LONG but worth the read --- of course I would think that so read it and then you be the judge - :)
There's no feeling quite so wonderful as getting back to the Tube, knowing you'll be home soon, after a long day of traveling. Yet there might not a be a more wonderful feeling than knowing you were in IRELAND on ST. PATRICK'S DAY!
Yes this post, as promised, is dedicated to my SPD (St. Patrick's Day) 2012 weekend in GALWAY, IRELAND <3
Perhaps the best way to some up my weekend in Galway is: it was AMAZING and I'm so happy and grateful I got to spend it with Laura and Hanna (a great friend of mine from SBA who Laura and I stayed with).
So let me start the story of SPD weekend GALWAY 2012:
Friday: Friday morning, after a great night sleep, Laura and I woke up at 6:45 and our weekend journey officially commenced. After she got a coffee from Starbucks and I got a free coffee Cafe Nero we jumped on the district line and got off at Earl's Court where we'd be catching a bus to Gatwick Airport. We got to Earl's Court around 8 for a 9:15 bus (yes, I was a little too eager). I think Laura was upset because she could have slept more but we agreed it was better to be an hour early then having to rush and barely making it! Plus, our luck, if we would have waited something would have inevitably happened to the Circle or District lines.
So with some time to spare we stopped and took pictures in front of a HUGE Hunger Games sign. We are so excited for it to come out this coming weekend! We love the books (finishing the second today and hopefully reading the third this week). After the photo shoot we started to walk to the bus stop. Being an hour early actually turned out to be a good thing because we spent 25 mins trying to locate the bus stop from the map we had. We finally found the bus stop and still had 20 mins to kill so we got coffee.
At 9:15 on the dot (a really small) easy bus (more like a van) rolled up. We hopped on and were on the road to Gatwick airport. Laura feel asleep and I read and listened to music to pass the time. After about an hour we arrived in Gatwick, got our boarding passes stamped (we had checked-in online ahead of time), and made our way to security. We got nervous because it was pushing 10:30 and security looked reallly busy. We knew our gates closed at 11:30 so we picked to jump into a short(er) line of young people to join in the hopes of getting through faster. We were correct. We made it through quickly, even with Laura being stopped and body checked (she says it happens to her every time) and I had to chuckle slightly; I was allowed through no problem. We went to the lounge area and found our gate and realized we had some time to grab food. We headed to our gate right when it was announced and even at that we still waited in a huge line. After a little more waiting (and some reading) we boarded the plane and were off to Ireland.
After only an hour of flight time we touched down at Shannon Airport. We were welcomed by rain (of course) but we didn't care we were so excited! Getting through customs was the easiest customs experience we've ever had. No questions, just a stamp of the passport.
We then had to find the right bus to Galway. We got money and bought our tickets and waited about ten mins for the bus to come. Right when the bus pulled up in started to rain hard and there was just enough room on the bus for everyone in line (so we were lucky). Another two hours on the bus and we FINALLY made it to Galway at 4 pm; welcomed by the lovely Hanna Beck! On the bus ride it had stopped raining so we were able to get some great pictures of the country side.
Ireland :)
Hanna took us back to Niland House where we dropped off our stuff and then we went on a tour around Galway. We were looking for a place to eat when Hanna mentioned a favorite tea shop of hers and all Laura and I needed to hear was "tea shop" and we were on our way there. The place was called "Cupan Tae" (Cup of Tea in Gaelic). It was a lovely place; what one expects of a tea shop in Ireland. We got a pot of Galway Cream tea - it was the best tea I have ever had....hopefully Hanna can bring some home. We got to chit-chatting and catching up and shared stories when a nice older gentleman sat next to us. And so started our encounter with a Mr. John Mahoney. He is a native of Cork but has resided in Galwayhaha. Mr. Mahoney was eager to hear about my family and I told him what I knew and he said "I was a pretty Irish Lassie" and that Laura and Hanna were pretty too. Straight out of a movie.
After some more chatting Mr. Mahoney went home promising he'd see us at the parade on Saturday. Hanna, Laura, and I stayed a little longer and til we were forced out because the shop was closing.
With the last traces of sunlight we decided to go to the famous bay and take some photos.
It was wonderful to see the iconic houses and get some great photos!
Laura and I at Galway Bay!
Hanna and I at Galway Bay!
Next we toured around Shop street and checked out some pubs we hoped to stop by that night (though we knew it would there would be soo many people out). As it was getting dark we went to the mall area and stopped by Penney's (owned by the same company as Primark in London) where Laura and Hanna got green shirts for Saturday - cuz they didn't have any....shocking but true. I bought a green shirt as well (though I already had a SPD outfit planned) and I got a new pair of black flats :) We did some food shopping and made our way back to Niland house where we met some of Hanna roommates and friends. The three of us made tuna and cheese for dinner and were soon getting ready for the night. After some fun in Niland house we headed to the pubs Erin, Jule, and other Galway vets told me we had to go to. We went to a place called The Front Door but the line was OUT the front door and all the way down the block so, unfortunately, we couldn't get in there. Instead we went to Hole in the Wall where we got some Guinness' and Bulmers and
Baby Guinness' (aka the best shot ever). After some dancing we decided to go to the next place. We stopped by the King's Head just to see it and then made our way to The Quays. It was EXTREMELY crowed but we made our way to an open area on the balcony overlooking the huge crowd of happy people. We each got one more Guinness and wound up talking to some local Irish guys and it was a lot of fun. We decided to call it a night knowing we'd have to be up the next morning for Mass and the parade. I was very happy that even though we had been in Galway, for real, for maybe 6 hours we basically got to see the whole city and experience the night life, even it was crazier than normal because of the holiday.
Saturday: ST. PATRICK'S DAY 2012 :) We all slept in til about 9:30 and missed the morning Masses but decided we'd go at night. After some breakfast of cereal and tea we got ourselves ready for the once-in-a-lifetime kind of day ahead of us. Decked out in our green with flag tattoos (washable) and shamrock hair clips we made our way to shop street for the parade at 11:30. Before we left we actually got to see a part of the parade (this huge dragon design with a band) pass by Niland House.
Ready for SPD :) The parade going down Merchant Street.
We stood with Hanna's friend and, unfortunately, some very obnoxious (already very drunk) American students stood behind us, and where did they go to school you might ask, yep good old SJU. We tried to distance ourselves from them and heard some of the locals making comments finding the "young yanks" funny but also annoying. Hawkward. But happiness came when the parade procession got to us at around 12. But this was no St. Patrick's Day parade we were use to. There were only 5 bagpipe players in the whole parade and we didn't see a single Irish dancer. Instead we saw many references to snakes (which made sense because St. Patrick drove the "snakes" out of Ireland aka the pagans/pagan religions - St. Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland) and some things we didn't expect to see. For instance a whole "act" of the parade was dedicated to a convoy of HUGE John Deere tractors (while the Irish are and have been a farming people it was still really odd to see). We also saw two young boys, clearly advertising their karate school, literally full out fighting/wrestling on the back on a moving truck....the padded mat next to them NOT under them --- crazy. After seeing a branch of NYPD and the Massachusetts Police Departments we decided to head back to get warm because it had started to rain a little bit and we were feeling a little (okay a LOT) frozen.
We drank some much needed tea and then headed to the Charcoal Grill (a great burger place Hanna suggested for lunch). We got lamb burgers and it was so so so delicious. There's wasn't much left to do besides walk around Galway and take it all in.
Surprisingly more places were open then we though would be and we did some souvenir shopping. We also walked around the little market. I got a nice Celtic knot ring that only cost 4 Euro cuz (get this) it is actually meant to be a toe ring but since my fingers are so small it fits PERFECTLY on my pinkie finger. Laura and Hanna found this to be the funniest thing ever.
As we were walking down the center of shop street I spotted McDonald's and right then Laura and I (at the same time) said 2 words: "Shamrock Shakes." Having been deprived of them in London we were sure the Galway McDonald's would satisfy this SPD necessity.
We were let down though when we got to the counter and found out they were sold out (it wasn't all that surprising - it was SPD after all). But I was determined. Quick on my feet, I conjured up the saddest Irish eyes I could muster and said "oh gosh really, darn" with an exaggerated sigh. And by a miracle that no one other than St. Patrick himself could allow to occur the manager saw me and said, "Well wait. Let me check and see, there might be just enough syrup left. How many do want and what size?' "Two. Small." I kept it short and sweet (only Laura and I got wanted one). And as our Irish luck would have it they were able to make up two small Shamrock shakes for us. We got the last two Shamrock Shakes in Galway on SPD!! :)
The Luck of the Irish.
Along our travels we also saw this amazing street act in which two Jamaican guys drop through hoops and over and above each other and went under a limbo of fire. So neat. We were pretty exhausted after so we decided to go back to Hanna's apartment and rest up. But we were soon out again to watch the beginning of the rugby game: England vs. Ireland. We knew it would be something we did not want to miss. We watched the beginning at a pub called Gravey's. We left when the score was 9-3 England to head to mass at the Cathedral at 6 pm. The Cathedral was beautiful and it was really nice to hear part of the Mass in Gaelic.
After mass we returned to Niland House and had pasta for dinner and hung out with Charlie, Siobhan, and Ted. Charlie and Laura bonded over both being from Minnesota. Sadly we found out England had won the England-Ireland Rugby game. We all had a great time chatting about life and, particularly, life abroad. Soon enough it was time to go out for some the night of the weekend. We decided to go to Taaffe's a pub near by where we knew we could listen to some traditional Irish music.
Now when I say Taaffe's was INSANELY crowd I mean Taaffe's appeared to be more like a human amoeba - a whole organism moving as one, yet at some points Laura and I were assured we would be crushed by the crowds and have a Guinness (or two) spilled all over us. We watched it happen to several people.
We met Fin, one of Ted's Irish friends. At some point we were able to commandeer the table in the corner and stayed there for the rest of the night. It was absolutely wonderful....hanging out with our new friends, listening to banjo and accordion, dancing along, and taking in the fact that, yes, we were in Ireland during St. Patrick's Day, complete with a Guinness in hand. I couldn't think of a more perfect way to end our weekend. On our way home I even decided to dance in the streets. haha. It was a lot of fun. Also, Hanna struck Irish gold! Hanna collects coins people drop (smart girl). Well SPD night she made a personal record - she made 7 Euro and some chain - crazy!!! We got home around midnight to get sleep.
Hanna, Charlie and Laura (mix-match Minnesota kids) and I ready for SPD night :)
Laura and I at Taaffe's
Dancing in the Streets of Galway :)
Hanna and I Sunday morning waiting for the bus :) love my VP :)
Sunday: Sadly, sadly, Sunday marked the end of our Galway weekend, Laura and I were up bright and early at 6:45 AM getting ready. Hanna was a gem (or should I say true German mom) and made us sandwiches to go for our journey. Laura and I caught the 8:05 bus from Galway to Shannon airport and got to see the last of the Irish country side on a beautiful sunny, Sunday morning. Soon we were at Shannon and read and waited for our flight. The one hour flight to Gatwick was smooth and on it we prepared ourselves for the intensity and time we thought we would experience getting back into the UK at customs. But something magical happened. After we got off the plane we headed to non UK and EU customs line. As we approached the line we were asked if we had just come from Shannon (Ireland) and we said yes and were directed to a single line all the way at the end of the customs area. We feared something went wrong. We soon realized quite the opposite. We handed our boarding passes to a man waiting at the counter and that was it. No questions, no passport stamp, no nothing. We were home free and could not believe it. Right after I vaguely remembered that the UK-Ireland have a policy that once your checked out of the Republic of Ireland you don't have to be re stamped going back into London or the UK. Whatever the fine reasoning all is we knew is that it was the best customs experience of our lives and we were so happy. We exchanged our money, sadly, back to pounds and because we now we were so ahead of the game we caught an easy jet bus an hour earlier then we thought we would. After getting to the center of London we were forced to take another bus because of tube closures. We took the bus to Marble Arch and then, finally, we were on the tube and got off at Notting Hill Gate - home. So our 8 hour travel journey home (from 8 am to 4 pm -figuring travel time, wait time, and lag time) went like this: 2 hour bus ride, 1 hour plane ride, 1 hour bus ride, and another 1 hour journey via London bus and Tube). We were so happy to be home because we were so tried. I was able to save money in topping up my student Oyster pass so that was nice.
After such a long travel day Laura and I felt entitled to pizza from Domino's (plus we were craving it). So we spilt a medium pizza and just relaxed. Laura did some homework and skyped her family and I skyped my parents. I wished my Mom a happy Mother's Day because yesterday, March 18th, is Mother's Day (or Mum or Mam's Day) in Ireland and the UK.
I am so grateful to Hanna for letting us spend SPD weekend with her. I know I will never have another experience like it :)
Monday: Today I typed this blog, which has taken a while. I also wrote and sent some postcards! I will spend the rest of the day reading for my London in Literature class tomorrow and doing research for my paper due Thursday in my Growth Class. And I hope to finish the second book of The Hunger Games. Ag and Theresa (friends from SBA and SJU studying in Rome) come into town tomorrow so that should be a fun few days.
Hoped you all enjoyed this blog and had a great St. Patrick's Day 2012.
CHEERS,
MK
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