London was a lot of fun.  We left on Thursday night October 1 and came back October 4.  We arrived in London Gatwick airport and took a 45 minute train to the London Bridge station.  We thought we could walk to our hotel, but quickly realized we had no idea where we were and took a taxi.  We checked into our hotel in the South Lambeth area of London.  For dinner we decided to have a small quick meal and ended up going to a place called Millenium chicken.  That night we planned what we would do during Friday day to make the most of the day and headed to bed.  We woke up early and walked about a half hour to Victoria station.  There we bought tickets for the Big Bus company hop-on/hop-off tour and purchased tickets to the London Eye, Tower of London, and Tower Bridge exhibits.  We took the bus around London for a bit, past Hyde Park and the Marble Arch, down Regent Street, and to Picadilly Circus and Trafalfar Square.  We got off near Buckingham Palace and got to see the changing of the guard.  I didn’t realize there was a whole procession involved as well.  It was pretty incredible to watch.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to see what happened inside the gates but it was still very cool.  From there we walked towards the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey.  We got some great pictures there and headed off to the London Eye.  The Eye itself wasn’t as cool as I thought (just a big ferris wheel really) although it did give a pretty good view of the city.  I’m glad I did it once but I probably wouldn’t do it again.  After the Eye, we grabbed a bite to eat then caught  the bus again to the Tower of London.  We walked all through the site (which isn’t actually much of a tower) and got to see some great exhibits.  At the time, they had a collection of Henry VIII’s possessions.  Very cool to see as he is arguably the most famous English king.  We also got to see the crown jewels which were gorgeous – so ornate and detailed.  After the Tower, we met up with a friend Julian and headed to the Tower Bridge which happed to be closed.  We headed back to our hotel at around 5:30 to relax, get ready for dinner, and drop Julian’s stuff off.  We went back out at around 7 to a place called the Texas Embassy for dinner.  My friend Bill had it recommended to him by his sister.  We all got margheritas and some Mexican food.  I had a burrito which was very good.  After dinner we went on a search for the Absolut Ice Bar.  We finally found it after about a half hour search and bought tickets for the 11 oclock session.  At the time it was about 9:15 so we decided to head to another pub in the mean time.  We had a bit of trouble finding a low key one (it wasn’t like Galway where there’s a pub every 5 steps) but eventually settled on a place called the Three Crowns.  It wasn’t much but we were just passing time.  At 10:50 we headed over to the Ice Bar to get the most of our time (due to the fact that the ice melts, you only get 45 minutes inside).  This was very cool (no pun intended).  The 4 of us enjoyed a free Absolut drink and had a good time hanging around. Here’s a picture (http://www.belowzerolondon.com/website/details.php?gid=553&sgid=&pid=21849).  We were all very tired after and decided to call it a night and head back to our hotel.  On Saturday we woke up early again and decided to get a full day Underground pass (worth it).  We headed back to Westminster for Julian and decided to go in this time (feeling guilty we had spent 16 pounds on the Ice Bar and not Westminster).  It was definitely one of the most incredible buildings I’ve ever been inside.  So many famous people were buried inside, and it’s so historically significant.  I’m glad we decided to go in. After we went to the Tower Bridge to go inside to the top and see the exhibit.  This is the famous bridge across the River Thames that gets confused often with the London Bridge.  The exhibit showed how the bridge was built and works as well as its significance throughout history.  There was also a small section about other famous bridges throughout the world.  From there we took the Underground back to Trafalgar Square to try and meet up for a Beatles tour. Unfortunately we were too late, but we decided to take another Underground to the northside of London.  We then went on a search for Abbey Road and the famous Abbey Road Studios.  We got a pretty funny photo of us crossing Abbey Road Beatles style, which was definitely difficult when you don’t have a camera crew shutting down the road.  After that we went back to our hotel and ate a quick dinner before going out again.  We were planning on meeting up with one of my friends Marisa who is studying in London but ended up not being able to.  Instead we went to a pub stayed there for the night.  We had a good time and went back to the hotel to get some sleep before our flight on Sunday.  The next day we went souvenir shopping while Julian took in some sights he missed during Friday.  We caught a train to Gatwick at around 12 to end the weekend.  Overall it was definitely one of the best weekends I’ve had since I’ve been here.  Hopefully I get back sometime in my life.

Anyway, sorry everybody. Lots of catching up to do. So first things first. Last time I updated was right after Arthur Guinness Day which is pretty bad considering how far ago that was. I didn’t give any mention of what we did that day so here it goes.

It was Thursday September 24th – celebrating 250 years of Guinness (for anybody who doesn’t know). I’m not sure if they did any advertising of the day in the US but it was supposed to be really big here for obvious reasons. It also happened to be my friend Catherine’s birthday so we celebrated that at the same time. The day started off by us having a little birthday lunch for Catherine. We went to her apartment and ate nachos. We stayed for about an hour at which time a few people had class. There are a few of us who have off of class on Thursdays so we decided to walk down to the Eyre Square/Shop Street area and check the scene out there. We were expecting banners and packed streets. Unfortunately we were a tad bit early because all the festivities were scheduled to start at 5:59 (17:59 in military time which is the year Guinness was first brewed). It makes sense because it was a Thursday when most people have work/school. Anyway in order to entertain ourselves we went down to the Spanish Arch, bought a case of beer, and drank by the water to pass the time until everything started. We let the time pass until about 3 or 4 when we decided to head up to the King’s Head to check out the scene there. We met up with some of our Irish friends there and had a few pints while waiting for 2.50 Guinness pints to start at 5. The group of us stayed there and just talked and shared a few laughs while having our cheap Guinness until about 5:50 when the small group of us Villanovans headed to Busker Brown’s where they advertized free Guinness at 17:59. We got our pints and toasted “TO ARTHUR!” which was pretty anticlimatic as compared to the commercials. Busker Brown’s drew an older crowd that day which I think was part of the reason the toast wasn’t so great. We finished up there and headed back up shop street to a bar called Taaffe’s which was packed. They offered 2.50 Guinness from 6 on. We stayed there until about 7:30 at which time our Villanova group had a dinner reservation with Catherine and her dad to celebrate her birthday. We ate at the Dail Bar which was very good, and as they say “alcohol is the oil of conversation” so you can guess at that point we were all ready to talk. We debated the Lisbon treaty for a while and all had very strong opinions despite the fact that it didn’t affect any of us. After dinner, we all (including Catherine’s dad) went to a pub called the Front Door. As you can imagine it was quite a long day so we all packed it up a little early and headed out at about 12, 12:30. All in all it was one of the best days I’ve spent in Galway. Plenty of fun and some good conversation.

The rest of that weekend was pretty fun too. The Galway Oyster Festival was happening, but we didn’t get tickets to the main events. Instead we wandered around the city looking for some things to do. There wasn’t much however and it turned out to be a little bit of a disappointment. On Saturday night we decided to go to the Galway dog racing track to catch a few races. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that Connacht (the section of Ireland that Galway is in) rugby was playing there. They were playing against Ulster I believe. It was awesome to see a professional rugby match and I definitely want to catch another one (even though I don’t fully understand the rules).

Cheers

Mike

It’s been a while I know. I’m going to break everything down in separate entries. So the weekend of 9/12-9/13 the group of Villanova students went on a trip with our Irish Studies teacher to County Mayo. It was a lot of fun and definitely something I’ll always remember. There was great weather and best of all it was free (on Villanova’s tab). It was an early start (9am on a Saturday…the regular crowd shuffled in, theres an old man sittin next to me….sorry). We all met up at the main office of Gort Na Coiribe and took a small bus to meet Mary (our teacher). We first went to Ballintubber Abbey. It was gorgeous. Saint Patrick baptized people in it long ago. Apparently there was a king who wanted to build a gorgeous church as repayment but he built it originally in the wrong place so he had to go back and build another one. They call it the “Abbey that never gave in.”  Through invasion and other threats, the priests of this church have never stopped telling mass.

The second stop we had was at Turlough Park. This was part of the National Museum of Ireland and the only part that’s not in Dublin. We saw how landlords lived in the 19th century. The house we saw belonged to the Fitzgerald family.   They were forcefullyremoved by the English from their original home of 70,000 acres to this home of 7,000 acres. Everything around the house was gorgeous land. There is a turlough (for which I assume the park is called) on grounds, which is a lake that fills up and dries very quickly. Also on the ground was a small museum that showed how the tenants of the Fitzgerald property lived.

After Turlough Park, we went to Croagh Patrick. This is where St. Patrick climbed and fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Thousands of people climb the mountain every year. On one day in July there is a pilgrimage of sorts where thousands of people walk from Ballintubber Abbey to the summit of Croagh Patrick (you’re supposed to even do it barefoot!). Unfortunately we didn’t get to climb all the way up but we did get to walk about 20 minutes up and got some great pictures of the surrounding area. I blessed myself in a creek we walked next to on the way up and again on the way down at the statue of Croagh Patrick. I also collected a rock as a special little memory of the trip. At the base of the mountain is the Irish Famine Memorial. As the name suggests it is a statue in remembrance of those who died during the famine.  It is a large metal ship (historically called a “coffin ship” cause of all the people who died on them leaving Ireland), but its covered with skeletons.

We piled back into the bus and headed to a town called Westport. We walked up and down the main street looking for a place to eat and finally decided on one. What happened after was incredible. Our group must’ve ordered 600 euro worth of food, wine, and beer. And nobody cared because it was on Villanova. Personally I had prawn fajitas and split an appetizer of crab claws with Julian. It was awesome. Mary even convinced the owner to give us all free shots because he had just become a grandfather and needed people to celebrate with. After dinner we went outside and just hung around by the water. There are some great pictures I’ll have to upload soon. The night could’ve ended here and it would’ve been great. But it kept going.

We piled back into the bus again and headed to a town called Newport for an Irish set dancing lesson and our hotel. However, we stopped on the way to pick up an accordian player. It was pretty sketchy but funny at the same time. After picking up the man, we made our way there. Before we went in to the dance lesson, our bus driver Michael took us in to another pub where he bought us all drinks cause he liked us so much. Then we went dancing. It was a lot of fun but really complicated. Lots of steps to remember. It was a great time but unfortunately I don’t think there are many pictures (probably a good thing actually). After dancing, we went upstairs and called it a night. I roomed with Tim for the night. We had a good room although Tim stole the queen size bed and I got the twin. The three sophomores shared a room with only 2 twin beds. We all joked about that later.

The next morning was good. We had breakfast at the hotel (on Villanova again). After breakfast, Tim, Catherine, Lauren, and I walked around and took some pictures while everyone else got ready. Finally we got back on the bus and headed out. Michael took us to Grace Kelly’s grandfather’s house. It’s now in ruins, but it was pretty small. After that we went to Hennigan’s Heritage Museum. Essentially it was just this man’s house. He had lived in a small cottage for his entire life and decided to collect historical artifacts and accounts and turn it into a museum. It was very interesting. He knew so much about Ireland and the country life. He told us where phrases and rhymes like “Pop Goes the Weasel” came from. It was definitely something I’ll always remember. We enjoyed some tea from the Hennigan’s and set out back to Galway. On the way back we passed Knock, which is where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared. We didn’t get to get out but it was cool to see anyway. All in all it was a great weekend. I had lots of fun and have so many memories of everything there.

Gort Na Coiribe

Headford Road

Galway, Ireland

Update more on Monday. For now off to Mayo.

Mike

Class has started and it’s much much different than in the States. In general, it’s just much more laid back. Of course, engineering is still stressful. The other mechanical engineer from Villanova, Julian, and I have a course called Vibrations and Control Systems. The professor wouldn’t let us leave until the class asked 2 questions about his lecture. He ended up keeping us ten minutes passed the time it was supposed to end. So far thats the only bad class though. I’ll be taking International Relations, Ancient Philosophy, Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering, and Irish Studies while I’m here. The Irish Studies class is with only the other Villanova University students. They don’t really get homework here from what I’m told so I feel like I’ll have lots of free time once things settle down and I get in a groove. I also have off Thursdays which would explain the gorgeous pictures above, but I’ll go into that more later.

We’ve gone out a few times this week because this is the first week of school. All the Irish students are going nuts. They don’t really go to class this week apparently. Actually, most Irish students go home on the weekend to work a weekend job and wash clothes and such. It’ll be even more empty this weekend as our group is going to take a trip to County Mayo to see a few things for our Irish Studies class. We’re going to be taking an Irish Step Dancing class while there too. More on how it goes later. One of my roommates had her 21st birthday on Wednesday. It’s a really big deal (even here when it doesn’t actually mean anything) so she had a little party and then went out to a club called Central Park (CPs). A few of us stayed here and wandered around the apartments meeting more people and then got a group to meet our roommates at CPs. It was a really fun but pretty late night and luckily I had off on Thursday.

I slept in a little bit and soon after waking up Julian called me up. We have a similar schedule so he has off on Thursdays too and he asked if I wanted to go golfing. This was one of the things I definitely wanted to do so of course I said yes. We went to the Galway Golf Club which overlooked the Galway Bay. You could see County Clare from some parts too. It was a gorgeous day. The course was really hard, and I shot a 123, but Julian’s played golf much more than I have and he shot a 120 so I wasn’t too disappointed. I rented a set of clubs and in all the round and clubs cost 60 euro. We grabbed a coke at the clubhouse bar in the middle of the round. It was a fun day and something I’ll never forget.

When we got back I made myself some ravioli which was awesome. I went over Bill and Tim’s apartment where I hung out with them and their roommates for a while.

Thats it for now. I’ll update about our weekend trip to Mayo on Monday.

Until then cheers.

Mike

Bike Riding on the Inis Mor

All the guys (Tim, Me, Tom, Tom, Bill, Scott, Julian)

Me and my first Irish Guinness

Hanging over the cliffs at Dun Aengus on Inis Mor (Me, Tim, Bill)

Shop Street where all the pubs are

Our first bar as a group

Bike Riding Inis Mor

The lighthouse on Inis Mor

Cliff at Dun Aengus

Looking off the Cliff again

Me and Bill at Dun Aengus

Getting Ready to Ride Inis Mor

Statue at NUI Galway

The Quadrangle at NUIG

Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas...(or just the Galway Cathedral)

On the Walk to School

The Hole in the Wall Pub

Eyre Square

More Eyre Square

JFK

Eyre Square again