My alarm clock turned into Satan when I had to get up amidst the jet lag. Our CEA group met too early in the morning outside the accommodations to meet Brian, our site director. He took us to the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG)’s new Engineering Building for introductions and a quick power point on Irish culture and pointers. We took a tour of our beautiful campus and walked to the International Summer Program Office located in a gorgeous building called the Quadrangle. The Quadrangle building was supposed to be built in the University of Belfast located in North Ireland, however, the building blueprints were switched! Fun Facts. We walked past the student union, the concourse, the gym, and the library; I don’t know why I expected it to look so different than the colleges in America, but it looked almost like a green Auburn University!
After our campus tour, we walked to the center of town through the scenic route. The walk had so many stunning bridges, rivers, plants and flowers. We saw kayaks and people fishing; not to mention it was one of the most incredible days, so sunny and warm (for Ireland). We all had lunch at Finnegan’s. This quaint restaurant was built in 1589 and is a part of Historic Galway. The restaurant delivered large portions promptly and at a reasonable price. I ate Goujons, which are similar to chicken fingers but have more the appearance of mozzarella sticks, with a delicious garlic sauce. Our conversation with Brian consisted mostly of sports and eateries in Galway.
After lunch, the group split up; we walked around shopping for clothes, shoes, and jewelry. In the middle of our power shopping session we met the other half of the group at the Townhouse Bar for a Blue Moon; we then separated once again for additional shopping. I found the love of my life in a store called Zerep. Zerep was having a closeout sale…and there they were, my 115 euro orange high-heels marked down to 20 euro. SOLD!! …to the best home, mine! After we became pooped from shopping we decided to walk down to the Spanish Arch. The name and hype was a little deceiving; it is a fairly normal looking arch by the river but is a critical part of the city. Spanish Arch was built in 1584 and wraps around the city; over time buildings have been built around this wall. It was cool to know that a wall that looked completely blended with the town was hand built almost two-hundred years before our country’s founding.
For dinner we went back to the accommodations and made pizza before going out. Most of the CEA students were in search for the cheapest bar; we found a great spot. The Hole in the Wall has 2 euro bottled beer (mostly from Mexico ~ kind of like Corona)! I got this delicious Irish Cider entitled Bulmer’s ; we made some new Irish friends. We joked and bonded over our different accents and phrases. We got to know Luke and Furgal and hung out with them the whole night, at least while they were buying our drinks. When the Hole in the Wall closed around midnight we went to the nightclub called The Front Door. It was very busy for a Monday night; the club was playing great DJ music. There was not much dancing but it ended up being a good time. It was a long walk back to the apartments but it was very nice to go straight to bed.
