'Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue, So I took her hand and I gave her a twirl, And I lost my heart to a Galway girl.

This weekend we decided we wanted to head over to Galway since we never actually made it there last week.

Our original plan was to rent a car and drive, mainly for the sheer adventure of it. Of course, no car company in their right mind would actually rent a car to a bunch of 21 year-old American tourists so we were forced to go with Plan B and take a bus instead. (Much less fun!!)

When we got there we took an hour bus tour of Galway- because the three hours we’d just spent on a bus from Dublin apparently wasn’t enough for us! Hehe.

Eyre Park- the center of Galway City.

The tour was okay but Galway isn’t that big to begin with so it’s not like there was a whole lot to see. We stopped at Galway Bay and got some coffee and then just saw some various sights throughout the city.

One of the many cathedrals in Galway.

Mainly cathedrals and a couple college campuses they have there.

"St. Mary's College"- An all boys secondary school... freaking huge!

Originally the reason we wanted to go to Galway this weekend was because we wanted to go to an event in Sligo this morning. Sligo is about two hours from Galway though so we really needed a car in order to get there- hence the real reason we wanted to drive. Apparently the Irish Cancer Society was having an event where they were trying to make a world record for the most women skinning dipping in the ocean! I think their goal was 300 and it was called “A Dip in The Nip.” So we were going to go to support that organization but like I said we didn’t really have a way to get there. Honestly, I was kind of glad! Because although I would have done it I was with four girls that basically disappear when they turn sideways so I’m definitely the “fluffy” one of the group and would have felt majorly self-conscious. But it would have made one hell of a story! Hehe.

Since we knew we wouldn’t be able to make it to Sligo this morning we figured there was really no reason to stay overnight in Galway because there wasn’t anything we were going to do there during the day today.

Galway Bay

We found out the bus that runs to Dublin runs every hour starting at midnight so somehow we decided it would be better to just take a 3 or 4am bus home after we were done in Galway instead of wasting time and money on a hostel. This would have been a great plan if we had actually planned ahead… but as you may have guessed, very little planning went into this trip! So we got to Galway and decided we weren’t going to stay the night yet everyone had a duffel or backpack so that complicated things a bit. We grabbed some dinner and then went to a pub that we thought looked good and we were able to get a corner booth and stuff our bags back there.

It was still really early though at this point- only about 7pm. But we hung out there for a while and had some drinks and eventually the place got busier and we were able to mingle with some other people. We met one group that was there for their friend’s birthday and we talked to them for a while. Ellie and I talked mostly to Connor, who was the birthday boy, and his friend Kyle who was adorable. At some point in the night they left though and I joined Jahna in talking with this guy Paul.

Well Paul decided that he really wanted to go dancing and he wanted us to go to a nightclub with him (even though I repeatedly told him I don’t dance! Haha). Jahna and I kept trying to explain that we had all are bags so it wouldn’t really work. So he suggested putting our bags in his car while we went to the club. Okay, can you say shady!?

At the end of the night in Galway as we get our things from Paul's car! haha

Well Jahna decides that’s a great idea but only if we can keep his car keys for the night to ensure the safety of our things! She’s a smart gal!

So the five of us that went to Galway put our stuff in Paul’s car and then went to a local nightclub- Central Park I think was the name, or “CP” as they called it. Haha. We actually had a pretty good time there and I even danced! Shocking, I know! I think as long as the place is dark, really crowded, and I’m with friends then I actually don’t mind dancing because I feel a little less self-conscious about it. I think it’s more when we’re just hanging out in a bar and there’s only a little bit of dancing going on where I feel really uncomfortable!

Claddaugh (like the ring!)- an area by Galway Bay close to the center of Galway City.

I’m constantly reminded while in Ireland what a small country it is. While we were at the nightclub we ran into the first group of guys from the other bar- the one with Connor and Kyle. This was cool at first because we’d had a good time at the first pub. But… have you ever had one of those moments where you think you really want something until you have it and then you realize it’s not what you wanted at all? That’s the moment I had last night. I was dancing with all my friends and we were having a great time, and then I started dancing with Kyle and realized that while he seemed really cool at the pub and I wanted to hang out with him more once I had that opportunity I realized it’s not what I wanted at all. Does that make sense?

Well anyway, we didn’t stay at the club very long and then we went to Paul’s car and got our stuff. He stayed at the club so we just got our stuff from his car and left the keys in the front seat for him! Haha. We had some time to grab some food then- greasy fast food is always the best when sobering up! Then we took a 3:45am bus back to Dublin.

The bus ride back was actually great, I basically fell asleep the minute I sat down and when I woke up it was suddenly three hours later and we were in Dublin. We caught a cab ride back home (the buses weren’t even running yet) and then I collapsed in my bed and got some more sleep. I could probably easily still be sleeping right now but I purposely made myself get up after a couple hours or I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. I’m hoping I still will be able to!

The Galway group in front of Galway Bay (L-R: Ellie, Me, Kelsie, Jahna, Lindsay)

Well for a weekend that basically had no pre-planning into it, it actually turned out to be a pretty great “day” trip to Galway. Before we left for Galway yesterday morning we were standing at the elevators with all our stuff and Kelsey just turns to everyone and says, “Guys, what are we even doing?!” We all had to laugh because we realized at that moment we really did have no concrete plan. But I guess sometimes those spur-of-the-moment decisions make for the best times!

written by

kmr788 on June 21, 2009 from Galway, Ireland

from the travel blog: Dublin, Ireland

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terrific!

written by caradaniel@aol.com on January 30, 2010

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