Adventure to Donegal Town with a side of soggy trousers and sneakers

This morning I got up and took a bus to Donegal Town in County Donegal.

I spent the 4 plus hour bus ride sleeping and looking out the window.

When I arrived in Donegal I stopped to see Donegal Castle because it was right by the bus stop. It is a fairly small castle, but it was really cool to see. I had arrived just in time to take one of their short guided tours.

When I finished at the castle, I decided to go in search of my hostel so I wouldn't have to be carrying around my backpack all afternoon. Also, I wanted to ask for suggestions of things to see in case I missed anything in my research.

My hostel ended up being a bit of a trek. What was supposed to be only 1km was more like 2 (at least thats what the sign said).

When I arrived, a very friendly woman showed me to my room and answered a few questions that I had. She also directed me to take a more scenic route back into town along the bay. (And also past Dr. McCarty’s house- I mentioned to her that my family is from the McCarthy clan....)

With a lighter load, I set out to see the town. Unfortunately, the mountains are too far of a hike for me to do in a few short hours.

I took the path that Linda (the keeper of my hostel) had recommended. At first I thought she was just going to get me very lost. I was going in the wrong direction and it wasn't the greatest path in terms of scenery. Then I hit a more wooded area and understood why she had sent me that way. The path ended up swinging back around and took me on a wooded path along the shore. I still thought I was a bit lost, but I kept walking. And walking..... Eventually the path brought me back out along the river that runs next to the castle. I knew exactly where I was. Hooray. And the path ended up being way better than the route along the highway that I took to get to the hostel.

As I was walking along the bay, I noticed ruins of what looked like a church and a graveyard across the water. I decided I wanted to check it out. Later I found out it was the ruins of the Franciscan Abbey that I had wanted to see while Im here.

On the way to check out the abbey, I stopped in the square because there was a Saturday market going on. I was kind of hungry, but I didn't find anything that looked appealing. I did stop and buy a necklace from a local artist. He does bone carvings similar to the Maori fish hook that I have, but he did other stuff as well. I ended up buying a carving of what is apparently a traditional weapon. I though it was a little more original than the celtic stuff he had and I already have a hook, so I didn't want to buy another.

I then headed in the direction of the Abbey and the craft village. I stopped into the tourist info shop and asked about a bus to Carrowmore from Slingo for my adventure tomorrow. Unfortunately the bus doesn't run on Sunday and the walk is along a major road, so the guide strongly recommended I take a cab to the tombs rather than walking the 4 plus kilometers out to them.

I then headed to the Abbey and walked around it for a bit. Theres only a few walls left and its surrounded by grave stones. I saw one that was from the 1700’s. It is still used today as a cemetery as well. There was a fresh grave from last month. I though it was kind of interesting that the land is still in use for burials.

After the abbey I decided to take a walk out to the Donegal Craft Village. Linda had told me it was worth a visit. On the journey there and back I was cursing the place. The walk was along a highway which at some points didn't have a walking area, so I was literally walking on the road- which was a busy highway. (highway in the irish sense, aka, two lanes but cars still driving relatively fast) I thought it kind of ironic, because I had just been told by the travel woman that it want wise to walk to carrowmore and here I was on the highway walking to a craft shop. As I was walking, it began to rain. FML.

After 1/2 hour to 45 min. walk (a few km), I finally arrived at Donegal Craft Village. I had read that there was a coffee shop, so I made that my first priority. It ended up being more of a bistro sort of thing. I had only really wanted a pastry as I had planned to get dinner in town later, but lacking pastries I ended up having a late lunch/early dinner. It was 4pm so I decided that was going to be my meal for the day.

I was really glad to be finally sitting after the epic walk that I had to get there. After I finished eating and paid, I walked back out into the rain to check out a few of the shops. It ended up being more art than crafts per se. It defiantly wasn't what I thought of when one says crafts- it was art. I checked out the glass shop and the shop with woven stuff (ie scarves, ect). There was some stuff that I liked but it was quite similar to stuff I could but at an art and craft show in the states so I passed.

I then started the rainy trek back into town. Once I made it back to town I spotted McGees. They make tweed clothing. While I was aware that their stuff was expensive, I didn't realize just how expensive it was. When I got inside I headed upstairs to the sale section. Even the stuff on sale was well over €100. I did end up finding one jacket for €75 that I really liked with patches on the elbows, but it was a bit small and I wasn't going to pay that much of a slightly small jacket. A bit bummed, I headed out. A few shops down, I went into a craft/gift shop. From the window it seems like I might find something cool. But I was again disappointed by a) prices and b) it was the same stuff I could get almost anywhere in Ireland.

After I finished checking out the shops, I decided to head in the other direction to see the famine cemetery. After a ten minute walk, I came across a field with a sign for the cemetery. It ended up being a walled in area with a cross and a plaque. At the time of the famine, the poor were unable to bury all the dead in individual plots, so Im assuming they were all buried in this area.

After I took a few pictures, I headed back towards town.

By this time it was after 6 (and everything but the pubs close at or before 6 in Ireland) I decided to head back to the hostel and call it a night. I took the scenic route back. On my way, I met a furry friend who walked with me shortly.

When I finally reached the hostel, my pants were wet all the way up to my knees from walking in the rain, and the rest of my clothes were slightly damp.

Scatterbrained, I tried the wrong door, so I hung out downstairs waiting to see Linda and ask about the room situation, thinking I had been locked out.

I sat around for about an hour and I finally spotted her. I had in fact tried the wrong room, but oh well. I got my laptop from her and got settled. I met two of the other girls who are staying in my room before they headed out for the evening. One is from the Czech Republic an the other is from Spain.

I grabbed a hot shower (which was amazing after walking in the wind and the rain today) and then came back to my room to try to upload my pictures. Unfortunately the internet on my computer is not working correctly, so I may try to get them up another time and just head to bed.

No Nun spotting in Connemara

Today we took a tour of the Connemara region. Our bus driver was hilarious. He intermittently gave us info about various parts of the region as he was driving.

We stopped a few times to take pictures and “stretch our legs.” The entire region is quite beautiful. Luckily, the weather was really nice today, so the trip was quite enjoyable.

Also- there are sheep everywhere. Its actually kind of funny. I never really believed those scenes in movies where a car gets stuck because of the cattle crossing a road- well now I can, because there were sheep along the road side and at some points we had to stop because they were in the middle of the road. There were also some kamikaze sheep. It was quite amusing.

At one point we had a 1/2 hour drink stop in a small town. While most of the group headed to the bar, I hit the Sheep and Wool shop and got some Irish Wool for mom to make something out of later. Then I just sort of hung around and took pictures of the Killary Fjord.

Midday we went to the Kylemore Estate which is home to the Kylemore Abbey. The entire estate is set amidst a bunch of mountains and is located right on a lake. It was all very picturesque. I took the shuttle to check out the walled victorian garden which was really interesting. They had the old farmers houses set up for people to check out. After that I headed towards the Abbey. Because it still houses Benedictine nuns, only a small portion of the first floor of the abbey was open to look through. Sadly, I didnt see any nuns. (It hasn't always been home to nuns, it used to be a private estate- for info on the history of Kylemore- wiki it, its actually kind of interesting)

After that I took a walk along Pollacappul Lake to the neo-gothic style church that is part of the compound. The church was really small, but pretty amazing. Close by is the mausoleum of the original owner and his wife.

After I saw the church and the mausoleum I walked back toward the entrance where there was a restaurant, craft shop and pottery studio. The walk is very refreshing/ relaxing along the water. I was a creeper and stopped to take a picture of three girls who were tossing stones into the lake. It was a super cute shot.

Once back to the entrance I hit the craft shop. Through the window I watched some of the pottery being made. On the grounds they make pottery, soap, and jam. The pottery was a bit expensive (Im not paying €13 for a coffeecup) but I did buy some jam to take home with me. I got Gooseberry and Lemon Rhubarb. I though Id try something a little different that the typical flavors that they also sold.

I then grabbed a quick lunch of soup and coffee before rushing back to the bus.

Once we were all on the bus and sorted, we made our way back to Galway through a different part of Connemara than we came through.

After a few more picture breaks, we made it back to Corrib Village for the evening.

Im spending the evening hanging out. Contemplating working on stuff for class (or not). Ill probably head to bed early because Im heading to Donegal in the morning.

Only two more weeks left in Ireland :( Time is flying.

Castle Hunting :D

Wednesday night Carlo ended up coming over to the apartment to study. His roommates were having a beer pong tournament that you could hear even from my place, so he needed a quieter place to do his massive reading for class. (Note:his prof is nuts and assigns obscene amounts of reading) We just hung out and did work for a few hours, stopping everyone and a while to talk about random things.

At about 1am, my roommates rolled in, two of them wasted. So, while they were getting situated, the noise kept us from really progressing on our work. To my horror, a very drunk Monica explicitly asked Carlo if we hooked up. (She’s determined to make something out of us just hanging out) Meanwhile Im looking at the others feeling completely horrified.- The poor guy came over to get away from the drunk people at his place and ends up getting harassed by my drunk roommates. Thankfully, Colleen eventually got Kimberly and Monica to their rooms and Carlo and I were able to finish our work.

Yesterday class was a bit tough to sit through. I was feeling a bit sick, I didn't get much sleep and the lecture was boring as hell. She spent the entire time talking about evidence, which, while I understand that its relevant, the class is supposed to be about Domestic AND International Responses to Women’s Issues. I think we’re spending too much time talking about DV in state courts. Everyone was complaining on their FB, so I decided to mention it to Prof. McGregor after class in a very non-confrontational way. I basically asked if we’d get more into other issues because thats what Im really interested in. (Later while I was sleeping someone from class came in and gave me crap about it because its her first time teaching and she didn't need students chewing her out. I told her what I said and it got her off my back. I was just a bit pissed because everyone was complaining how boring the class was and how they wanted to email the director of the program. Excuse me for trying to remedy the situation directly with the Prof.)

After class I headed back to the apartment and slept for a few hours because I was still feeling pretty sick.

When I got up I made some roasted potatoes for lunch and surfed the net for a bit.

Carlo called a little after 5 because we had plans to go castle hunting. He had some trouble getting his bus ticket to Northern Ireland for today, so he was a little later than he’d planned.

It was drizzling, but I told him I was cool with walking in the rain, so around 6 we met up and walked north?, in the opposite direction we take to get to town.

The walk was really nice. Everything was really green. We walked through some wooded areas that we followed some trails back into and found old campsites on the river. We also walked past a bunch of sports fields. We then kept walking and eventually found the castle we were looking for on the opposite bank of the river. It looked really cool- covered in ivy, ect.

After we stopped for a bit, we kept walking to see how far we could follow the path before we hit private property. We ended up jumping a fence to keep following the path and found some cows chilling out on the side of a hill on the banks of the river.

We then started heading back, but decided to take a detour to see where one of the roads led. It ended up taking us out past the sports fields and into a residential area. We walked around a bit and checked out some of the houses, and then headed back the way we came because it was shorter than following the paved roads back to Corrib Village.

When we got back, we said goodbye and I headed into my apartment to put on dry clothes. It was only drizzling, so I didn't bother using my umbrella, but after walking for an hour and a half, the top of my hoodie was drenched and my pants were a bit damp as well.

I decided to make myself something to eat and just spend the rest of the evening chilling out.

Carlo ended up stopping over later to use my computer to do some research for his trip.

After he left, I headed to bed because the group is taking a trip to Connemara today. Im super excited to see the abbey and the rest of the region. Its supposed to be beautiful- but then again, everything here is beautiful.

Finalizing my weekend plans and tasty noms

Class today was much of the same as the past two days. We did sign up for presentations which we have to give on Monday and Wednesday. I am arguing the part of a Prosecutor in favor of admitting certain evidence in a DV trial.

Its going to be interesting getting the presentation together for monday and finishing off the paper I have yet to write which is due on Tuesday which is quickly approaching.

After class, I headed to town to buy my bus ticket for Donegal this weekend. I got an email confirmation this morning on my room that I reserved last night at the hostel in Donegal Town.

On my way into town I ran into Carlo and we made plans to go “castle hunting” tomorrow after classes.

When I got back from my walk into town I made lunch and a chocolate baileys sauce for drizzling over the cheesecake that I made last night.

After lunch, I did a little research on things to see this weekend. There isn't much in Donegal Town itself, but when I was on the Ireland Heritage site I discovered a few things Id like to see in Sligo, which is on the way to Donegal. The 6am bus on saturday has a transfer in Sligo, so I might try to “miss” my transfer and catch a later bus onward to Donegal so I can check out what Sligo has to offer (I found an abbey and Irelands oldest monolithic cemetery on the website). If not on saturday, I may try to see it on the was back on Sunday. Either way, Im really looking forward to my adventure this weekend.

Because my internet was being difficult, and Im too sore to hit the gym today, I decided to take a nap- it was amazing :D

When I got up, I headed across the complex to do my laundry, which I’ve been putting off for a few days.

While I was doing reading for class and waiting for my laundry to finish, a group of girls that looked and sounded like they were in high school came in to do their laundry. They started out by putting their clothes in the dryer instead of the washer, so, instead of watching them waste their money by not reading the directions, I turned my IPOD off and told them about their mistake. I then had to further instruct them of how to actually operate the machines. (IDK, but does it seem like more and more young people I meet, the more I think theres been a generational IQ drop- I knew how to do laundry when i was their age, and even if I didn’t, I was able to read the signs on the wall giving explicit directions on how to wash clothes) A guy from my class last semester was doing laundry as well, so when the girls left, we had a little chuckle at how absurd the situation was.

Im spending the evening working on my reading for class and my paper (ideally, Ill work on my paper)

Wanda came over and was asking about the cheesecake, so I cut it and Wanda, Monica and I had a piece. It turned out really well-especially having cooked it in a pie plate. (Officially the best cheesecake I've made to date) After I finished, I took a piece to Kristen upstairs because she let me split her bottle of Bailey’s so I wouldn't have to buy a whole one for the cheesecake.

At some point Ill make dinner. - I might wait until my roommates leave for the evening. They are all going out to Dignity West because they have half off drink night tonight.

Saving my TOMS, a trip to the courthouse and cheesecake makin'

I was feeling super tired this morning. I hit the snooze button on my mobile (which I’ve been using as my alarm clock) like 5 times. Luckily going to the gym in the afternoon means I take a shower in the evening and thus don't need to get up as early to get ready. (Im usually a morning shower person, but I can get used to this extra snooze time)

Today was chilly and rainy. However, out of all the days I decide to wear shorts and a T-shirt to class, today was it..... so- chilly and moist walk to class. During my walk I discovered that I have torn a hole in the back of my beloved TOMS. Luckily, its on the seem so I was able to sew it.

Class has been pretty interesting for the most part. Today we discussed why DV statutes are there (as opposed to prosecuting DV under assault statutes ect) and the various elements that are present in different states DV statutes.

After class I hit the gym. -I had a lot of energy when I got back to the apartment, but a little while later I sort of crashed :/

At 4, we had an optional “field trip” to the court house in town. Prior to walking to the court house, myself and another girl from class ended up talking with a PHD candidate who is at the Irish Center for Human Rights studying genocide. His work sounded really interesting. In the process of his work, he’s interviewed perpetrators and victims of various genocides. Basically, what I understood, he is looking at the reasons why genocides take place.

At the court house, Professor Murphy (who was one of my profs for IHL) talked about the Irish legal system and showed us his old wig and gown. It was really interesting. He even told us the origin of the phrase “big wig” - basically, the more prestigious legal positions wore bigger wigs traditionally. (I found this interesting/amusing)

After we finished I headed to town to hit the market to buy stuff to make cheesecake. While we were playing spoons last night I told Wanda that Id make her a Baileys Cheesecake at some point, and today I happened to be in the mood to bake.

After I finished at Dunnes, I went to the bus station to see if I could get my ticket for this weekend, but they were closed. Ill have to head to town again tomorrow to get it.

On my walk back to the apartment, I ran into James. :/ He stopped and talked to me for a few minutes. He mentioned that he was doing a radio show on Thursday and asked me if I wanted to be a part of it. I told him if I had time to see one of the films from the film festival before then, I would.

After I got back to the apartment, I started making my Baileys Cheesecake. I don't have a spring-form pan, so Im making it in a deep dish pie pan- we’ll see how this turns out.

While Im waiting for the cheesecake to finish, Im working on class reading and figuring out other-things to fill my free time with.

Being a slacker and kicking it with another classmate

Yesterday I got up and hit the gym. I’ve been feeling a little slackerish because I haven’t been in a few days.

After I got back i had a shower and made myself lunch.

I spent the afternoon reading for class and just generally being a bum.

I took a mid-afternoon nap to perpetuate my slackerness.

At about 4 I started getting ready for a reception that my program was having. It was a reception to welcome the retired Chief Justice of the Az. Supreme Court to the program. She is teaching my class this session. The Chief Justice of Ireland’s Supreme Court was there as well.

Not as many people showed up as I thought would come. (If for nothing other than the free wine) But attendance was a bit lax.

I hung out for a few hours, I made sure to introduce myself to both of the justices.

After the reception, a group of us went out to dinner.

We had planned to go to the Spud House, which is apparently really good, but we discovered that they are closed on Sunday.

We then decided to head to Monroe’s. After we got there, we could only be seated at two separate tables, so we sat for a bit and had a drink and then headed down the street to a Tapas restaurant.

Everything on the menu looked super tasty, but not being super hungry nor wanting to drop mad euros, I had a bowl of sweet potato soup..... It was delish.

After we finished I headed back to the apartment and headed shortly after to bed.

This morning I had my first class with Retired Chief Justice McGregor. Her class was really interesting. Its her first time teaching, but Im really interested to see where she goes with the lessons.

After class, I headed back to the apartment and made lunch.

Being lazy/tired/bored. I took a nap.

When I got up, I hit the gym for a bit.

After I hung out for a bit.

Around 6, I ended up taking a walk into town and down to the Spanish Arch with Carlo-(the guy that we ran into at McD’s at 2am a few weeks back) - We talked last week about getting together and just hanging out, so today we found the time to do that.

It was really nice getting to know somebody else from class and just talk about traveling and whatnot rather than drinking. (Carlo is a fellow traveler :D)

When I got back my roommates decided they wanted to rip on me for hanging out with Carlo, making it into more than us just hanging out... w/e- I was just glad to have had the opportunity to hang out wit someone who was more on the same level as me. (And despite my roommates jeering, it wasn't a date)

After I got back from my walk, I played cards for a bit with my roommates and two other students from upstairs.

Then I did a bit of reading for class, trying to stay a head.

Now- Ill net surf a bit more before I head to bed- I’ve decided to go to Donegal after all this weekend, so I just need to coordinate my trip.

Not so epic adventure in Galway

Yesterday, after my “break,” I had ethics. We didn't meet for the full time either, but we were there for a majority of the time to have a wrap up discussion. We took a class photo and my prof brought carrot cake from one of the bakeries in town. (It was super good, especially because I was mad hungry)

After class I ate and then passed out. (Well, I fb chatted with molly for a bit, then passed out) It was good to get some sleep finally.

After my nap I had dinner and spent my evening getting organized for the next session. I started reading for next week so I can get ahead and maybe have free time to do stuff during the week. (Or work on that pesky ethics paper that I have yet to write)

This morning I got up relatively early and walked to town so I could hit the market. I ended up buying some gifts from a few of the artists that had booths, got some tasty organic bread and jam, and bought myself a belt and a necklace.

I then decided I was going to wander a bit.

I stopped in a few shops to look for other gifts. I ended up going to Dillon’s and bought myself a Claddah ring. (I had planned on getting one from there eventually before I leave) Dillon’s still makes the original design of the Claddah ring by hand. They been open forever.. (by forever, I mean since 1750) There’s a little museum in the back of the store (about the Claddah) so I checked it out before heading out.

As I was paying the jeweler shook his head and said something about more Warhols. I asked him what he meant and he pointed out the door at a bunch of guys dressed like Andy Warhol and a few people with old-school film cameras. He said the Art Festival Craziness is just beginning. (If this is any indication of the shenanigans that will be taking place once the festival actually starts on the 11th-It will be epic- I am SO excited)

After I left Dillon’s I began to just meander down random streets. I eventually ended up at the Spanish Arch.

While I was there, I met a guy who was taking down what I think was a art instillation. Turns out, he knows my roommates and was the one who was in-charge of this event they went to last night. (Talk about small friggen world) I wasn't exactly in the mood to be chatting it up with a random guy, because I was in the mindlessly wander the city frame of mind and I wasn't feeling super outgoing, but when he invited me to grab coffee I agreed- because 1) I didn't want to be rude, 2) Ive been here for three weeks and being the hermit I am, I haven't really talked to any sober locals. So, we got coffee at the museum cafe next to the Spanish Arch. We talked about school, travel, art, ect- my tattoos (Im a work of art apparently :P).

After we finished our coffee, we walked to a pottery studio of a guy he knows. Dude wasn't there, but James told me I should comeback later when he was having class and check it out. We then walked to where they had an instillation for the festival that just finished. However, when we got there it had been disassembled. (aka. probably destroyed by a bunch of inoxicated people after the ball last night) On our walk back to the arch, he joked about the poor luck- with the studio being closed and the art being gone. When we got back to the Arch, we went into the old museum that actually attached to the Arch (it now just is used for storage) and he showed me the view from the roof. It was pretty cool to be able to view the River/Bay/area from a view that most people wouldn't get to see.

After that, he gave me his contact info, so we could maybe get a drink sometime.... (not sure if Ill actually email him, 1) he was chill, but meh moving on 2) I dont want to start anything with my flatmate as she’s interested in him 3) Im not interested whatsoever and its not worth the drama that I know has significant potential for ensuing 4) Im an awkward Galway hermit, not feeling the drinking scene)

I then headed to Dunnes to get groceries for the week. Amazingly, this has been my cheapest trip yet. Woo hoo (making up for that mad cash I dropped buying non-groceries this morning)

When I was finished getting my groceries, I had some time to kill before the shuttle would arrive, so I decided to hit Fallers and look for a wedding gift for Angela and Joe. I ended up finding something suitable (I wont share, because, well, I haven't the slightest who actually reads this damn thing, so... yeah, in the interest of not giving it away- If you are *dying* to know what little piece of Ireland they will be getting, you can email me)

I then sat in the square and waited for the shuttle.

When I got back I put away my groceries and had lunch.

I surfed the internet for a bit and worked on some reading for class.

(I spent some time this afternoon seeing if I could swing a trip to Donegal Town [as opposed to Donegal, which is the entire county] next weekend. The guy I bought my necklace from said I should try to get up there if I could. Unfortunately, the bus schedule to get there is major suck-age and the hostels there don't look super promising in terms of location- and Im not €27 and 8 hours on a bus to see the town for 4 hours.)

Feeling uber bored with myself, I took a nap.

Got up, had dinner.... more internet and reading.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

I’ve pretty much spent my entire evening at my desk being completely unproductive.

I need a friggen life. End of story.