Galway/Aran Islands.

Thursday morning all 40 something of us American study abroaders took off on a bus headed to the west of Ireland to visit Galway and the Aran Islands. When we arrived in Galway, we were dropped off in town with a few hours to explore before dinner at the hotel. Galway is much smaller than Dublin and although it had a lot of the same store and restaurant options, as a whole it just seemed more "Irish" and less city-ish. After exploring the town we had a chance to relax a bit before dinner (which was included.) I love free things. Later that evening we went to a pub called Kingshead and watched a band play some great cover songs.

On Friday morning we took a two-hour bus ride to Kylemore Abbey which is now used as a girl's boarding school in Connemara. We toured the grounds and the gardens (which were a little less than impressive since nothing was in bloom), but seeing the abbey and being surrounded by such beauty made it a really great day. Below is a picture of the abbey.

My favorite part of the trip to Kylemore was the bus ride. The views were seriously amazing and a much different landscape than the east coast of Ireland where I live. Also, there were so many sheep. We stopped along the way to take pictures of the beautiful scenery and also a great picture of our beautiful group.

I love these people.

On Saturday we got going pretty early and took another scenic bus ride to catch a ferry to the Aran Islands. The island we went to is called Inis Mor and it's the biggest of the three islands. The day was so sunny, which made the hour long ferry ride to the island so nice (and the entire day). Once we made it there we got into mini-buses for a tour of the island. It was so beautiful. Exactly what I picture when I think of Ireland. People still live in cottages with thatched roofs. So crazy. We took the bus to Dún Aonghasa, which is a fortress dating back to 1000 BC. So old. It sits on the edge of some pretty huge cliffs. They apparently aren't as high as the Cliffs of Mohr, but I for sure got my cliff fix by seeing them. We then had a few hours to explore the island ourselves, and while some people rented bikes, a few of us just walked along the beach. We headed back on the ferry around 5 and were back at our hotel just in time for dinner.

Later that evening a group of us headed into town again, but this time with our awesome leader/mother while abroad, Elizabeth. We went to several different pubs around Galway and had such a fun night out with her. She was totally one of us for the night, and most definitely a better dancer than I am. This afternoon we headed back to Dublin after an action-packed four days. After being with everyone this weekend it for real makes my stomach hurt to think about leaving this place and all these great people in just three short weeks. Sad. But I'm looking forward to all the fun that these last few weeks will bring as well. And that is all.

Just another beautiful view of Inis Mor of the Aran Islands.