Our first overnight trip outside of Dublin to Galway was incredible! I was giddy all week last week to escape my job for an extra day to travel to the west coast. Truthfully, I enjoyed Galway much more than I had anticipated, and even more than I have been enjoying Dublin thus far. Following a rough wake up on Friday morning and sleeping on the way to the Cliffs of Mohr, I awoke to the beautiful greenery and oceanside view of the west coast. The Cliffs of Mohr were incredible to see in front of me, but I much more enjoyed the Burren Valley. I have realized throughout our trip thus far that I’m quite a picky tourist and I prefer secluded scenery to ‘touristy’ and landmark sites. We had a great time running around the burren area, and even went all the way to the edge to sit on the cliff and look out over the ocean. I wish we could have stayed in this spot longer, but then we were off to Galway! As soon as we arrived, we went to one of the original Claddagh stores where Rayna and Zoe replaced their old rings with some beautiful new ones! We had dinner and hit the town that night, experiencing night life extremely different from Dublin. The crowds in Galway were much closer to our age, and the pubs were full of life, music, and chatter. We were honestly very alarmed when we saw the hostel room we would be staying in, but ended up having a fun night staying all together (Kiki, not so much).
The next day in Inishmore was a huge change of pace. We had fun riding around the small town and coastline on our bikes, stopping every five minutes when Zoe spotted a horse, donkey, or cow…really any kind of animal. The trail brought us to a beach with some of the clearest, bright blue water I had ever seen. I wish it had been sunny so we could’ve taken a dip!
The next day, we were disappointed to be leaving Galway. Our moods were instantly lifted as we drove through the mountains littered with sheep! Then we first caught sight of the beautiful Kylemore Abbey and Galway seemed like old news. I had the best day perusing the Kylemore grounds. Even more spectacular than the abbey was the beautiful garden and horses on the grounds…there were some absolutely horrifying pigs too, but it would likely be better if I chose not to comment on them! Our jam-packed three days in Galway and the stops along the way were tiring, but extremely worth it. I think this will end up being in my top 3 experiences of Bucknell in Dublin!
Back at campus, we dragged our lifeless bodies back to our rooms and prepared for the week of work. Back to the grind!
We could have stayed in this spot forever! (Zoe so excited she’s actively stomping her feet in the photo)
Majestic horse in the mountains on the Kylemore grounds
Oh sheeeep! Very greedy fella on our way to Kylemore
Free-time fun in Galway!
Lucie and I pulled out the good ole heel click at the cliffs!