July 23-British Museum

The first full day in London started off with sleeping in and then grabbing breakfast down at Costa. I was feeling very British and ordered tea and a blueberry muffin--definitely a good start to the day. Then it was back to the hotel to meet Mom as she arrived from Heathrow. With the reunion complete, we then got straight to work on our London to-do list--The British Museum. With almost 2.5 miles of exhibits, there's absolutely no way to see everything, but we sure tried. Highlights included the Rosetta Stone, Elysian marbles, sarcophagi, the Sutton Hoo burial, the Easter Island statue, and tons of artifacts from around the world (my archaeology class actually came in handy here). There was also a special exhibit on the drawings of famous Renaissance painters. For this exhibit, we joined forces with the lovely Ms. Beall, my 10th grade English teacher who is on a fellowship studying Chaucer in London. The dream team assembled and went through the exhibit, which was essentially the sketches of artists like Michelangelo and Raphael. Some were plans for larger paintings or sculptures, and others were just figure studies and quick sketches. It was pretty incredible to see how these sketches have survived through the years, since they were from before the artists really had the scale of renown they do today.
We needed a little caffeine boost after the museum, so we stopped at Starbucks to regroup. From there, we jumped on the Tube to check out the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. The National Portrait Gallery was pretty cool in terms of all the people I recognized, from historical figures to literary icons (Joyce, the Bronte sisters, and Jane Austen were all present.) After we got kicked out of the galleries by the guards in charge of closing up, we spent a little time in Trafalgar Square to take a few photos. I definitely got my picture taken with the lion. Then it was back to the hotel for a good night's sleep before tomorrow's assignment--conquering Parliament!

June 22--Bye bye, Galway... Hello, London

So I know that this blog is entitled "Adventures in Ireland" and the URL contains "Nicole in Galway," but please postpone all false advertising lawsuits because I'm in London now! I left Galway around noon after saying goodbye to our wonderful host parents. Reflecting back on the experience and hearing from people who stayed in the student housing, I've realized how invaluable the homestay experience was. It gave me a chance to experience Galway from an insider's point of view and made it easier to branch out from the "American mob." So I'm very grateful for the McCallihans for opening their home to us and making us feel so welcome. It was definitely sad to get on the bus and leave town; it kind of reminded me of the first semester of college. I haven't turned Irish overnight, but I definitely felt at home in Galway.
Anyway, I took a bus from Galway to the Shannon Airport, where I hopped on a plane to London. We were delayed a bit because of heavy thunderstorms in the London area--ironic, since the entire trip out of Ireland was sunny and beautiful. But sure enough, we eventually took off. I had a row to myself, so I snagged the window seat. Flying over Ireland is really beautiful; I missed most of it when I came over almost six weeks ago because of cloud cover and being asleep. But flying over it this time, it really is seven shades of green. I waved goodbye when we left the coastline behind, but a few short minutes later, I was saying hello to what I think was probably Wales. Either way, hello UK! Irish countryside and English countryside looks very similar, but the real excitement came when we started getting into London. I picked out the London Eye, Parliament, Big Ben, and a couple other sites as we flew over the city center. I managed to get off the plane, collect my baggage, and navigate through Heathrow without too much incident. I was happy to find a cab though--my baggage has gotten a lot heavier than when I left. My suitcase came out to about 22kg and got a nice red HEAVY tag on it--I'm glad they don't weigh people; I might begin to regret all those donuts. It was about an hour cab ride from Heathrow to my hotel, and I got a great cab driver who pointed out sites of interest as we drove. An interesting difference between Ireland and England--the English really seem to love Oliver Cromwell. I must have passed at least five hotels/restaurants with Cromwell somewhere in the name. Whereas in Ireland, Cromwell is almost seen as Ireland's Hitler. In fact, when peace talks regarding Northern Ireland were being held in London, Irish representatives refused to meet with the English because the room had a portrait of Oliver Cromwell on the wall. History is alive, people.
I ended up getting to my hotel pretty late, so I didn't do much exploring beyond finding food at a cafe near my hotel. The real UK adventure begins tomorrow, when my dear mother gets in. I hope they're ready for us.

July 21-Last Day

Today was sadly my last real day in Galway. Tomorrow I jump on a bus to Shannon Airport and fly out to London. Which of course is very exciting, but I'm so in love with Galway that it's hard to think about leaving. There was no time for lying around and pondering on my upcoming departure, though, as I had a ton of things to do today. Most of my to-do list involved shopping, which is always fun. I finally found my lime green "Galway: Probably the best city in Ireland" shirt, so look for that in the coming weeks. I also attempted to sell my books at a couple of local secondhand shops but was not very successful. So if anyone wants a book on the archaeology of the Burren and the Aran Islands or Irish history, let me know!
I had lunch at the ever-popular Griffin's bakery, which was fabulous both in terms of food and getting out of the rain. There were a ton of people on Shop Street today, because apparently teen sensation Jedward was in town. I felt bad for all the parents stuck waiting out in the rain. Anyway, after shopping, I headed back and attempted to pack. As I suspected, my things have multiplied like crazy, and it'll be a miracle if my bags make the 20kg limit tomorrow.
We braved the rain again and headed to Bridge Mills for dinner and then a bar called Bunch of Grapes for a pint with Murph and his wife Kathy. It was nice to be able to spend some time with him outside of the university. It was good craic. The night ended with a trip to Tig Coili for Bailey's coffee and some Irish music. All in all, a very wonderful last day in Ireland. I'll be sad to say goodbye tomorrow.

July 20th-DONE

I am officially done with summer school! My exams went fairly well, though the only way I can really describe them is by saying that they're over. NUI really understands its students, because right after exams, there was an end-of-program reception in the college bar, complete with free drink vouchers. Unfortunately, the wonderful plates of sandwiches did not materialize for this reception, so we made a trip to Ward's for dinner and then headed back to the bar to take advantage of the free drinks. It was a nice way to end the term, especially since a bunch of the professors were there. Murph and his grandson made an appearance. Anyway, we weren't quite done celebrating, so Kelly and I headed into town for some more craic. We ended up at the Salthouse, where we met Ronan, Colm, and Astrid and made them play Timberrr with us. Ronan and Colm are both Irish, working in "a crappy desk job" (Colm) and civil engineering (Ronan). Astrid is actually an Italian electrical engineer who is taking classes in Galway. They were great fun and we played many harrowing games of "how can I make this block tower more structurally unsound?" I'm happy to say that the tower never toppled on my watch. It was pretty late by the time we left, but we had one more stop to make: Java's Bistro for after-midnight crepes. Good life choice.

July 19th--It all comes full circle

Not much to report here. We had our last history class today, which was sad. I really liked the class and the professor. Good life choice there. Exams are tomorrow, so I've been studying up a storm in the land of Eire. Most exciting part of classes today: We got to the 14th century in archaeology, when the decline of the Anglo-Normans leads to the Gaelic resurgence and thus Irish and Anglo-Norman culture merges, which is where we started on the first day of history. So I'm happy to say that my notebook contains the history of Ireland from the Neolithic period to the Irish Civil War, which I think is pretty impressive.

July 18- The Wild Hunt

Last market day :( It was a pretty good one, though. We visited our beloved donut man for the last time and got our last donut-shaped pieces of heaven. We then found a good spot on the street for the Macnas Parade, which is held in conjunction with the Galway Arts Festival. I wasn't really sure what to expect, other than that I've heard this is one of the best parades in Europe. I'm so glad I went, because it was absolutely incredible. The theme was the Wild Hunt, and there were several floats, though not like ones at American parades. They were huge metal structures, some of animals, some used as platforms for drummers, and all pushed by people in the parade. There were tons of performers walking with the floats as well in crazy costumes and there were even some on stilts. They were very interactive with the audience. It was a pretty short parade, but it was great because it held your attention and never had a down moment. Totally worth the crowds, so I'd recommend it if anyone's in Galway for the next festival.

July 17-- Free Hugs

By now, everyone should expect that if it's the weekend, I will be going to the market. This weekend is particularly sad, since it's our last market weekend of the trip. First priority: donuts. The donut man gave us piping hot donuts sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, so heavenly. I met up with Kelly and Claire, since we had plans to have a tea party that afternoon. But before we could get there, we ran into Heather and Stelios, whom Kelly and Claire had met the night before. They both work at a camp for terminally ill children and adults and were spending the weekend in Galway. Today, they were on a mission to give out free hugs on Shop Street. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the Free Hugs campaign, but this guy started the campaign by standing in a city with a "Free Hugs" sign and giving people free hugs (here's a link). So, this was essentially what Heather and Stelios were doing. After watching them give a couple of hugs, we just had to join them. It's interesting because the Irish aren't really very expressive with their emotions, so they aren't too big on hugging. But we still hugged so many people. It was a really amazing experience--some people just thought it was silly, a couple people thought we were on drugs, but some people that I hugged just said "Thank you, I really needed that." A lot of people asked why we were doing this, and Stelios just said something like, "You know, you wake up, you feel good, and you think, what am I going to do today? And you go out and make people feel good, add love to the world." Definitely one of the best experiences of this trip, and my life as well. I suggest you all go hug someone right now.


It only gets better from here. After leaving with a hugger's high, we headed down to Sweetie's Tea Room for our afternoon tea party. We all got our own teacups and pots and then a selection of yummy treats from the bakery. It was so delicious... definitely the perfect girlie afternoon.