To the mystical isle of green, to Ireland

To the land of the green men and fairies, to the land with an unending supply of places to go for a good pint, to the land of the picturesque rolling hills dotted with sheep pastures, to the land where people respect the enjoyment of life above all, to Ireland.  That's right, with my sister being completely bogged down by work in the land of Copenhagen, I decided to see some more of the world and with a longtime desire to see Ireland within my Irish bones I jetted off to the mystical isle of green. I think I'm getting much better at this, you have to fail miserably the first time of course to learn in regards to traveling. I was surprised mostly by the gumption of myself to want to do more jet setting after the trauma that trying to navigate or survive really when my sister and I first touched down in Denmark.  However, you must get back up on that horse no matter how terrified you are or else it will haunt you your entire life and most probably steer you away from incredible life opportunities, which is certainly the case that I found in Ireland, seriously though, I am already planning my next visit back to the mystical place, back to Ireland.  Alright enough already, show the damn pictures right? Ok, so I flew into Dublin on a Monday and took the bus from there to Galway.  For those of you who are planning a trip to Ireland, if you don't have the age or means to rent a car I would suggest using the bus system, it's brilliant. I used City Link.  As I left Dublin which is the biggest city in Ireland and said goodbye to the industrial way I was met by something very familiar.  On the bus ride to Galway I had to constantly remind myself I'm in Ireland, not Michigan, the similarity is eerie, the rolling hills and green fields.  After the trauma that was left from Copenhagen, I didn't really know what to expect, but damn am I glad I didn't back down.  The first massive difference other then the amount of greenery and nature that was readily available  was the people.  The danes are incredibly reserved quiet people, which to some makes them seem standoffish and scarily unapproachable, but the Irish, they have a vigor for life that pours out of them. They are the kindest, warmest group of people I've ever met, they have no regard for looks or superficial things, they just are there to enjoy life to the fullest.  It was a culture shock, Copenhagen had hardened me, Ireland reminded me about the beauty of life, that I will carry with me forever.   Alright so after being greeted by more incredibly nice people at the hostel and getting situated there I decided to stroll the streets of Galway.  Galway is a small city, some residents say it deserves town status though and is actually smaller than Traverse City, for those of you in Michigan, with a population around 70,000.  In Galway, using typical Irish humor, all the streets lead back to one another and there is a High Street, Middle Street and Low street, incase you ever feel lost, but you shouldn't, Galway is pretty easy to navigate and you can easily walk around the main city area in probably less then 30 minutes.  Although this is inconsequential to other things in Ireland, if you have gluten and other allergies or are vegetarian or vegan have no fear going to Galway.  Being stonewalled by lack of allergy items in Copenhagen I did a little research before going to Ireland and found several places to go. One of them was Food 4 Thought and I highly recommend it.  I had a gluten free vegetarian Shepard's pie(quite the contradiction,right?).  I think because Ireland is an island they are much more aware of their exports and imports, so they in turn are also much more aware of using locally sourced/sustainable produce and products, I love it!  After gorging myself on a delicious Shepard's pie, I stumbled around the city at night, which is when it really comes alive. After meandering for a bit, I headed back to the hostel, which is also brilliant, Sleepzone for reference and tried to get some z's, but was too excited for what adventures were about to unfold. On the next day, after making some tea and toast, I eagerly headed out to Galway and spent the entire day exploring the place and trying to figure it out.  Along the exploration I stopped at some of the historic places like the Spanish Arch, St. Nicholas' Church and the brilliant Galway Cathedral.

St. Nicholas Church inside

St. Nicholas Church

St. Nicholas Church-Noitce the massive organ pipes on the left.  When I went in here I was lucky enough to be serenaded by the organist. It was super beautiful and haunting as the organist played and the music bounced off the old stone walls

St. Nicholas Church

Outside of St. Nicholas Church

Claddagh Bay on a rainy day

The Spanish Arch

Typical street in Galway City Center

Walking along the Corrib river

Along the Corrib River

Outside of the Galway Cathedral

Inside Galway Cathedral

Inside Galway Cathedral and on your right is the tree of the departed, which holds Grandma Peg's name

Look at those pipes!

They all love the high ceilings

If you go to Ireland and don't at some point go to a pub, you're missing a pretty big chunk of the Irish experience, so I found myself sipping a glass of a locally brewed hard cider called Bulmers at The Quays(pronounced keys), which as you can guess by now, was absolutely delicious.  I realize I may have looked like a sad mess in the making, sitting alone at the bar with a pint of an alcoholic beverage in front of me, so the incredibly kind bartenders kept me company as I told them of my adventures and they told me of theirs.  Having signed up for a tour the next day, I retired early and eagerly awaited more of this place that I had already so deeply fallen for. If you once again don't have the age to rent a car and explore on your own, I would also recommend taking a tour, I used the Galway Tour Company and went on a tour called Connemara. Connemara is a massive National Park in Ireland that houses many great hiking hills and absolutely stunning scenery including the Twelve Bens among other hill ranges.  However, this tour was much broader than just Connemara and encompassed other highlights like the ruins of a friary, the city of Cong, and the absolutely stunning Kylemore Abbey.  There are not enough words in the dictionary to describe how amazing and beautiful this tour was, rolling hills, stone ruins, Lakes surrounded my massive towering rugged hills, one of only few natural Fjords in the world, bogs, valleys and so much more.  I am bottling this journey and keeping it with me forever.   I think the highlight for me was seeing Lake Lafooey(which with enough altitude is a map of Ireland) and Kylemore Abbey.  Kylemore Abbey is tragic love tale.  A couple with great wealth built this massive expanse and lived there happily with their nine kids for many years, but the wife tragically died and the husband then built a Cathedral to house her body, which ended up bankrupting him. The place was left abandoned for many years and the next occupants were nuns that brought it back to its original splendor and housed young troubled women of Europe.  However, the war and air raids forced them to leave and the place was once again left in shambles only to become a boarding school and then recently privately owned in 2010.  This place is so beautiful tucked in-between  hills, on a lake and with great hiking trails and huge garden that the original owner's wife had cared for tenderly.  After exploring this magical place and having a great soup with some "can't believe this is gluten free bread" it was sadly time to head back to the bus. 

Outside of the old friary

All that remains inside

Inside the friary

Inside of the friary

Outside of the friary

City of Cong

River that passes through City Cong

Lake Lafooey, the lake looks like a map of Ireland with enough altitude, right now this is the bottom of Ireland .

Hills near Lake Lafooey

Now it's starting to look more like Ireland

Ireland, land of the sheep

Killary Fjord

Fairy tree by Killary Fjord.  The thing about the fairy tree/wishing tree is that you can only make wishes for other people and you must give an offering of something, typically cloth.

Picture perfect Kylemore Abbey

View from balcony at Kylemore Abbey

Cathedral the owner built for his wife

Inside the cathedral

Outside view of cathedral

Part of Kylemore Abbey

The walled gardens

 On the way back to Galway we took a route through the Inagh Valley and stopped at several sights along the way, like a humorous statue and one of the last remaining traditional Irish cottages. An interesting fact about the cottages, back in the day to make more money off of the cottages the landlord introduced a "sunlight tax," which was really paying for the sunlight that passed through your windows.  To avoid this tax the renters plastered the windows and cut the doors in half, so no sunlight would come through.

An interesting statue we passed on our way back to Galway, yes he is scratching his bum, on the back it says "on this site in 1897 nothing happened," a little Irish humor for yah

Typical Irish cottage

So, after a brilliant route with a great guide named PJ, I once again hit up the Quay's for another pint of Bulmer's and a great soccer match of Ireland verses Greece.

 Ireland is a place deeply intertwined in it's history and it was pretty dark history, but the people there today don't forget that and I think that's what makes them appreciate life a whole hell of a lot more, they know how precious it is, so live it happy and with others.  I also walked along the Prom, which is a nice little trail that runs along Claddagh Bay and out onto the coast.  

Claddagh Bay on a sunny day!

The Prom

Galway Causeway

On the Causeway

View from the Causeway

On the Prom

The Irish really love their dogs!

On the Prom

Claddagh Bay

Claddagh Bay

It's a Hooker! No, not that type, this special type of boat native to Galway is called a Hooker

Claddagh Bay at sunset

Corrib River

Claddagh Bay

Let the night begin!

 Another highlight was the next morning, Thursday, last full day(sob), was going for an early morning run along the Prom and watching as the mist rolled over the mountains and as this mystical, magical world around me began to stir and awaken.  Another tidbit, if you plan on going to ireland in the fall or really anytime for that matter, bring a nice pair of rain-boots or a pair of shoes that are water proof and a rain jacket, it rains quite a bit here.  After a splendid run, I once again pounded the Galway streets for more local adventure.  Going out with a bang, I had dinner at a great little place called High Street Cafe, and once again found myself at the same corner of the bar with a pint of Bulmer's at the Quay's.  Another interesting fact of Ireland: when walking anywhere in Ireland you may get an odd whiff of something burning, have no fear it is most likely turf.  In the cooler winter months Ireland burns turf or peat for several reasons; several hundred years ago the British almost entirely deforested Ireland, which led the land that receives lots of water to hold more water, thus forming peat or turf bogs.  You cut the bogs, let the turf dry and it dries out to almost look like a wooden log and then burn it just like you would timber logs.  Additionally, the first language of most irish is English, unless you venture out into the countryside you'll be meet by Gaelic, which is technically the official first language of Ireland.  I highly recommend going if you haven't already and hopefully I inspired some of you to finally go, go do it! Life is short and if I learned anything from the Irish, it's that life must be enjoyed to the fullest, with the ones you love, and of course over a good pint.  Ireland we will meet again, of that I can assure you.