London & Scotland

Hello! I hope you all are well! Please update me on your lives!

This past weekend we went to London and Scotland.  I had a fabulous time!  The week leading up to this trip was nothing special.  I caught up on some reading and we all got together and planned out what we were doing this weekend.  Katie and I also booked our flight to Paris and our flight home from Eindhoven, Netherlands for the weekend of Oct 29-31.  We're going to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam! So pumped :)

Thursday was Arthor's Day, founder of Guiness.  Although we didn't get to celebrate too much, I did grab a Guiness at McSwiggans before we left town.  McSwiggans was pretty poppin, but down in Eyre Square and on Shops St/Quays St, things were really going down.  Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to get lost in the massive mobs of people, but London was waiting! Our flight to London left at 6:30 am from Shannon, so we had to head to Shannon Thurs night and get a hotel room so we could be at the airport by 4 am. 

The hotel was pretty gross.  The room was for 3 people, and there were 5 of us....so Michelle and I snuck into the hotel after the other 3 had checked in.  We were supposed to have 2 beds, but the original room only had 1...so Jessica got them switched.  Our new room had two beds, and then I volunteered to push together sofa cushions and sleep on the floor.  There was dust and spiderwebs everywhere....and to top it off, there was a HUGE spider in the bath tub.  A few of the girls wanted showers, but they were too sceeved out by the spider, and wouldn't get rid of it.  So I grabbed a glass, trapped the spider, and flushed it down the toilet...well attempted too.  It didn't flush, and ended up swimming in the toilet bowl until it drowned.  Super scuzzy.  Anyways, we crashed and had a 3:25 am wake up call (how lovely).  The taxi picked us up at 3:50 from the hotel and took us to the airport.  Our flight departed at 6:30, got into London Stansted around 7:45, and we took a connecting bus to central london (Victoria Station), which got in around 9.

Here starts the London adventure!  We wandered around the station and got some breakfast and found a tourist info station where we got tickets for a Hop on Hop off bus tour for 24 pounds.  A little pricey, but worth it because we would have definitely gotten lost trying to walk, and we wouldn't have seen all that we did.  Our first stop was Buckingham Palace, which was flooded with mobs of people because we got there as the Changing of the Guards ceremony was taking place.  The guards are now behind the gate so you can't go take pictures with them anymore =(  We didn't go inside the palace, but got a good glimpse of the outside.

The next stop was at the Westminster Abbey and Parliament areas.  Big Ben was also down here too.  Parliament was beautiful!  We didn't go inside, but we did walk around the premises.  The architecture was so detailed, and the building glowed at night (as you will see in a few moments).

The next stop was Westminster Abbey, which is one of my favorite buildings I have ever been in.  It cost 12 pounds to go inside, and I was contemplating whether I should or not, but I bit the bullet and paid.  The outside is also quite beautiful, but once you go inside, you are blown away by beauty!  We weren't allowed to take pictures in the inside, so I bought a few postcards to document the trip.  They gave us individual audio guides that took you through different parts of the Abbey and gave in depth explanations.  I must admit, it held my attention, and I learned a lot.  Not only is this the royal church where cornation after cornation have taken place, but it is also the burrial grounds for many of England's kings and queens, along with famous authors and poets.

We also got a good glimpse of Big Ben here, and yes, it was everything I've ever imagined.  He was tall, very recognizable, and you could see him from many areas of the city.  And OH, I did not know this...but this area where Parliament, Westminster, and Big Ben are in the city of Westminster...the city of London is actually next door.  I thought they were all one, but nope!

We then ate lunch at the Zen Cafe along the Southbank of the River Thammes.  The London Eye was also down here, but I'll tell about that in a few :)  We hopped on the bus and headed towards the city of London and stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral.  This cathedral is very well known, and it is also another architectural beauty.  However, we had to pay to go inside the cathedral, so we didn't go.  We went in as far as the ticket booth, and it gave us enough insight to see that this was a magnificant cathedral.  The whiteness with gold trim was stunning.

After this we hopped back on the bus and saw some more of the city and its sights.  We passed many monuments, and one in particular being the monument of the Great Fire.  If the monument falls, it would point to the exact bakery shop that the Great Fire actually started.  I thought that was pretty interesting.  We also passed Tower Bridge, the most famous bridge in London.  We hopped off at the Tower of London and grabbed some ice cream from Piccadilly Whip.  Some remains of the old wall were across from us, and it looked really out of place.  We also saw a mouse running in and out of the bushes, and Michelle made quick friends with it.  We wanted to go inside the Tower of London (one of the most famous buildings on the planet, and scariest), but by the time we got there it would have closed within the hour, and it wasn't worth it to pay the 20 pounds to get in.  So we took some pictures around the outside and found a good spot along the river with a good view of the Tower Bridge to take a break.

Our next stop was Shakespear's Globe Theater.  We wanted to go in here and take a tour, but there was a show going on.  We walked around the back of the Globe and along the river before catching our next bus.

We then headed towards Trafalgar Square in the Covent Garden to see what was going on there.  We didn't have time to check out the National Gallery, and by the time we got there, it was closed anyways.  However, there was a Malaysian Festival going on in the square.  We quickly left and found a restaurant nearby called Garfunkels for dinner.  It was so cold and windy out that I didn't care where we ate, as long as it was inside.  It had also been raining off and on all day, which didn't help the cold factor.  After dinner, we headed back towards where we ate for lunch to ride the London Eye, which is the largest ferris wheel in the world.  The ride lasts for 25 minutes, and each little compartment holds 25 people.  It cost 17 pounds to ride, which was  a little steep, but I bit the bullet again and went on.  Katie, Jessica, and I went on at night, and the city was so pretty all lit up.  We saw the city from many angles, and we snapped a few good shots.

After the Eye we headed towards the bus station to catch our overnight bus to Glasgow at 11:45.  We had a fun-filled day in London, and saw many things for the short amount of time we were there.  I took Advil PM and slept through the entire bus ride to Glasgow, which arrived at 8 am.  We got off the bus and got some breakfast and explored the little city.  We saw the city hall and the city's cathedral, which was stunning, and definitely my favorite part of Glasgow.

We then went back to the bus station to catch the bus that went from Glasgow to Edinburgh, which is the capital of Scotland.  The bus ride lasted about an hour and we arrived in Edinburgh around 1 pm.  The town has two sections...New Town and Old Town.  New Town is a bit more modern and is fully loaded with shops of all sorts.  Old Town is well, older, and includes all the historical sights, such as the Castle and Palace.  The bus dropped us off in New Town and we crossed the Waverly Bridge into Old Town, where our hostel was located.  The hostel was actually in a really nice location, right on the Royal Mile, which was the stretch of road that connected the castle and palace.  Some of the girls wanted to take a nap and shower, but I wanted to get sightseeing, as there was much to see with such little time.  So I offered to split up from them and meet them later, but they ended up coming with. 

Our first stop was the Edinburgh Castle, which was located up on a hill in the center of Old Town.  The castle also offered many great views of New and Old Towns.  It was pretty cool, but not the most extravagant castle I've ever seen.  However, there was a room that housed the crown jewels of Scotland, which was quite a sight.  I can't believe how well preserved they were!  Unfortunately, the room was guarded and we couldn't take pictures of the jewels. 

Along the way we passed many old buildings and St. Gile's Cathedral.

 

After that we hit up some souvenier shops and headed towards the Holyroodhouse Palace, which is the royal residence of the Queen when she is in Scotland.  We couldn't go in because it was closed, but I did sneak some good pictures of the outside.

Right by the Holyroodhouse Palace is a giant mountain called Arthur's Seat.  You can climb this mountain and get fabulous views of the city.  We saved this to do Sunday morning.  After walking along the Royal Mile we ate at World's End, which was actually beside the hostel.  It was a quaint little restaurant and bar, and we waited at the bar for about a half hour and of course got some Bulmers (my favorite).  I got Steak & Ale pie, which was basically beef pot pie...sooo yummy!  For dessert Jess and I got a brownie and ice cream, which was in pie form.  We headed back to the hostel and got a good nights rest.

We woke up at 7:30 am and grabbed some breakfast and headed towards Arthur's Seat.  It didn't look steep from the bottom, but wow, we were decieved.  Once we got up the mountain we had some FABULOUS views of the city, bay, and mountains.  Soooo Pretty!  We stayed up there for a while and enjoyed the views before coming down.

After Arthur's Seat we headed back down and went to Waverly Station to catch a bus to the airport.  The plane departed at 1:20, and we arrived in Shannon at 2:25.  We caught a bus back to Galway, and walked through the end of the Oyster Festival (disgusting).

Edinburgh was so beautiful, and definitely my most favorite city I've been too.  I would love to go back soon! :)

Tonight is Trad on the Prom, which is a live traditional Irish music and dance show.  Ann, our coordinater, is picking us up at 8:30, so this should be a good night.  Katie and I are also making baked mac & cheese for dinner tonight.  Our Italian roommates have never had mac n cheese, so we thought we'd enlighten them.  Otherwise, not much is going on this week.  I have to catch up on some school work, so that's always fun.  Brenda's coming Friday and I'm super excited!!!  We're going to Dublin this weekend :)

I'll update soon!
LoveLoveLove,
Christy
 

Life, the Aran Islands, Connemara

Hello!  Just to warn you, this is going to be a long post because I have done many things in the past week.

Last Tuesday was societies day at school, which is basically clubs.  There was a large auditorium filled with about a 100 different societies ranging from academic to social.  I took the initiative a joined a few--International Students Society, the Business Society, Young Greens, Traditional Music Society, and I was jumped into Labor Youth, which I will most likely not be attending.  The Trad Society meets at the Crane Bar in town every Tuesday night and plays traditional Irish music.  I'm definitely looking forward to that tomorrow :)

Wednesday was clubs day, which is just sports.  I'm not very athletically inclined, but I did join the Kayak Club.  I wanted to join the mountaineering club, but hiking boots were required, and I wasn't buying a pair for just one semester.  I don't know if I'll actually go kayaking since it's so cold here, but if I do, I'm sure it will be fun.

This week wasn't too intense.  I was sick for the majority of it, so I didn't go out with Michelle and Katie when they did on Thursday.  However, we did plan a few new upcoming trips.
This upcoming weekend we are going to London/Scotland.
Oct 15-17: The Ring of Kerry and Dingle Penninsula
Oct 23-24:  Cork & The Blarney Castle with Liz (hopefully)
Oct 29-31: Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam
Nov 5-7: Belfast with the International Student Society

We were planning on going to Dublin to see MGMT on Friday, but it was sold out. TEAR ='(

Instead, we hit up some pubs in Galway with our roommates, Chiara and Margherita Friday night.  On Saturday we went to the Aran Islands, and on Sunday, Connemara.

So here begins the weekend:

Saturday: The Aran Islands
The Aran Islands are located about 10 miles off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.  There are 3 islands, and we went to the biggest one, Inis Mor.  The population of the islands is 700 people, and they have schools, homes, grocery stores, and even a nursing home.  Although they had these ammenities, it was still pretty desolate.  During the famine, many Irish peasents came to the islands to eat seaweed as their main source of food, so the story of the islands is rather depressing.

We took a bus to Rosavil, and then a ferry to the islands.  The ferry ride lasted nearly an hour, and was rather choppy.  Once we got to the islands we took a mini bus tour around the island.  Our driver's name was Thomas, and he lived on the island and spoke Gaelic.  His accent was rather rough, and he was difficult to understand, but still very insightful.  Our first stop ws Dun Aonghasa, which was a prehistoric stone fort, enclosed by three massive stone walls.  We had to climb up the mountain to get to the fort, but it was well worth it as the view of the island cliffs were astonishing.

It's hard to tell, but that's Michelle, Katie and I sitting on one of the cliffs.

Dun Aonghasa was the main 'attraction' on the cliffs, but we also visited the seven churches, which are all ruins now.

The islands were very cold and windy, but we still had a good time experiencing their ways of life.  I know I definitely could not live there!

Sunday: Cong, Connemara, Kylemore Abbey
Let me first start off by saying this was my favorite tour we have been on thus far.  We started the day by stopping at Ross Errley (spelling?) Friary, an old Fransican Monastery.  It was fabulous!  It was along an old narrow road in the middle of farmland, and we could see and explore the many rooms, even though the monastery is in ruins.

Our next stop was the village of Cong, home to the set of The Quiet Man, starring John Wayne.  I have never actually seen this movie, but apparently it's quite popular.  Thousands of fans visit this little village annually.  Here we also saw another Fransican monastery that was in ruins.

After Cong began our tour in Connemara, which is a national park of Ireland; it was so pretty!  I would love to live here (minus the desolateness), and own some sheep who just frolick through the land and cross roads, causing automobile backups--it's fabulous.  Maybe living here wouldn't practical, but I definitely wouldn't mind coming to visit more often.  I won't bother posting up 100 pictures of mountains on here, but if you would like to see them, check out my facebook album which is full of mountain ranges!  I think they're worth looking at--even in the fog and dampness they were beautiful.

In the beginning of the trip we witnessed a farmer rounding up his heard of sheep up on the mountains by border collies.  The farmer wistles or gives a command which tells the dogs what they're supposed to do.  The sheep are afraid of the dogs, so they run the opposite direction, which is the direction the the farmer would like the sheep to go.  It was rather fascinating watching the sheep being gathered together from the top of the mountain and watching them trot all the way down to the farm.  It doesn't sound fascinating, but when you watch it, it is.

We continued to drive through the endless mountain ranges, passing many gorgeous lakes and countryside.  The land here is called bog land, which has the consistency of a wet mattress.  If you aren't careful, you can actually drown in this stuff, like quicksand.  It's also acidic and theres no oxygen in it, so if you drown, you'll be preserved like a mummy!  We ended up walking in a little section, and the groud was legit bouncy, it was so strange.

Our next stop was Kylemore Abbey, which used to be a castle, but then changed hands in the 1920s.  The Benedictine order of Nuns took over, and it has been owned by them since.  It is also a boarding school for young girls in nun training.  It was stunning!

We explored the inside of the abbey as well.  On the grounds is a neo-gothic church, which is a replica from a church in England

There were also gardens on the grounds, which happens to be the largest stone walled Victorian gardens in Ireland.  They, too were quite pretty :)

After leaving the grounds of Kylemore Abbey, we stopped to take many scenery shots of the mountains.  We also saw the Quiet Man Bridge, which was part of the film.  I really need to see it!  The bridge is in the countryside and was quite quaint.

So the trip to Connemara was indeed beautiful, and if you really want to see some beautiful mountain ranges and sheep, be sure to check out my Facebook album :)

Not much is going on this week.  I need to catch up on some reading for school.  Tuesday we are going to the Crane Bar to listen to some Irish music with the Trad Society.  Thursday is Author's Day (founder of Guiness) so we will of course celebrate.  We are taking a bus Thursday night to Shannon and staying overnight because our flight to London leaves Friday morning at 6:30. 

I'll update soon!

Christy

The Cliffs of Moher

Yesterday we went to the Cliffs of Moher, which is one of the most beautiful natural areas I have ever seen.  Of course I am partial to Ricketts Glen near Scranton, PA, but these came quite close.  Regardless, I loved them and they were sooo incredibly beautiful.

We left for a tour of the Cliffs and the Burren area at 9:25.  They picked us up at Dunaras and we headed around town to pick up some fellow students.  Our first stop was Dunguaire Castle, which was home to King Guaire.  We just walked around the stone walls and looked out on the bay.

After the castle we stolled along making stops at the Ballyalban Fairy Fort.  I was soo excited, however I did not spy any leprechauns or fairies.  But we did manage to get a nice picture together in front of some lovely Irish countryside.

Eventually we then made it to the Poulnabrone Dolmen, which is an acient tomb.  It is the Burren's most iconic landmark and was constructed by Neolithic farmers approximately 5800 years ago, making it older then the Egyptian Pyramids.  Pretty impressive, I must say.  The Dolmen is located amongst the Burren which is basically a rocky range of limestone.  You'll see what I mean in a few moments.

We then made a stop at the Kilfenora Catedral, which was a 12th century cathedral.  This cathedral was home to a few old Celtic Crosses.  If you want to see pictures of these, check out my facebook album. 

Our next stop was in Doolin for lunch.  We went to Gus's O'Connors Pub for lunch.  I got chicken goujons and fries, aka chicken tenders.  SO exciting!  I've been craving them for a while.  Afterwards we went to a little homemade fudge shop next door, and of course, I bought some yummy fudge.

Finally, we were at the Cliffs of Moher.  They are located along the Atlantic Ocean on the western bay.  The water here is sooo blue--I wish it were blue back home!  We were 200-213 meters above the ocean, and if you slipped, you were a goner.  So it was quite dangerous and you had to be careful--but well worth it.  As you are going to see, it is magnificant and beautiful.  The path was pretty rigorous at times, but wellll worth the climb.  There are two areas, the actual park and then a private path.  You're not supposed to enter the private path, but everyone does, and I can see why.  That was the best view.

There were also spots where you could see different areas of the cliffs.  I believe the actual trail went 8-10 km or so, leading you to Napoleon's cave.  However, it would have taken a good 2 hours to get there, so we did not get to visit his little hideout.  There's also a little castle as you can see in the picture above--it's more of a watchtower, but its still neat.

After the Cliffs we visited more of the burren.  We also saw the Leprechaun cathedral. To see more pictures, check out my facebook!

It was a great time and I'm so glad we went!

Fun-filled Fridays!

So it's not quite Sunday, and we haven't been to the Cliffs yet (that's tomorrow!) but I thought I'd give you all a little update.

Marketing principles seems like it's going to be my most interesting class. The professor is really nice, and actually interesting to listen to. She went over the scope of the course, and many of things she went over, I already knew--from previous classes and at United Concordia.
On Thursday Dunaras (our student accomodations) hosted an international get-together. It was really nice, and really crowded--but it was good to get to know everyone.

I have off Fridays, so Katie, Jess, Jessica, Michelle, and I went shopping in Eyre Square for some boots. I did not get boots, but I got water resistent spray, and a couple cute dresses. We then went home and grabbed some pizza.

Friday night was a blast! Oh goodness. Katie and I dressed up more so then normal...so we half fit in with the Irish.  

I wore my new black dress with my grey boots and a maroon sweater with my hair in an updo. We all headed to the Square and went to Fibber Magees--home of the 2 for 5 euro cocktails :) Someone came up to me and said happy birthday, so that was quite interesting...considering it's not until March. But oh well! We then decided to leave Fibbers and walk around until we found something interesting to venture to.

It started raining so we decided to go to the Spanish Arch Restaurant. It was pretty crowded, so we went to the back and ran into our roommate Jessica (there are multiple...) and a bunch of her friends that also live in Dunaras. We didn't have seats so we were standing for a while until a few people offered to let us sit with them at their table (they had some extra room). It turns out that two were from Germany and one was from Canada. The two from Germany (Tim and Alex) have been backpacking around the WORLD for a year, and they are venturing back to Stuttgart on Sunday. The Canadian (Jason) was on vacation from work and met the Germans along the way. All three were so nice! They had a lot of stories, and now I realllllly want to go backpacking at least through Europe.

Katie and Tim became quick friends :) We got a few drinks and decided to head to Club Cuba where the rest of the international students from Dunaras were meeting up. The Germans ended up leaving =( but we still had fun.  We all danced, and they played Take it Off (one of my favs), and I actually danced with the girls...so that was pretty fun.  We stayed for a couple hours and headed out to meet some of the other international kids.  That didn't really work, so Katie, Michelle, Jess, and I took a cab back.  So Friday night was quite some fun, and I hope we all go out again soon!

Today it was kinda rainy, but we decided to go to the markets down at the city center by the old St. Nicholas's Church.  They have food/items from all over the world, and I think I'm going to end up spending a great deal of money here, especially on jewelry (and crepes).  Katie and I also cleaned our room/bathroom today.  Besides that, we pretty much vegged and then ate dinner with Jess and Michelle.

I also have some upcoming trips planned!  Brenda is coming September 30-October 11, and that will definitely be a good time.  Here's whats going on in the upcoming weeks:
Sunday September 12:  The Cliffs of Moher and the Burren
Friday September 17-18: MGMT in Dublin (hopefully! We have to register that day...)
Sunday September 19:  Connemara and Kylemore Abbey
Saturday September 25: The Aran Islands
Friday October 1-3: Dublin with Brenda
Thursday October 7-10:  Germany with Brenda (Heidelberg, Rothenburg, and Munich)

So that's whats been going on in the past few days.  I have some pictures I want to upload, but Blogger isn't letting me, so I'll try to add them another day.  For those of you with facebook, they are on there.

We're going to the Cliffs tomorrow, and I'm sure I'll have lots to talk about after our little visit there.  I'll try to update tomorrow night or Monday =)

Ta-ta for now,
Christy

Wednesday, Wednesday

So it is officially Wednesday, or rather Hump Day as many call it.  We are halfway through the week--I guess I'm more than there since I have off Fridays.

Classes are classes, of course, but here they are much different.  There are no caps, and we sit in HUGE lecture halls, and hopefully you'll get a seat.  There's also minimal class participation, so teachers ramble the whole time.  I'm not a huge participator, so this aspect is nice.

Managerial econ seems like it will be sort of fun.  It also seems a bit easy, seeing as our first lecture was about opportunity cost, and I covered that in microeconomics last year.  We also have an additional tutorial for that class where we break into smaller groups and the TA teaches us.  I bought the book for this class today at the student union's secondhand bookshop for 20 euro--I wish Duquesne had one of these!

Ireland, Europe, and the Global Economy (Global Econ, for short) also seems interesting.  But I'm into this kind of thing--Katie will beg to differ.  We showed up for class yesterday and ended up in an accounting management class.  I guess the rooms were changed, and NUI Galway failed to inform the international students.  So we trotted over to the business school and talked to the head, and we finally figured things out.  We missed the class, but met with the teacher after the lecture, and he told us to just review the slides/readings.  There is no textbook for this class--just online readings.

Econometrics is going to be a toughy--their "stats" language is so different over here then in the US.  I'm going to have to get up to speed with the lingo, or I'll fall behind.  Basically it's stats 3, but we base everything off of economic theory, and not just data alone.  We'll see how this one goes.  We also have tutorials AND labs for this class...so it's going to be pretty time consuming I think.  I bought this book off of e-Bay today, and I'm going to have my mom ship it over--so much cheaper than in the bookstore!

I have marketing at 5, and Imagining Modern Ireland doesn't start until next week.  All in all I think it will be a good semester.

Katie, Michelle, and I also tried out the gym today--it was open for all international students.  It's really nice, and I worked out on the bikes, elyptical, rowing, and arm swimming thing.  Good times, good times.

On Sunday we had a walking historical tour of Galway which included a visit to St. Nicholas's Church, built in the 1400's.  It was pretty nice, and an interesting little tour.  Outside of the church is a street market that runs Saturday and Sunday--we're heading down there this Saturday to scope it out.

On Monday, the girls and I went down to the Quays Street pub.  It was so cute!  It's built from an old church, and they have live traditional Irish music.  The band also played Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show, which made me insanely happy.  I had some ciders and a Guiness, and it was a good time!  Katie and I caught a cab back to the apt because the busses stop running at 10:50 (little did we know).

I have some classes tomorrow, and then I'm off Friday.  Sunday we have a tour to the Cliffs of Moher scheduled, and I'm quite excited to see it!

Peace & Love
Christy

Salthill

Hello! Lucky ducks, you all get two posts in a row! I'm sure this will be infrequent once school starts and we start traveling.

Yesterday was very fun!  We all went to Salthill which is about a 25 minute walk from our apartment.  It's beautiful!  We waded in the ocean (freeeeezing!) and sat on the beach.  Then we strolled along the coast and got some ice cream.  There is also an aquarium and famine memorial at Salthill, but we didn't go to those yet.  We thought we'd save them for another time.

The very beautiful coast =)

These are all international students that are in Dunaras with Katie and I. Sooo nice.

After Salthill, Katie and I hosted dinner in our apartment.  Michelle (from Illinois), Jess (Canada), Jessica (California), and Maeve (Boston) all came over for dinner.  Katie and I supplied drinks, salad, and fruit salad.  The others brought yummy pasta.  It was a nice little family din din.

I also finally took pictures of our apartment.  It's really actually quite nice.  Katie and I share a room, and it's pretty big.  We also have our own bathroom.  Chiara and Margherita (our roommates from Italy) share a room right across from ours.  There is also a single downstairs, and a girl from New York, Jessica, has that one.  The living area/kitchen is also downstairs.  Here's a little tour!

This is my side.  Of course I have tie dye sheets, and a ton of pictures!  Katie and I also share a long desk, but it's nice because we each have tons of room!  I also have a large closet and storage below my bed.

This is our living room.  The dining room is in front of it, and that is connected to the kitchen.  It's basically all one area.

This is the kitchen.  It's pretty nice.  However, the fridge/freezer are wayyy too small for 5 people. 

We also have a nice little balcony.  Our apartment is in the international section, so we're with people from all over. It's really fun, and I'm having a blast with everyone!

Today we are meeting at the university and going on a walking tour of Galway.  We're going to learn about some history and visit the olddd St. Nicholas's Cathedral.  It should be a good time.

Update soon! <333

Christy

First Week

Hello all!

So the first week has gone by, and it has been quite hectic, yet enjoyable.  We've been roaming around town, and it is beauitful! Love it!  We've seen St. Nicholas's Cathedral, the Spanish Arch, the town, and NUI Galway, amongst many other things.  We had orientation and Katie and I found out our schedules for the semester.  Here is mine below:
Monday
Managerial Econ 9-10
Global Econ 10-11
Global Econ 2-3
Tuesday
Managerial Econ 3-4
Global Econ 4-5
Wednesday
Econometrics 9-11
Imagining Modern Ireland 11-1
Marketing Principles 5-6
Thursday
Econometrics 11-12
Marketing Principles 2-3
Managerial Econ 3-4
Friday
OFF!!!

Katie and I both have Fridays off, and we are quite excited about that.  We plan to travel a lot.  Oktoberfest in Germany, London, Brussels, Italy, to name a few.

We also finally have our real apartment.  Such a struggle to move our luggage back and forth.  Ridiculous!  But we are here, and finally settled.  I'll post some pics of it once everything is organized and ready.  We have two suitemates who are from Italy, and then another suitemate from New York.  They are all so nice =) 

I have also unpacked all my clothes and ironed them.  They got all wrinkled because I put them in space-vaccuum bags.  Oh well.

Here's a picture from the plane going over Ireland

Katie & I in front of the River Corrib

 NUI Galway--our University =)

City Streets and people!

I'll upload more later, or check out my facebook!
Love Love, Christy