I left with just a wee backpack early on Tuesday morning, and despite having many dreams Monday night about missing buses and ending up stranded somewhere, I successfully navigated myself in a taxi to the Ballycastle bus stop, switching in Coleraine, switching in Derry, and finally onward 5.3 hours to Galway city. I think I may have spent more time on a bus this week than actually in my destination, but it was well worth it.
Galway was described to me as a charming "bohemian melting pot", which I couldn't say was false. It was an old merchant town at one point and somehow never quite lost its constant influx of international visitors. I've never seen so many foreign people in one place in Ireland before...
The first night was rather strange as I had booked a spot in an 8-bed dormer in a hostel and was the only one in the room. Lonely! I decided to get myself a coffee and a pastry, read some of my book, and call it an early night. Lucky for me, since my refreshed self was able to get myself out of bed early on Wednesday morning and walk all around the city, grab a wee cuppa, and finally give in and visit the tourist office. As much as I didn't want to do something super touristy, I decided I would see the most for the cheapest by doing an all day bus tour of Connemara...embarassing, yes, but SO worth it. The tours are normally 25 pounds, but in the off season (aka february!) it was just 7.50 to be driven around one of the most beautiful regions in Ireland for 8 hours with a knowledgeable guide. I got to see Galway, Spiddle, an abandoned famine village, Screeb, Kylemore, Leenaun, Maam's Cross, and many other breathtaking places. I think I took about 100 photos, and once again it's easier to put them all on flickr so if you're curious:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mo_chroi/
There yeh are! Some of my favourites, although, include:
Traveling alone sadly means limited pictures of myself...but I came out with two nice ones after persuading other people (all French, naturally) on my tour bus to take some of me!
More later! My break is about to end, then a couple more hours of a Belfast teenage group and I'll be off til tomorrow morning.
-Karen
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