This week is my last week learning from him because he is going out of town for 4-5 weeks. His leave is unexpected and was not really in the plan, but there is no way around it. I am soaking up all I can from him this week (because he's "brilliant" of course), but also looking forward to my independence. Continuing my project alone will teach me self sufficiency in the lab. I am wrapping up learning the techniques and thawed some A172 cells on Friday. Hopefully tomorrow when I go in after the weekend, these cells will be alive (because they are what my portion of the research will be on).
Besides that, my computer charger broke on Wednesday(thanks Best Buy). Best Buy apparently gave me an adapter plug that the Mac just doesn't need. No worries though, I have replaced it and have an Irish plug now : )
And.. drum roll for the weekend.............
I started the weekend not knowing much about Galway. It's one of Ireland's other "cities" on the West Coast.
Friday:
We took off on a bus from Dublin to Galway around 7 pm and arrived by 9:30pm. I sat next to Melike and learned a little bit about Turkey. I also read about 100 pages of the book Cutting For Stone (thanks Mrs. Miriam) and have found it hard to put down.
It was still light outside when we arrived so we easily found our hostel which was about a 3 minute walk from the bus stop.
There were 6 of us in one room with an en suite bath. The room smelled delicious although I am well aware that it was deliberately chosen to mask whatever other smells were left behind by previous travelers.
After unpacking a few things from our back packs we freshened up to go check out Galway's famous night life.
We were met with a smaller version of Grafton street in which no cars could drive on but was lined with Pub after Pub as well as other small cafes and such (pictures to come).
Because we had an early dinner before the bus ride, we all couldn't help but stop at The Fritz (I think thats the name?). It was one of the only food places open, and it had a sign that read famous fish and chips. There, I got my first taste of real fish and chips. Caroline and I split a plate because it came with two whole fried fish and french fries and it was quickly consumed.
On we went down this Grafton-wanna be-street to a pub called The Kings Head. There was live music and you wouldn't believe the number of bachlor and bachlorette parties there. I learned that in Canada, these parties are called Hen parties (for bachelorettes) or Stag parties for bachelors, as well as Jack and Jill parties, and Doe parties. We made some friends with some of the groups and before we knew it we were singing along to Kings of Leon (which the Irish seem to really adore).
After a while, the crowd began to switch from a young crowd to a middle aged crowd, so we called it a night and headed back to the hostel.
Saturday:
Up early by 8 am, the gang got our stuff together, ate a quick breakfast, and waited at the bus stop to be picked up for a bus tour of Galway.
16th century castle on Galway Bay
Galway Bay, tide is way out.. some of the boats were just sitting on mud
These stone fences (seen in many of my pictures) are called 'famine fences'. They were built in the 1800s during the potato famine to mark land boundaries. It is illegal to build them now and also illegal to tear them down.
Mansion of an English Landlord from the 1800s
Watch tower. The other half of it was destroyed in 1755 after a tremor from the Lisbon earthquake reached Ireland
Bus driver said to "look on the left for the leprechaun".. 2 eyes and a mouth in the cliff...
Whats left of a house from the 1500s. If a house had a window, the bigger the window, the more "daylight taxes" the Irish had to pay. Most Irish would simply hole up the window in order to not pay the tax.
CLIFFS OF MOHER
Because we had learned so much history up until this point, it took me a bit to understand what the Cliffs of Moher were....
After taking a few pictures, I asked, "So what is the significance of these cliffs?" I was waiting for some tour guide to explain the history behind these cliffs, but the tour guide never showed up....Julia replied, "They are incredibly beautiful, thats why we stopped here"
I really didn't get it yet, because I thought they were just cliffs. I didn't realize how high in altitude we really were. It wasn't until I tried to see people on the next cliff over (they looked like tiny dots) that I was able to even grasp a comparison of how tall the cliffs were.
The highest point of the cliffs stands 710 feet high, wow. I also read on Google that these cliffs have been nominated to be one of the 7 world wonders of 2011. (Ha, I really under estimated these cliffs).
Caroline (from Canada), whom we have dubbed our "mother" because she looks out for us and is the logistical planner, hated it when we took this picture. She considered it unsafe. hehhh.
I have more great pictures. You don't really have to be a skilled photographer to take a postcard worthy picture of these cliffs. They pretty much do the work for you.
I took a picture of this house because the bus driver said it was a great example of the doors the Irish have been using since the time of English landlords. The door has a top half and a bottom half of which the top half can open. So again, when the English came by to collect the "daylight taxes" the Irish, who would have already holed up their window in order to avoid the tax, would keep both halves of the door shut, but open the top half when no English were in sight in order to have some light in the house.
ANCIENT CHURCH
The original church at this site was said to have been founded in the 5th century. However, the first historical reference was in 1055 when the stone church at this site was burned. Many of the new parts of the building seem to have been built in the 1600s.
Opening was 5 feet (+a few inches maybe, because I could stand in it haha)
medieval tomb effigy of an unknown bishop dates to the late 13th century.
There were also some large, old crosses that were the remains of the original building from 1055 that burnt down, but I can't seem to find the pictures.
There were also headstones in the graveyard that dated back to the 16th century that you could no longer read. Some families had even buried all of the descendants in the same grave and etched a new date on it for every death. Kind of strange, but lots of history there.
I was so interested in this church that I didn't notice when other people started disappearing to the bus. After a while I looked up and no one else was around. I sprinted to the bus just as it was about to take off..oops.
You can't really tell here, but there is a circle of trees in the center of this picture. These trees are known as Hawthornes, grow in a circle, and have an old Irish tale behind them.
One day a woman saw a branch that had fallen dead from the Hawthorne tree. She decided to bring it inside and cut it up for firewood to keep out the cold. As she was about to begin chopping, her husband yelled for her to come quick. The cow had begun to spasm and go mad. The woman quickly ran inside grabbed the branch and brought it back outside to lay where she had found it. The cow immediately got up and seemed to be cured.
So there is a superstition behind these trees. Many irish do not touch them or move them from where they grow. Another story is that fairies awakened a man in the night who had dug up a patch of hawthornes the day before warning him to put them back. He immediately did and he was fine. Same thing happened to another man except he didn't replant the trees, and the next day he was paralyzed.
There seemed to be many many stories related to these removing of hawthornes and bad luck. Some Irish think its just a coincidence, while others believe the fairies really exist. Either way, Irish do not move or remove these trees. If one starts growing, thats where it stays.
17th century Mansion of a woman who's husband died fighting in the army. She continued marrying colonels of the army in hopes of keeping this mansion. Somehow she managed to marry and divorce (or the husbands miraculously perished) around 20 times. She had a new husband or 2 almost every year.
I fell asleep during this story, but these two horses were painted on the side of a cliff. I believe the story was something like "before there Christianity had enveloped Ireland, they believed in magic. These horses were the original horses that the people worshiped believing they were magical"
Ancient tomb built around 500 BC. This is one of 90 tombs found in Ireland. 33 people are buried in this one tomb. The stone laying on the ground in front of it is the original "foundation stone" which is the stone on the top of the entire tomb. It was replaced with a new one because it deteriorated.
Our final stop, I didn't have the energy to get out for. We basically stopped at the castle that we started at in the beginning which we just drove by. I learned so much this day, and I am sure if you have read this far, that you have learned at least a little bit.
So back to the hostel, we changed and put on "smarter" clothes (smart again is a term the Irish use in regards to dressing up for a night out). We went out for dinner to a place called McDanaugh's where we had seafood and wine for desert. (I got the seafood platter with mussels, salmon, cod salad, cole slaw, and a few other things I am forgetting, plus an unbelievable raspberry sauce for dipping).
This "sheriff" was too cute not to photograph. The American flags were some sort of advertisement for a pub called "coyote"
And then we headed to a pub. This time we found a quieter pub to sit down and enjoy some conversation.
Sunday
We rose to check out of the hostel by 10 am and made our way to The Merry Fiddler where we had a full Irish breakfast complete with ham, sausage, toast, eggs, and of course the famous black pudding.
Again, a harp- Guiness's and Ireland's favorite symbol.
After breakfast, we had the day to tour around Galway.
Saw Elvis in a third story window
All signs are in both english and irish
I spent a good 2 hours up on this ledge sun bathing and reading Cutting For Stone
I caught some birds nose diving into the water.. Hopefully you can see this, but they were small birds...
These spanish arches were built and used in the 1500s. The spanish would unload their ships here.
After walking, we decided to grab lunch at a small shop we saw. I was most pleased with this shop. Everything about it was perfect. There were tiny accessories to everything, turning something from simple to absolutely gorgeous.
Water had mint leaves in it. The juice was fresh. This was a perfect hippy shop.
One of the best things I have ever tasted, yet so simple. I am telling you, I don't usually swoon over restaurants, but adding honey to this dish was perfect. It was just absolutely perfect.
After grabbing Quizno's for dinner, we waited at the bus terminal until it was time to go. I was craving some chocolate so I walked to a candy machine which a little boy had been running back and forth to without his mom. He looked at me and pointed at what he wanted. I said, "I really really want to get that for you" (and I really really did want to) "but I think you're mommy might be mad at me if I ruin your dinner. I'm sorry."
And I ended my Galwegian trip (thats what they're called: Galwegians) by depriving a little boy of chocolate. I felt bad until he waved good bye to me as I got on the bus. Then I was able to enjoy my peanut M&Ms in peace while I discussed what being a caucasian female in Bahrain was like with Julia on the bus ride back to Dublin.
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