Have a nice Holiday

by Fernanda Santana (Portugal)

Making a local connection Ireland

I was at Limerick train station sitting on a cold seat waiting for the next train to Galway, I stayed there for about an hour and a half, and as I listened (Slow Coming – Benjamin Booker) on my “Dramatic” playlist, I started to project a brief retrospective of the moments that led me there! It was October 20, 2017, when I landed in Dublin – Ireland, carrying a script of how my Exchange course would be like, I walked through the immigration officer, and from that moment, I would start a new script full of things that happen naturally, without predetermined desires and wishes; and that’s what I want to talk about. After all the immigration bureaucracy, I went to the Abrahams Hostel; which was a relief after hours of flight because it is located right in the center of the town and is very cozy, certainly a great place to stay if you pass by there! On the next day, since I had move on, I made a little tour around the city, I met the Trinity College Library, where I learned a little more about my Literary Idol Oscar Wilde and after a quick lunch in a restaurant nearby, I went to Temple Bar, one of the most popular pubs in Dublin, after all, culture and Pint (Guinness) are a perfect match, isn’t it? That same day, I headed to Galway, where the adventure was really about to begin! The accommodation was a shared house; with people of different nationalities. After arranging my stuff, I went to Quays, a pub I had met the previous year, in a quick trip during the Halloween. All the pubs in Galway are great but this one in particular is the place where things happen, it is cozy and has a great staff that treats everyone very well! I particularly went there many times during this trip… After a day, it seemed that everything was already familiar for me, including the language. The first week studying at Atlantic Language exceeded my expectations, from amazing teachers to the smiling receptionists who were always ready to help. Ireland is for sure a country that looks like a real-life fairy tale and Galway is where these tales could easily happen. The town is small and cultural, where people are polite and welcoming that end up making a very cold place warmer. If you go there, you can not miss the Pubs; the Menlo Castle which is only an hour from the center of town, where you travel back in time (directly to the 16th Century); visit Salt Hill and get a close look at one of the city’s postcards, visit the Galway Museum which is near the Spanish Arch where you can learn a little more about the history and customs of these interesting people. And still make the tours that have a fair price, to visit the closest places like the Cliffs of Moher the place that made me and it will always make me go there, I’ll make sure of visiting again, Aran Island an island where you can quietly ride your bike and enjoy the scenery, but do a stretching before, trust me! The Connemara which is an indescribable place, the Aillwee Cave, a cave that is thousands of years old but was only discovered in 1940, where I overcame the fear of enclosed places, Dunguaire Castle, Polnabrone Dolmen that brings you back to the Neolithic period between 4200 BC and 2900 BC; and several other places, which I could describe and still would not be as incredible as they are, because being there and checking up closely is something that everyone should do. Allow yourself to live, open your mind and heart, you are not a rock of the Neolithic era, you can change! It doesn’t matter if it is in a magnificent place like Galway or another neighborhood close by …. Move! There is a world full of possibilities waiting for you. And wherever you are remember “Have a nice Holiday!” “I am who I am because we are one – Ubuntu!”