Day one in Galway

21.5.
Woke up at five in the morning, grabbed my stuff and sneaked out of my hostel room, hoping I wasn't waking anyone up. The night guard signed me out and I left for the Busaras (that's the bus station). Dublin is surprisingly busy that time in the morning.

The bus station was still closed when I got there, but I chatted with an older man who was also waiting for the doors to open. And inside, before boarding my six thirty bus to Galway, I talked with a young woman who was taking the same bus to Galway. She was going there for an interview.

Of course I fell asleep on the bus. I woke up at around eight, and it was still an hour to Galway. The bus arrived a bit late to Galway, but I'm used to it by now. Everything might be a bit late but it'll happen.

I made my way to Sleepzone, but I couldn't do the official check-in until three PM, and it was around ten at this point. I could leave my stuff to the luggage room and use the common rooms, though. That was really nice, as I wanted a nap and a rest.

I stuck around till three, took my stuff up to my room, a six bed en-suite (!) dorm, only for girls. All the beds taken, and I don't wonder. This place is brilliant, very much like the Finnish summer camp centres, and the atmosphere is also similar.

Took a walk around Galway after that. I'm in love! This place is so beautiful and the people so wonderfully friendly. It's a smaller town, but that's probably why I like it so much...

Anyway, I had decided to take it easy today, so I returned to the hostel and spent the rest of the day in the common room with my laptop.

Now it's getting closer to ten o'clock and I'm dead tired.

There will be more to say tomorrow, as I'm taking the tour to Cliffs of Moher and Burren.

Adventure begins... Belfast

19.5.

FROM DUBLIN TO BELFAST

On the way to the bus station.

The bus station.

On the bus.

A statue in front of the Belfast main bus station.

Some views on the way to the hostel.

Some views on the way to the hostel

What a day!

I left UCD two hours before my planned schedule, at around ten in the morning, having been up from eight. I got my Letter of Confirmation from the International Office – almost forgot that – and signed out from the apartment. At the city centre I mailed two small bags of clothes and kitchen stuff to my mum; GPO is gorgeous!

Then it was off to the bus station to get a coach to Belfast. There was one every hour so it was good. Slept most of the way, but what I saw of the scenery was beautiful. I walked to my hostel (15 min), as I had no pounds on me for the bus. I couldn't pay the hostel with my card...

And that was the beginning of the real adventure: the ATMs wouldn't give me any money. I tried three different banks and nothing. Needless to say I was panicking a bit. Even after phoning my bank (in Finland) it wouldn't work.

I got back to the hostel receptionist, and he was a doll and went around the bend to get my payment down. Also booked me for the Giant's Causeway tour for tomorrow.

This still left the problem of getting back South... But when I was fretting about to my dorm mates, one of them offered me her return ticket back to Dublin and some cash. I transferred the amount to her account with my online bank. LUCKY~!

With all of that sorted I spent the rest of the day at the hostel, watching videos. Stayed up way too late. Tomorrow's going to be a nightmare. :P

20.5.
Written in a bus at six PM, on the way back to Dublin to spend the night.
Giant's Causeway tour today. Woke up at seven to pack, had the hostel breakfast with two Canadian girls who were also going to come to the tour. I checked out of the hostel at around nine - left my backpack there, though - and made my way to the Europa Hotel in front of which the Paddywagon coach picked us up - fifteen minutes late, I might add.

The drive to our first stop, the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, took about an hour, during which the driver/guide gave us a summary of the history of Northern Ireland; I had to explain some of what he said to the Belgian guy beside me - he had shared the dorm with us last night. It was fun.

The Carrick-a-Rede bridge was gorgeous and also a bit scary. For someone who's afraid of heights, crossing a wobbly rope bridge thirty metres above the sea is terrifying, but as I'd paid for it I had to do it. It was a gorgeous place with the constant roar of the waves hitting the cliffs. The kilometre hike to the bridge itself (and back to the bus, obviously) was a bit difficult - with some uneven stone steps - so my ankle started giving me trouble on the way back. But I don't care! I'm here to enjoy myself, not whine about a misbehaving body.

There was a warning not exceed eight people on the bridge.
One way traffic.

Pretty as a picture. <3

Some of the fourth season of the Game of Thrones
was filmed here.

Look at those waves!

After an hour here, we continued our trip to the Causeway itself. The arrival was very efficiently arranged with one of the rangers jumping in the bus from the main door and giving us our tickets and maps. We also got these players that had the tour on them. I didn't take the tour, though, because there was a reasonably priced bus from the heritage centre to the stones themselves, on account of my bloody (fig.) ankle.

The Giant's Causeway...
It's really hard to believe something like that could be natural; the flat stones looked like flagstones, and the pillars were like stacked bricks. It was fascinating and breathtaking there. I definitely want to revisit that place; maybe on a clearer day, so I can try to see all the way to Scotland.

I had lunch at the heritage centre and then it was already time to get back to the bus and head back to Belfast.

As it was a wet day, those stones were really
slippy. Still climbed on them. 

These black ones are even slippier; it was forbidden to
climb on them.

My favourite shot of the stones.

A shot of the pillars.

Needless to say I fell asleep on the bus, only waking up once the driver/guide - I think his name was Martin - started talking about landmarks in Belfast when we were driving into town.

After getting out of the Paddywagon, I walked back to the hostel, got my stuff and took a bus back to the main bus station to make my way to Dublin. Arrived at the station about half an hour before the next bus to Dublin - talk about good timing! I just had time to buy some snacks and coffee to go.

Still have no idea whether I'll be spending the night at the busáras in Dublin, or try to get a bed from a hostel... Oh well, I'll decided that when I get to Dublin.

21.00
Paddy's Palace lobby in Dublin.
I decided on a hostel... Mainly because I was sweaty, smelly and tired... The WiFi sucks, though.

Spring time is here...

.... And so are the finals.

Haven't had the time to write here because I've been revising, writing essays and playing Dragon Age: Origins. That last one just to get my mind off things.

I only have about a month left in Ireland, and I'm getting the feeling that I'll be really sad when I have to go.

This is the last week of the actual term here, then it's revision week and then the exams. Mine are on the 12th, 16th and 17th of May, so I do have time to revise - even with everything else going on.

Also, it's already like summer here. It kind of snuck up on me, really. All of a sudden you can go out in a t-shirt and jeans, or a dress. I'm going to have a four month summer here. O.O

Näin nämä koivut täällä. Mites siellä Suomessa? ;D

And as a bonus, I've gone down one dress size while I've been here. Got to keep this up :D

Fortnight after the break and a trip to Skerries

24th-27th March
Nothing really worth noting happened. I was a little low the whole time, so I wasn't paying too much attention to anything. Most of my free time was spent on my BA thesis.

28th March - Friday
Had our first essays back - the analysis about Confessio - and I got an A! It's the best grade I've ever gotten at University level. And the funny thing is that this was the text I was really concerned about.

29th-30th March
Mostly writing the thesis. Went to the city centre on Sunday, bought some yarn for a shrug.

31st March - 5th April
Just another busy, busy week. Filled with schoolwork and knitting and playing games. Had another essay back with a grade of B+. Good grades give a good confidence boost when writing the thesis.

6th April - Sunday
Went to Skerries today. It's a small town about an hour drive from Dublin; very picturesque and surrounded by sea from three sides. It was a sunny day, if a bit windy.

I went there with ESN Social. They had arranged us to do some spring cleaning there, and then we had a walk on the beach.

Here's my group working on the hedge
on the far side of the park area.

Skerries has at least these two windmills. <3

View of the church.

There's our haul. Worked for about an hour and a half.

A view of the beach.

Another view.

Entrance to the beach.

I had to! And the water wasn't even all that cold. <3

And the wave receded.

More of the beach in Skerries.

Another part of the beach, this time from the road.

Playing Tourist during Spring Break

Decided to take another shot at the Hop on Hop off -bus tour on the 19th March.

First stop Merrion Square and the National Museum of Ireland:

Cherry trees in bloom. <3

The only kind of statue this guy could ever have. XD

Jewelry

That's a big boat.

Jewelry and pottery. <3

The people were really into ornamental patterns.

Found at a grave site.

This was only the 1st floor, basically the Bronze Age. Got to go back for the second floor later. :D

Next up it was back onto the bus, and onward. Hopped off at Dublinia:

The back of Christchurch Cathedral. It's possible to include
this to the Dublinia tour as well.

This is the first thing you see when you go in. <3

About Viking religions.

Mock Viking camp.
You had an option to dress up here.

Burial rituals.

Crafts

Viking home.

Strongbow, a Norman warrior.

Middle Ages street.

Medieval Dublin in miniature. <3

That sounds wonderful. -.-

As seen in the Market place.

Usage of spices.

Christchurch. Going out from Dublinia.

A gorgeous building in it's own right.

Hopped back onto the bus... Getting a bit hungry at this point. Next I was planning on going to the Kilmainham Gaol, but the wait for the next available tour was about an hour and a half, so I decided to leave that for another time. Waited for the next bus back to the city centre.

Lunch at KFC, in the Jervis shopping centre. Bought my ticket to the Leprechaun museum, but there was a twenty minute wait before the next tour, so I went to grab a coffee, which I just had time to finish.

On to the tour!

There was a room with the furniture that
made us Leprechaun sized.

This was our guide; Noel. He was a great
storyteller, and a funny guy.

At the end of the tour. <3

It was a great day, but I caught a cold. Luckily, it never got too bad, so I could do all the other stuff I had planned.

On the 21st, Kasey and I went to the Ghost Bus Tour, but I forgot my camera. >< Anyway, that tour wasn't as terrifying I expected it to be. More fun, if anything else, and very interesting as well. Recommending that one with a friend, though. ^^'

It was a good break. Got some school work done, got some rest and had a good time.