Galway & Connemara and last days in Ireland

The last week of my internship was a tough one. In just four days I had to revise my whole report of almost 50 pages with the last comments on about half the document only two days before the deadline. On Monday I could only work until 4:00 because of my volleyball training. In the evening I had a dinner in the Boardwalk restaurant with the research group because some guy finished his PhD. It is a tradition that people who finish their stay within the group get a free dinner. As surprised as I was when I tried to pay, I got a free meal. The food was really good. I started with a chicken bacon salad, followed by salmon with spinach and concluded with a banoffee pie.
The following two days I worked as much and as fast as I could which resulted in 9:00 to 18:30 days followed by almost two hours after dinner. On Thursday I had to finish the report and because progress was slow I finally sent my report at 00:15 to my supervisors. Pleased that it was finished I started somewhat later on my last day. That Friday I arranged all kind of things and half way the afternoon I said goodbye to everyone. They surprised me with a card at which they all had written something and a few presents.
My internship had finished. I’m very happy about what I’ve done and learned during these few months. A very good choice!

In my last weekend it was time for my last trip through Ireland. I decided to go to Galway and Connemara. Galway is a city at the west coast about halfway between the south and north point of Ireland. With a large student population it’s a very lively city even in winter. After a 3.5 hrs bus ride from Cork to Galway I checked in in Kinlay House Hostel after which I spend the afternoon wandering through the city. The boulevard was especially nice.
In the evening I made a small trip but being really tired of the hard work of last weeks and the cold I went to my room quite early. There I met my three female roommates. We chatted for a while but then they went out for dinner and a pub and I read for a moment before going to bed.

For the next day I had booked a bus tour through Connemara. With Healy’s Connemara and Galway Bay Tours I saw the spectacular landscape north west of Galway. After leaving Galway we drove west along Galway Bay and through the deserted famine village. Some two hundred years ago the Catholics were banned to this area of Ireland where nothing will grow on the land. However, they found that by mixing the top layer with sea weed potatoes could grow. But because there were so many people and the land was scarce everyone lived along the roads while the land was divided in small pieces with stony walls. When a potato disease destroyed all the food almost everyone died leaving the stony walls and a deserted land.

After this strange landscape we drove through a beautiful landscape with mountains, valleys, lakes and many sheep. This area is Gaeltacht, an area where the Gaeltacht or Irish language is spoken and preserved. People are only allowed to live there if they can speak Irish, work in the area and have the intention to stay there. The tour continued to Kylemore Abbey and Gardens. The abbey was built as a castle in 1871 but converted to an abbey in 1920 after changing ownership. It is now run by nuns but unfortunately due to lack of money the day school for local girls just closed while the last girls of the international boarding school will leave in June. The abbey and gardens are now totally depended on tourism. The garden is in progress of restoration and is already nice to see even though it was winter. The ground floor of the abbey is open for public and shows the original castle.
After this cultural part of the day we drove back to Galway through the valleys and along the banks of the large Lough Corrib. This bus tour from 10:00 to 17:15 was followed by my return journey to Cork. At 18:30 I entered the bus again and left it at 22:50. Instead of just under 3.5 hrs it took 4.5 hrs because of a traffic accident. Despite this long journey home I had a great last weekend with good weather in a beautiful part of Ireland.

Click here for the other pictures.

The following day I packed my bags, had my last volleyball training and said goodbye to my housemates. On Tuesday I returned back in the Netherlands without any trouble. There my parents and one of my brothers surprised me at the airport and brought me back home.

A very nice, learning full experience has come to an end…