Over Thanksgiving break, my family and I went to Ireland to visit my older sister who was studying abroad in Galway. It was super exciting for me since I had never been to Europe before, and I was always the kind of person growing up wanting to travel everywhere.
From late buses to beautiful scenery and an almost missed flight, I highlight some of the experiences I had over the week.
Getting there
The flight that my parents and I were on was considered an overnight flight, where you would leave during the evening of your origin country and arrive in the morning of the country you’re going to. This is a wonderful idea in theory, but none of my family members were able to sleep on the plane, and we got off our eight-hour flight exhausted. This didn’t leave us in Ireland either; we were in London.
To get to any terminal at London Heathrow Airport, you have to take these buses. The sign said that the bus came every ten minutes, but we didn’t see one for about 20–25. This was worrying since we didn’t have a long layover, but we eventually got on the bus and to our gate on time. This was the first time we were introduced to people driving on the left side rather than the right, which definitely freaked us out during that first turn.
After getting to Ireland, we took a two-hour bus ride from Shannon to Galway, where we met up with my sister and headed to the place we were staying. We went back to the train station to pick up some family friends who were joining us for a few days and then headed to dinner. My parents and I were so exhausted from the long trip and no sleep that we all slept around 15 hours that night.
The Surprise
When originally planning this trip, my cousin was supposed to come with my parents and I but decided that he wouldn’t be able to come a couple of months before. Therefore, I was not expecting him on the trip.
Flash forward to Ireland. It’s the day after we’ve gotten there, and I got adequate sleep for the day. My parents said that the family friends were out in town and we were going to meet them at the train station. This made sense to me because the train station was right in the middle of town, and it was easy to spot someone there.
We got to the train station and waited. My mom bought me a coffee (which I now knew because she was trying to kill time) and waited some more before the family friends met up. I thought that we were going to head somewhere else now that they were here, but they started talking at the station. I told them I was going to wait outside until they were done since construction had started up, and a minute later, my cousin walked through the doors of the train station. He had known that he was going to come on the trip for a month and decided to surprise my sister and I. It was great having him along since he was a younger person in the house and had a lot of energy.
The Activities
Overall, the trip was very laid back. We came to Ireland with ideas of what to do, but nothing set in stone. I think that this was a good way to approach a vacation, but I would’ve liked to have more definite planned activities so we weren’t trying to plan the night before.
We still were able to do plenty of things. Most of it was walking around and exploring the city of Galway, along with trying local restaurants and Christmas shopping. We took a mini self-guided tour of the University of Galway from my sister and visited the largest Cathedral in the city. We visited the aquarium, the beach, and some little statues and ruins. For Thanksgiving, we went to an Indian food restaurant and then went to a storytelling event at a bar.
My favorite part of the trip was going to the Aran Islands for a day and walking around Inishmore Island. Getting there was a bit of a hassle with a long bus ride and ferry ride that both made me quite motion-sick, but it was definitely worth it. There were old ruins, beautiful rocky coastlines, green fields with stone hedges, and friendly animals.
The Ambiance
Ireland, specifically Galway, is completely different from any place I’ve been in the United States. You can just tell that it’s older and more developed. The building architecture is much more classic, and most buildings are connected to each other in some way until you get out to the outskirts of the city.
Everyone is very nice and always willing to help if you need it, regardless if you’re a traveler. The roads are super narrow, so the lines between lanes feel more like a suggestion if there are cars parked on either side. The sidewalks are very low to the ground, and many people walk everywhere. It’s a little scary to pass someone on the sidewalk when cars are driving so quickly and so close to you. The smells are either wet clothing, smoky wood burning from the chimneys, or fresh grass.
The most prevalent thing about Ireland is the rain. I knew that it would rain a lot, but I wasn’t aware of how much “a lot” was. It turns out that it’s every single day, off and on, with no warning. It could be cloudy and somewhat sunny one minute and then be downpouring the next. Having a rainjacket not just with you but currently on you was necessary at all times.
Getting Home
While I am still assessing the level of jetlag on the way back, it definitely wasn’t as bad as getting there. The trip to get home was much more stressful, which was half because of my family and half the chaos of London Heathrow.
My parents and I were up at four in the morning, and we took a taxi to Shannon Airport. Getting through the entire airport took about 10 minutes from walking inside to getting to our gate. Once we arrived in London, you have to walk all over the airport and get on another bus to the right terminal. There’s more walking and another customs/security check. Our boarding passes wouldn’t scan, so we had to wait in line to get new ones. The line to security was very long, and both my Dad and I’s backpacks got taken and searched because we had a liquid container that was too big (my toothpaste was 7ml too large…). We missed the first train and had to wait for another to take us to our gate.
In the end, we got to our gate almost half an hour after the boarding time and thought that we were going to miss our flight. Luckily everything runs a little late in London, so they were just starting to board.
Final Thoughts
Ireland is awesome; it’s as simple as that. I’m not sure I would be able to live there full-time since there’s not enough sun and too much rain (which I didn’t think was possible, but now I know it is).
I wish I had more time/accessibility to go and do a few more things on the coast, like visiting the Kylemore Abbey castle or going to the Cliffs of Moher. That just means that I’ll have to go back at some point.
Getting to see and hang out with family was the most meaningful part. It was really fun to see where my sister had been living for the past few months and have her take us to cafes and restaurants that she liked. I loved getting to see a glimpse into the life of living in Ireland, and I would highly recommend anyone to visit.