20.8.12

first days in galway!

I have been here two nights now? It's a little difficult to remember, and it's barely the first couple days heh. But however long I've been here (I'm too tired to count), it's been fun and packed. When I first arrived, I took a nice walk around the town which is pretty small, but apparently the fifth biggest in Ireland, and as our tour guide told us, the California of Ireland. Later, I met up with some of the people from my program, and we went out to a pub together to hang out. (Had my first Guinness in Ireland! :P)


The next day was spent reading our course pack, visiting a small market, running through the POURING rain, and a HUGE dinner at a great restaurant with the whole group and our professor. We also went out to some pubs and heard some amazing groups playing live music! :D (Yes, we are also studying here)


This morning, we met up early to go on a walking tour of Galway with a really cute old lady. Then, after a couple hours of lunch and relaxing, we headed to the Irish Centre for Human Rights, where we'll be based for the next two weeks. We had a couple hours of lecture, then headed to an amazing dinner at Bridge Mills Restaurant, a gorgeous little restaurant with a big water mill on the side (pictures below). After dinner, we went to St. Nicholas Collegiate Church for a fun, traditional Irish music concert.


Now that you're all up to speed, it's almost time for me to go to bed. We have to be up bright (maybe grey?) and early to go to some little town for a 'rocky shore hike', according to our professor (so that we don't wear flip flops for a 'beach hike'). Good morning/afternoon/night from Galway, wherever you may be!








First Guinness!

AH i have missed this
Grey days in Ireland, just like Seattle.  
Galway Cathedral

Classy little white wine with a fancy man on the front
Pesto bread is amazing! (Need to make this at home..)
Fish and champ mash (Mashed potatoes..)
Wild mushroom risotto (I didn't eat both, I split half with someone! - still too much..)
Awesome band at one of the pubs
Galway town wall - part of what's left of it 
our professor split us up into the tribes of Galway. mine is lynch, which was the most powerful and more than 60 of them were mayors. here's one of their castles.  

the house where james joyce's wife grew up

army flag from the 1800s


Irish Centre for Human Rights


Chicken stuffed with spinach and ricotta - yum
Dough balls with garlic sauce and pesto sauce - meh not so great 
water mill at the restaurant 
how CUTE is this restaurant?!

irish traditional music - this fiddle player was apparently on the top of the irish itunes traditional music charts or something like that (Irish accents are sometimes very hard to understand) 
These guys were awesome and a lot of fun
then they all played together for a bit :) 

18.8.12

greetings from ireland!


It’s been a while since my last update (two and a half months, oops...), but don’t worry, I’m alive! I guess when you’re in Spokane; it’s almost like dropping off the face of the earth. But right now, I am writing to you from my hostel in Galway, Ireland! :D

Sunset at Seatac after getting in from Spokane!
You might be wondering why I’m back in Europe. Well, I’m going to be in Europe, namely Ireland and the Hague, for the next four weeks with a UW law professor and our class of about fifteen studying the challenges of international justice.

Quality time with my favorite dog :)
I wasn’t super excited about coming on this trip in particular since I didn’t know anyone on the trip. Being in Paris during Spring Quarter at UW meant that I didn’t go to any of the meetings that the rest of the class. But another reason that I was a bit sad to come is because my brother is leaving for New York in about ten days for the next two or more years. Yeah, I’ll see him at Christmas, but it’s a bit sad that I have to say goodbye to him so soon. At least we had some time to hang out together while I was in Seattle :)
Terrible game against the Rays, picked the wrong one to go to...
But at least some quality time with my favorite brother :) 
But touching down in Ireland got me more excited. I guess it was the same thing when I was going to Spain. The thought of going isn’t super exciting until I’m seeing the place from the plane! After a five hour flight of crying kids and being stuck in the middle seat next to a guy who pretty much took up half my seat and all of his, a short layover in Philly, then a eight hour flight in a window seat with maybe the only empty seat on the plane next to me and talking to the nice old man from St. Louis in the aisle, a two hour wait for the bus while talking to the nice old Irish man from San Francisco next to me, and a three hour bus ride from Dublin to Galway, I am finally at my final destination! Phew! That means that after 20 hours, I am finally here :)

Love Gasworks!!
I'm hoping that I'll be able to stay awake until tonight just so I can get used to the time. And hopefully I’ll be more efficient at updating my blog this time then I have been in the past! Goodbye for now from partly cloudy, but beautifully sunny (a rarity from what I’ve heard) Ireland! Enjoy the few pictures I have at the moment :) 

Fit in some time for some Capitol Hill fun - Left: Marination Station, Right: Remedy Teas, Bottom: Café Presse

First view of Ireland! :) 

Dublin Airport
Dublin from the bus
Samuel Beckett Bridge
People watching swimmers in the river Liffey

The Custom House in Dublin