Adventures in Ireland

Thank You Galway

11:24 AM

I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to study abroad. It is amazing how much I learned about myself and those around me throughout my time in Europe. Never did I imagine my experience would be so incredible. I grew so much as a person, learned so much about happiness and will forever be grateful to Galway for that.

You will learn to get out of your comfort zone. Nothing makes you learn more about yourself than being with people you've never met before. You are forced to step out of the box from what you are so used to. Being with completely new people allows you to be yourself and not feel like you have to live up to what other people expect you to be like.

You will realize how strong you really are. I don't think I ever realized I could do something like this on my own. Traveling for two weeks around Europe was the realization I needed that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.

You will grow more than you ever thought possible. I don't think I even realized how much I grew as a person until I came home. But I have become so much more confident in who I am and what I have been able to experience.

I have never been happier. Being in Ireland was life changing. It opened my eyes to how I want to be able to live my life and to explore the world around me.

Thank you Galway for showing me a new kind of happiness, for showing me what it means to be myself and to be confident with who I am. But most importantly for helping me realize that life is too short to not live it up.

Study Abroad- Galway {Day 30}

11:04 AM

Cam and I woke up and made our way to the city to explore again. We really just wanted to see everything one last time. We went and got iced coffees at Espresso44 before walking to Salthill and sitting on the beach for a few hours. It was 75 degrees which was our warmest day yet so we really enjoyed the weather and the scenery and just took everything in. After hanging out on the beach, we walked into the city and stopped at a wine bar for a glass of wine. We sat outside on Quay street drinking wine and listening to an irish bagpipe being played across the street. We had such a good time.

We made our way back to our apartment and got ready for the end of the summer celebration at Sult, the student bar with the rest of the summer school students.

We went to the city and got gelato before going to The Quays and The Front Door one final time. Unfortunately Phillip was in the states so only Matt was there but we did get a picture with him. And he played Castle on the Hill and Galway Girl for us which made for a great ending to our last night.

We all sat around the kitchen table in our apartment once we got back and laughed telling stories and remembering all of the memories we made over the past month. There were many tears as we said goodbye to each other. We all have promised we will meet again for another adventure soon!

Study Abroad- Galway {Days 28 and 29}

10:43 AM

Sunday I decided to take one last day to enjoy the city, we went to the farmers market again because it is just so much fun to go to. We spent time on the river soaking in the sunshine and decided to have lunch outside on Quay Street at Fat Freddy's. I spent most of the evening trying to pack and get everything put together to leave in a few days... it's so bittersweet leaving this amazing place I've called home for the past month.

There were jellyfish on the beach and in the water. It didn't bother the locals but I was very careful when walking on the beach lol.

Monday I had class in the morning so I went to that and then returned my bike and decided to walk Salthill. It's so beautiful walking the coastline and the weather was great again. It was nice to just take in the sunshine! I went back to our apartment for a while and then decided I wanted to watch the sunset at Salthill. Casey came with me and we went and got ice cream cones at the carnival and walked down to the beach. We were there for a couple hours just taking everything in. It was so nice and a perfect end to the trip. We took a ton of pictures, listened to music and just enjoyed the scenery. I am definitely going to miss nights like those.

Study Abroad- Cliffs of Moher {Day 27}

10:32 AM

Saturday we took a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher with our program director and all of the other ISA kids. It was a bus tour so we made a couple other random stops but the main stops were for the Cliffs of Moher and the baby cliffs. While the day wasn't necessarily ideal because it was extremely windy and freezing, I still think it was really cool because looking back we can laugh at our experience of the cliffs with our hair blowing like crazy in every picture and the cliffs covered in fog most of the time. None the less it was really a cool site to see and I am glad I was able to experience it.

Hopefully one day I will be back to see these in the sunshine too!

Study Abroad- Galway {Day 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26}

10:13 AM

Dang. The past week has flown by. Here's a quick recap of my week!

Monday and Tuesday: I spent a majority of the day at school, in between classes and writing final papers both my days were spent in the library nearly all day. Although both weren't due until Friday, I didn't want to have to worry the whole week about them so I decided to just get them done. Tuesday, we did go out to listen to some music and try to find our favorite band Matt and Philip at The Front Door. But once we got there, we realized they weren't there, one of them was sick. So we missed that but still had a fun night out and decided we will go back for our last night in Galway to listen to them!

Wednesday I had class again but decided to go into the city with Kaylin and Casey to enjoy the sunshine and have a bit of a photo shoot in front of the Claddaugh. It was so nice out and the sun was out so we enjoyed our day outside. Stopped at McDonoughs for fish and chips and had lunch outside. We tried to get the last of our shopping done too!

Thursday I spent most of my day in the city exploring some more. Casey, Kaylin and I had tea at Coupon Tea which is the cutest little cafe that our RD suggested we all stop at. We decided we wanted to make our own pub crawl for the evening. We went to six bars including Taffes, The Kings Head, 1520, Roisin Dubh, Busker Brownes and The Front Door. We had such an amazing night and met a ton of people. It was one of our favorite nights out for sure.

Friday none of us had class, it was considered our free weekend from our school. A lot of people decided to take weekend trips but our group really wanted to soak in our last weekend in Galway. The farmers market was open because the art festival had just started and so we spend the morning there. I bought some paintings from one of the artists to hang in my newly painted room. He was a very cool guy and told us the story behind each painting we bought. Besides that, we took in the good weather by hanging out at the Claddaugh, walked around the city and had an early night because we had to get up early the next morning to make it to the Cliffs.