Getaway to Galway

After experiencing the hustle and bustle of Dublin, Kristy and I decided it would be best to see some of this beautiful green countryside that we keep hearing about. Somehow we managed to make it through the misinformation of brochures and find our bus to Galway. The one thing I will credit Barnacles Hostel on is the honest information they gave us and real directions! We even found our bus stop no problem! And green countryside we did see as soon as making it out of the city limits. It was difficult at first with what appeared to be a row of trees to hide the highway/freeway (still don't fully understand the difference) from those who wish to not see it from the countryside. After the row of trees subsided, we began to pass through small villages which even here the grasping hands of westernization had reached and placed a Papa Murphey's right next to an old Irish Pub. Apparently there's no escaping it!

After about three hours we arrived in the west coast "city" of Galway. I believe it is the third largest city, right after Cork, in the Republic of Ireland but still felt like a nice middle-sized beach town with some element of hustle and bustle. The two packs that each of us carried, weighed down on our backs as we trudged uphill and down, making an unnecessary full-circle in search of our hostel. Thank you once again Ireland for your splendid directions! Or then again maybe it's my lack of being able to interpret the directions appropriately. And family, don't laugh! I promise you this time it isn't due to my poor sense of direction. I was following the directions exactly to how they were written!

Fortunately enough, some local construction workers were able to guide us in the right direction--it felt odd asking for directions, however, because the reference point for the hostel was a pub and it was about 10:30 in the morning! So I'm sure we seemed more like lush Americans instead of lost backpackers.

The hostel was a great little family-owned place with nicely sized rooms for Kristy and I to spread out a bit. Later we found out how lucky we were as well to have such good roommates! Upon arrival, one girl had her bag exploded all over the floor and another had left and iphone to charge so we figured it was a safe place to leave our bags without locking them up.

After claiming the top corner bunk by a window that looked over Woodquay Square (pronounced /wood-key/ ), Kristy and I meandered along the streets of Galway which curved and twisted labrynthesque towards the docks. Along the way we passed by a variety of pubs, an awesome cheesemonger shop, quite a bit of Chinese food and cafes.

So what brought us down to the docks this fine day is the Volvo Ocean Race that we had just found out about upon arrival.

Apparently it's one of the most extreme sailing races out there. It lasts about 9 months and from what you can see on the map course travels across the most difficult stretches of ocean. This year there's 8 boats sponsored in the race and they stop I believe anywhere from one to two week stints at the end of each race. They were in Galway from May 23-June 6. The harbor in Galway was full of people from all over, gift stands, yummy food, drinks and live music at night. There was also this igloo-shaped theatre that showed the history of the race since the 60's and some of the footage from the race thus far. It was really interesting to hear about what each stint across the ocean entails and some of the wild storms they've encountered. You can check out more information about the race at: http://www.volvooceanrace.org
It will be finishing in Russia on June 26 I believe...