After about a week of traveling, I am now sitting in my cozy cottage at the Park Lodge Hotel! First I will get you up to speed on my adventures so far...
On Friday, August 26th, I flew to Reykjavik, Iceland for a pre-study abroad visit. I traveled with three friends who are also on the Galway program and one who is studying in London. We were great travel buddies! We arrived in Iceland around 6 a.m. and took a bus into the city. It was a smooth bus ride to our hotel, and we were settled in by 8. My friend Kelly's neighbor's sister lives in Iceland and greeted us at our hotel with a welcome basket full of baked goods, fruit and maps of the city. We met up with her that afternoon, and she gave us a walking tour around our neighborhood in Reykjavik, which was right in the city center. On Sunday, we went to a cafe and read some Icelandic magazines...I was happy to find out I can continue one of my favorite pastimes abroad! That afternoon, Elizabeth drove us to the Pearl, a vistor's center in the city, and we hiked around on some beautiful paths. It actually reminded me a lot of MN! Then Elizabeth brought us to a great geo-thermal swimming pool in her neighborhood, where we spent a few hours in the "hot pots." Elizabeth also invited us to dinner at her house that night. Her family was great and very entertaining. We had a traditional Icelandic meal of grilled lamb, red cabbage, potatoes and salted peas, with a berry pie or dessert. On Tuesday, we made a stop at the Blue Lagoon on our way to the airport. The geo-thermal spa is in the middle of a huge lava field, and it was a nice, relaxing way to end the trip.
We finally arrived in Ireland on Wednesday morning, and after a few bus rides we made it to the Park Lodge Hotel outside of Galway at 2 p.m.! We were welcomed by the two sisters who own the hotel, who greeted us with cookies and juice. After we explored the "roaring metropolis of Spiddal" (as our program director's husband calls it!), they served us a lovely (and huge!) dinner. It was great to have a home cooked meal after eating out and a lot of airport food! I slept really well in our room at the hotel knowing I was finally here! I am already quite impressed with everything here...the people are more than friendly (we got lots of waves and honks on the way to Spiddal because everyone knows when the Americans are coming!), and the land and ocean are gorgeous. What a great start to the semester!!
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