Well, I am officially done as a University of Navarra student! All four finals are accounted for, and I’m hoping that they went reasonably well…I guess we’ll see. It’s still a bit hard to believe, but it feels great to be finished, I must say.
I have also completed my final side trip – to Galway, Ireland and London, England with Kristen M. – and it was absolutely wonderful! I’m probably going to have to divide this post up, though, because I’m afraid it’s going to get long again…what else is new, eh? Anyway, I’m excited to revisit the memories I have of the trip – I knew I’d love the UK, and I was only too right :-).
The trip started off very smoothly and comfortably – we took a bus to Santander on the 5th, the town from which our plane would be leaving the next morning. It was nice to have a 3-hour bus ride instead of the customary 5-hour one to Madrid, and the scenery was amazing – we even got a peek at the Atlantic coast! Once in Santander, we had a very easy time finding our hostel – definitely the fastest hostel search yet. And the hostel was more like a hotel; we had our own room and bathroom, and even our own TV! Needless to say, we were feeling quite proud of our hostel-booking skills. We had thought about going out to explore Santander a little, but it was pretty late in the evening by the time we got there, so we opted to hang out in our comfy room and rest up for the next leg of our journey.
The next morning, we caught the bus to the airport and checked in with about two hours to spare. We hung out in the very tiny airport until it was time for our plane to leave. Thankfully, the menacing ash cloud that’s been undulating over Europe for the past three weeks didn’t affect our flight to Dublin at all, and we were able to leave on time with no problems. And pretty much as soon as we got off the plane, I knew that I liked Ireland. And it was so weird to hear English all around me…for a while, it was information overload, because, although I understand Spanish quite well now, I’m not used to being able to fully understand every word I hear/see. But let me tell you, it was music to my ears!
Once in Dublin, we took our (1 euro!!) bus to Galway, and got to see a bit of the Irish countryside on the way. Pretty soon, we were at the Galway bus station, where Anne was waiting for us. It was so good to see her! I loved being able to see a friend from home, other than the ones who are with me in Spain. After hugs and introductions (Kristen M. and Anne hadn’t met before we visited), Anne asked us if we were hungry, which we definitely were. She took us to a restaurant for some dinner, where we had some delicious tomato-basil soup. It was weird but refreshing to eat dinner at a normal hour instead of after 10:00 at night. And the little place we ate at was great – think of your idea of a typical Irish pub, and that’s pretty much what the place was like. Loved it!
After dinner, Anne showed us around Galway a little bit – even after just a short time in the town, I already felt at home. Something about the place just seemed so welcoming and familiar, and I loved the picturesque streets, the pretty river, and the colorful houses. Speaking of houses, it was so great to see real houses again instead of only apartments and duplexes! After a grocery run, we trekked to Anne’s apartment, located in the student living community. We got settled in for the night, and watched some TV, which was of course in English – so wonderful!
The next day, we got up late and then went out to explore the town and do some shopping (well, more looking than shopping, really, but just as fun). Anne showed us her favorite stores, and they were very cool indeed. I liked the used bookstore the most – it’s been quite some time since I’ve been able to browse for a while in a bookstore, and it was great fun. I wanted to buy a book, but I refrained since I already have waaaay more books then I came with…we did convince Anne to get a gorgeous old edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare, however :-) Later on, we got to see the river again and more cool houses, including one with a thatched roof.
That evening, Anne and Kristen’s friend Nick and several of their friends who also studied in Galway took us to a bona-fide Irish pub. It was such a great time! Anne had us try Bulmer’s pear cider, which is one of her favorite drinks in Ireland, and it was very good. And we chatted (or shouted over the (American!!) music, more like) and danced and took in the overall atmosphere. After the pub, we stopped at a pizza place for a huge slice of very yummy pizza, and then it was home to bed. It was definitely one of my best going-out nights in Europe!
The next day, we woke up late once again, and then went to the very cool market that they have every weekend in Galway. I think I liked it the best of all the markets I’ve seen so far. It had a lot to see, but it wasn’t ridiculously big, and everything there was interesting. We got very delicious doughnuts and some farm-pressed apple juice, and I bought a handmade wooden Celtic cross necklace from a nice French lady who’s been living in Galway for a long time.
After the market, we took the long way back to Anne’s apartment, and we saw more of the river, the gorgeous bay, and some extremely fancy houses. I took a great deal of lovely pictures :-) Once we were back at Anne’s apartment, we all (Anne, Nick, Alex, Alex’s friend Erin, and us) hung out until it was time to go into town – we were leaving on a 1:00 bus to Dublin that night, since our plane to London left very early in the morning and it was easier to just go straight to the airport instead of getting a hostel and all that. Anyway, Anne and Nick took us into town, where Anne bought Kristen and I a half-pint of Guinness to share, as we had yet to try it. They had been telling us stories about how intense Guinness is and how most people don’t like it at first, but to my surprise, I actually thought it was pretty good. I doubt I could handle a whole pint of it, but still. I felt kind of BA about it.
Pretty soon, it was time to say goodbye to Anne, Nick, and Galway. I was sad to leave, since I loved the town so much and because it was difficult to say goodbye to Anne again, but it wasn’t so bad since I knew I’ll be seeing her again very soon. After a quick bus ride, we were back at the Dublin airport. I was feeling surprisingly good after having traveled through the night – maybe my body’s getting used to it, as that was night number five or so of night travel this semester. Anyway, our plane left as scheduled once again, and we were in London!
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