework.
The fine people at the Study Abroad office at CSU Chico will be very proud to see that, on Tuesday, instead of doing my reading like a good little student…I blew it all off and went to the beach like a regular California person.
It was about a 45 minute walk down to Lower Salthill where the water is, but on a mercifully rain-free day it actually didn’t seem that bad (though that may have had something to do with the fact that we stopped at Supermac’s along the way). There’s really not a whole lot of beach area in Galway (at least the part we were at), but we found a little spot and took off our shoes to frolic in the water.
I don’t remember who it was, but someone had the brilliant idea to take one of those pictures with everyone jumping in the air. Well, there were four of us in the picture, and trying to get my friend Ricky to snap the shot with all four of us in the air proved to be quite tricky. I don’t think we ever got one with all of us in the air, and after about half an hour of “One, two, three, JUMP!” we pretty much gave up.
After the beach, we took the long way around Galway Harbor up to Shop Street, stopping to admire all the swans in the water and the many, many pigeons flying around. We took our time wandering up the street, stopping in to look at the shops (we found the original Claddagh ring shop and made a pact to go back and buy the only 40 Euro sterling silver rings. At 5, I met up with Abbie and Valerie at the grocery store and we bought an insane amount of food, which was good, because Valerie then made us an amazing dinner when we got home.
Wednesday was spent doing homework and going to class and was otherwise boring and uneventful.
Thursday was also spent in class, but I went out for the first time since Valerie’s birthday. We went to the King’s Head, a rather famous pub down on Shop Street. There was a large group of us, but we all found seats in front of the stage for the live band (not an Irish band, just a 90s cover band). But they were giving away free drinks (I think it was called a Smirnoff Mule or something) so that was pretty awesome.
After that, we went to the Front Door, the really loud and crowded place that’s kind of low on my Favorite Pubs in Galway list. It was so crowded that the only place we could find to stand was at the base of a stairway. A couple of us were feeling the drink by that time so we decided it was best to head home…but not before making a stop at Supermac’s which happens to be conveniently located next to the taxi depot.
Friday was also rather boring and uneventful. I contemplated doing laundry, but since it was raining outside and I’m a lazy bum, it didn’t happen. Nor did much else that day, really.
Next stop: Tipperary and the Munster Hurling Final
(Two of the many beach shots, looking out over Galway, the swans)
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