funny pictures

Well, I haven't really done anything special lately. We pretty much just hung around Galway, went to pubs or shopping. That's why I'll just put up a few pictures here.
That picture was taken in the Quays (a very nice pub).

During our shopping trip.


Look at the sky! The weather is not always bad!

Burren and Cliffs of Moher

Yesterday we went to some more lunar landscapes: We made a trip to the Burren, the Cliffs of Moher, and lots of other places.
Well, I did promise you more lunar landscapes! *lol*

The small cliffs.

The big cliffs - the Cliffs of Moher. It was a bit foggy when we arrived, but I think it does look kind of cool because it looks like a place where you would find fairies and leprechauns. However, soon after it was completely fogged it and you couldn't see anything.

There were so many freinds who could have taken a picture of myself, but it kind of is our hobby to take stupid pictures of ourselves! *lol*

That's actually on top of the cliffs. During that picture I was thinking: "You just ignored the "Don't go beyong this point!"-sign (with about 100 other people), behind you there is an abyss of about 200 m (which unfortunately you can't see because of the fog), it's so fogged in that you can't even really see where you are going, and it's kind of windy, so I better go back to the safe area!" Well, I had to take this picture myself because my friends didn't want to ignore the "Don't go beyond this point!'-sign.

Poulnabrone, a tombstone. It looks kind of cool, doesn't it?

I've always wanted to be taller than a castle!

By the way, on that trip we also learned that the highest measured temperature in Ireland was 31 degrees Celsius. Well, I don't even try swimming in the sea unless it's above 35 degrees outside, so I guess I will not be able to wear my new white bikini! :-(

Connemara and Aran Islands

On Sunday Julia and I went to Connemara. Mr Degenring (one of my lecturers at Uni Kassel) once said that I'll like the county of Galway if I like lunar landscapes. Well, now I know what he meant! In Connemara we also visited a castle which is called Kylemore Abbey.
Connemara.

Kylemore Abbey.

Victorian walled garden at Kylemore Abbey.

Gothic church at Kylemore Abbey.

Sheep everywhere, even on the streets.

Then on Tuesday we made a trip to another region which includes lots of lunar landscapes, the Aran Islands which are located only a few kilometers west of Galway.




Before you go into a pub in Ireland you do what we Germans call "Vorglühen". That means that you drink the cheaper grocery store alcohol because the alcohol in the pubs is so expensive that you would ruin yourself if you tried to get drunk in a pub. Here you can see a few pictures of one of our "Vorglüh" sessions.

everyday life: going to pubs

Yesterday we (Julia and me) went to two pubs. At first we went to the Cellar Bar which had a cool band. Since we were planning to go on to another pub we only ordered one half pint of cider to share after having had one half pint each. Well, two guys we met at the bar told us that we shouldn't have to share one half pint of cider and bought us each a pint of cider. But I really didn't like the guys, especially beacuse one of them really liked me and my silver jewellery and he was not my type at all. So I wanted to get away as soon as possible and drank my pint really fast. But when we wanted to go the guys ordered two more pints for us. However, we went anyway and fled to the next pub, the Roisin's Dubh - a huge pub with a really cool DJ. So, we danced the rest of the night.
Julia with her two ciders.

In the Roisin's Dubh.

I finally managed to decorate my room.
The Irish flag.

The Gaelic flag.

Today I bought a Claddagh ring. Everybody who used to watched "Buffy-the Vampire Slayer" regularly knows what it is because Angel gave Buffy the ring as a symbol for friendship because that is what his Irish ancestors used to do. (The hands stand for friendship, the crown for loyalty, and the heart..., well, guess!)
I'm actually wearing it wrongly on that picture because if the tip of the heart points to your body that means that you are not single anymore.

The rest of the day we spent at the beach and tried to write funny messages into the sand.
Yes, that's a palm tree.

Irish shells.

the first chaotic and stressful days in Ireland

Welcome to the town where your German umbrella gives up after 2 days because of heavy rain, welcome to the town where girls wear mini skirts and high heels when they go out although it's only 9 degrees Celsius, welcome to the towns where the pubs are always full and always have some kind of really cool shows: WELCOME TO GALWAY, IRELAND!

Now I'm in Ireland and have lots of things to tell. I might even be able to write a book, but I'll try to keep it short! *lol* Let's try to do it chronologically.

August, 8th: To start the house hunt in Galway you have to stand in line for nearly 3 hours in front of the Galway Advertiser building to get the accomodation listing which costs 2 €. Then you run to the closest place to sit and call about 30 landlords who mostly tell you that international students who only stay for half a year are not welcome. However, I did find a place to stay one our first day of house hunting. I thought it would be a cool place to live in because the other people that were living there already were really easy-going and a bit chaotic (just as I am) . But that turned out to be a problem.The line in front of the Galway Advertiser.

Julia after a long day in the youth hostel.

August, 9th: We looked at a lot of different rooms and houses. But it turned out to be a disappointing day because none of the places seemed fit to live in.
Mara (in the front) and Julia (in the back) in the youth hostel trying to find a nice place on the internet.

August, 10th: My first night at my room. Since we still hadn't found anything for Julia (another student from Kassel) and we both booked only 3 nights in a youth hostel, she had to sleep at my place, on the floor.

August, 11th: The people at my place were partying all night and talking quite loudly, so we didn't really sleep that good. And in the morning Colon (one of the people also living in that house) knocked on the door at 10 am and was totally drunk (He and his friends have been drinking all night without a break.). He wanted to have my key, so that he could make a new one. (I guess he lost his key.) And when he came back, he gave Julia and me 2 beers for breakfast. But anyway, Colon is really funny!
However, that day we found another nice room in a house with 3 Irish guys. And that house was just beside mine. So, Julia moved in. We had also looked at a good place for Mara (a student from Göttingen), but the guy who showed us the room still needed time to decide if we were going to get the room because he had so many people that were interested in moving in. But the problem was, that both Julia and Mara wanted to have the room in the house with the 3 Irish guys and none of them wanted to have the other one because Daniel (the guy that was also living there) is kind of unique and they were afraid that they would not get along with him. And I actually liked both places, but I already had a room, so I didn't have to make any decisions.

August, 12th: I actually fled from my room in the morning because the night was awful. Colon's friends were partying in the house all night and he wasn't even there. They were really aggressive to each other and really drunk, of course. The girls (5 of them) threw up all night and people were coming into my room because they mixed up the doors. All of that was quite disgusting and I only slept 2 hours! :-( So, I told Colon that I would be moving out and they apologized a thousand times, but I didn't back off and packed my stuff.
During the same night, Julia woke up in the morning because somebody threw up as well. The 3 Irish guys were also having a party in their house with their friends.
And again during the same night, Mara (a student from Göttingen) experienced how a young Spanish guy threw up into her room in the youth hostel. So, when we met that morning, everybody had a weird story to tell and we were very tired.
And now the whole story gets weird: Suddenly, neither Mara nor Julia wanted to live with the 3 Irish guys because one of them threw up and both of them wanted to move to Daniel. (But we still didn't have an answer from Daniel and didn't even know if anyone of us could live there.) I didn't mind, I just wanted to get out of the party house and so I decided to stay with the 3 Irish guys in the house just beside my earlier place. They are really nice and I even have wireless lan! :-) I just want to mention that rents are really expensive in Ireland: I pay about 300 € (without electricty charges and internet) for a small room (8 or 9 square meters). But it's really close to the city centre and Lidl and Aldi, so I can buy cheap groceries! :-)
In the late afternoon we finally recieved a call from Daniel who told us that we could have the room and Julia moved in. Mara also spend one night there because she didn't want to go back to the youth hostel although she had payed for one more night.
My room. Yes, I know, it's not very tidy but I was in the middle of unpacking.

The living room with the fire place.

The huge kitchen.

August 13th: We finally found place for Mara in the middle of the city. And that's why we went partying in 2 pubs and 1 night club! :-) And all three of us found our rooms in the internet and the Galway Advertiser turned out to be less helpful.


The newspaper actually found three different ways to tell you that the weather is going to suck.