A Classy Night Out on the Town

Had a delicious candlelit dinner at Bewley's Oriental Cafe on Grafton Street.

Then got to see Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre. Amazing- don't know how their feet can move that fast!

National Museum at Collins Barracks

Walked across town to visit the National Museum at Collins Barracks - they have all sorts of artifacts from the 1916 Easter Rising and the War of Independence, as well as a large collection from the Natural History Museum, which is temporarily closed for renovation.

Visit to Dublin Castle

Took a tour of Dublin Castle on Saturday afternoon. Here I am inside the castle, looking out onto the beautiful courtyard.

Perhaps the throne is a wee bit big for me.

We went underground to see older ruins of the original Dublin Castle, as well as the remains of some Viking structures.

Here I am standing on some of the remains of Dublin Castle's original powder tower, which was accidentally destroyed during a "controlled explosion." Now all you can see are some ruins underground.

Lunch with Bono!

Well, not really, but we did eat at "Nude," the spiffy organic restaurant owned by his brother... very tasty!

Tour of Trinity College

The group from William and Mary took a tour of Trinity College on Saturday morning which was led by a young student who was both informative and delightfully irreverent when talking about his school.

After the tour we visited the Old Library and the Book of Kells.

Caitlin bought me a friend- a cuddly and as-of-yet unnamed Trinity College teddy bear. Any suggestions on the name?

Literary Pub Crawl

Went ont the Literary Pub Crawl. Two actors lead you around the city to pubs frequented by Dublin's notable writers, and act out scenes from their work along the way. There was also a pub quiz at the end to try and win a free t-shirt. The young lads and lasses from William and Mary competed valiantly, but were eventually vanquished by a gent from Denmark!

Visit to Clonmacnoise

Stopped by Clonmacnoise monastic site on our way to Dublin for the weekend. Here I am in front of some castle ruins- the first thing you see when you pull into the car park.

Lots of high crosses at Clonmacnoise!

A view of the whole are- round towers, ruined abbeys, and lots of gravestones.

Connemara Lead Mines

Went with the Geology class to visit Glengowla Mines - the only showmine open to visitors in Ireland.

Had to wear hardhats for going down into the mine.

Got to pan for gold after the tour- found all sorts of treasures!

Met a new friend named Sean- the grandson of the mine owner. He was a fine lad- even let me ride on his tractor!

Found lots of treasures to add to me' pot o' gold!

Supermacs is Super!

Stopped by Supermacs for dessert in the way home from the Cottage Bar. The verdict is that ice cream and warm muffins are pretty much the gretest dessert combination that ever was.

Celtic Tales at the Cottage Bar

We ventured to the Cottage Bar in Salthill to hear a storyteller spin some Celtic yarns for us as we ate dinner...

The storyteller's name was Rab Swannock Fulton - a Scottish lad who had the good sense to move to the Emerald Isle a few years back...

Here I am with the storyteller at the end of the performance. After telling tales about the wee folk all evening, he seemed quite thrilled to meet a actual leprechaun!

RIP Michael Jackson

The death of Michael Jackson has definitely taken England and Ireland by storm. We must have heard that "Thriller" tune at least once a day in various shops and pubs since the news of his death first broke, and the story has been all over the papers, the radio, and the "telly." The folks from William and Mary all gathered today to watch the memorial service as it was broadcast from Los Angeles.

Tex-Mex...Galway Style

The Okie and the Texan fulfilled their tex-mex craving with dinner at La Salsa tonight. Apparenly in Ireland they serve their burritos on silver platters?! How posh! ;-)

Time to Hit the Books!

Well, my sightseeing has tapered off a bit now that all my traveling companions actually have schoolwork to do for their classes here at NUI Galway! The young lasses even have a paper due on Friday?! Luckily, we all have the weekend in Dublin to look forward to once all the work is done!

Volunteering at the 2009 Galway Film Fleadh

The girls will be volunteering at the 2009 Galway Film Fleadh (Irish for "Festival") this coming week, and they had their orientation meeting today at the Town Hall Theatre. Sadly the festival staff wasn't convinced that I needed a name badge of me' own- so I suppose I'll just have to make do with sharing Caitlin's...

Horseback Trek in Laughrea

Some of the lasses from William and Mary decided to spend their free Sunday in the small town of Loughrea where they trekked across the Irish countryside on Connemara Ponies. Their ride was overseen by famous Irish horseman Willie Leahy, and his dashing younger cohort who the young ladies just might have fancied a wee bit.



While waiting for the bus back to Galway, the girls explored the quaint shops of Laughrea. Megan even found a mug with me' name on it!