Dublin and Galway

So weird to finally be in a country where everyone speaks English! I get nervous about my Spanish after speaking English for a weekend, so after nine days, it might be a little rough to get my brain back into Spanish mode. It was, in a sense, a bit more relaxing to be somewhere where English is the primary language. I love Ireland, I think it's somewhere I'd like to go back to, but definitely over the summer. We spent our first day in Dublin. The weather wasn't terrible, so it was good for a walking tour. We started out on the free tour offered by the hostel, but it was supposed to be about 3 and a half hours long, so we branched off after a while. I really liked our tour guide, as well as a lot of the other Irish people we met. They were very friendly to tourists and had a wry sense of humor that I appreciated. Even after just 3 days there, the resentment toward the English was very apparent.

Our first day in Dublin we went to the Dublin Castle, Trinity College and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Then we went to the Guinness Storehouse, which I like a lot, learning about the history, brewing process, advertising and business of Guinness. At the top is the Gravity Bar, a room with 360 degree windows and a great view, where you collect your pint included in the tour. At night we jumped on the hostel organized pub crawl, which took us around to a few touristy bars in Temple Bar and later to some more local ones. At one we got to see some great live music and at another I ended up getting a free pitcher of beer due to  very odd bartender.

Our next day in Ireland we took a bus to a smaller town called Galway. It was very charming with lots of green space, and it was right on the water where we saw Galway Hookers, traditional irish fishing boats (also a kind of beer). The town was basically centered around one main street, lined mostly with pubs and small shops. It was a nice change from all the big cities. Our last day we spent on an organized tour to the Cliffs of Moher. We made a stop at a farm in the countryside along the way where we did and short hike. It was unbelievably beautiful, our tour guide had all of us lie down in the grass for a minute and listen to the silence. I could have stayed there for a few hours. Then we went on the Cliffs, which were very impressive. At points along the walk there wasn't much of a barrier between you and a drop straight down, a little scary, but very beautiful.

Bangers and Mash anyone?

The Galway waterfront

There's no way to capture the countryside in a photo. Our tour guide told us that over the summer there are over 600 types of flowers that cover this area. 

The mini cliffs, practicing before we got to the real ones

Some cliffs...