Galway, "the best city in Ireland."

So following our three hour bus ride across Ireland, we arrived in Galway on Wednesday afternoon while it was bright and sunny. That was a rare time in between all the madness that has gone on in Ireland over the past week or so. We hopped off our bus at our new home, the apartment complex, Gort na Coiribe. It is a really nice complex where tons of NUIG students live while they're at school. My roommate, Brian, and I live in house 18. We have three Irish roommates: Sean, from Co. Clare, Jane from Co. SLIGO, and another girl who has yet to arrive. The apartment/town house is two stories, with one bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen/living room on the bottom, and three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the top floor. My roommate and I share a room and luckily we have our own bathroom connected to our bedroom. It is awesome. We also have a little balcony on the back of the first floor which will be nice once it gets a little warmer.

As for the surrounding area, including NUIG and the city center, everything is within 15 minutes of each other. It is actually really conveniently laid out in a big triangle. 15 minutes to campus one way, 15 minutes to the city the other direction. All of us lazy American students will be able to run marathons when we get home after all the walking we'll be doing. The walk to school is not the most ideal route since it requires walking on a sidewalk along a highway, but the Irish scenery is still there with rolling green fields and even the ruins of an old stone house along the way. As we walk to campus we can see the top of Galway Cathedral and a lot of our campus buildings which is nice. Not too far from our housing complex is Terryland Park, the home stadium of the soccer team Galway United FC! Their season starts in March so hopefully I can get to some games there.

The NUIG campus is a very nice place. The Irish students only arrived in big numbers yesterday and today so we've had some time to explore on our own. It seems quite big but after a few days running around trying to figure out where everything is, it has become much easier to manage and all of the main buildings are actually all pretty close together. Most of the buildings are styled in a more modern way, except for the quadrangle, or "Aula Maxima," as they also call it. At the moment I'm not able to connect my camera to my computer, but at some point I will add pictures up here of the campus. The quad, which is only really used for administration purposes these days, is a very cool place. It looks like something out of Harry Potter. There are plenty of places to hang out, get something to eat, and even a College Bar incase you feel like you need a Guinness in between classes!

As for Galway City, it really is an incredible place. Sure it's a 15 minute walk into the center but it's worth every step. The thing that has really impressed me so far is just the amount of places to go and explore. There are so many shops and all are in buisness and seem to be doing very well. There's pubs galore but there's also many Irish gift shops and many other shops that are common back home too. There's certainly an American influence with places like Tommy Hilfiger and Foot Locker, and even some knock-off American stores like "T.K. Maxx" and "Eddie Rockets" (apparently Johnny has an Irish cousin also). Shop Street is the main thoroughfare, which becomes Quay Street (pronounced "key") as you head down toward the River Corrib, which runs through the city. Now, back to the pubs. All nights of the week you can step into a pub and listen to great music. Since we've been here, we've tried to find a place that only plays Irish music but it seems that the Irish love American music too much. They love playing Tom Petty's "Free Fallin" and Johnny Cash songs, along with many other American classic rock songs. So far, we've spent nights at "The King's Head," "The Quay's," "Monroe's," and Garvey's Inn, where I happily watched the Patriots get spanked by the Ravens last night with a bunch of Pats fans. It was sweet. We've also spent some time in little coffee shops, and all the guys are planning on buying Irish caps soon to fit in as best we can with the locals. Galway is also a city filled with history. We've seen the Spanish Arch, created centuries ago, along with a monument to Christopher Columbus, a visitor to Galway back in the day. Also, Eyre Square, one of the main parks downtown, is actually officially named "John F. Kennedy Park" after Pres. Kennedy visited the city during his presidency, only months before his death.

All in all it has been a blast so far. While Dublin is obviously a great European city, and the capital of Ireland, Galway is much more Irish and much more warm and comfortable. The people here are so friendly and love to just sit and talk with you about anything and everything. Here in Galway, it's all about the "craic." While that's pronounced "crack," this is not a city of junkies. "Craic" means "fun," and we're having plenty of it.

Thanks again for reading, I'll try and do this as much as possible.

Here's a taste of just how freezing it has been, and a look at my room: