“A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and run deep and green. The water is warm too, for it has slipped twinkling over the yellow sand in the sunlight before reaching the narrow pool.” Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: 8/10 I was not a
And so we arrived in Galway city and hurried to leave our bags in the secure room at the Galway Sleepzone so we could get exploring. Galway has a fabulously compact city centre. The stretch between Eyre Square down Shop Street as far as Spanish Arch might have a reputation as tourist central but it
“It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.” 1984 by George Orwell: 7/10 “…the clocks were striking thirteen.” I love this opening line. It at once is completely of our world and completely not. Famiilar and foreign at the same time. The cold bright April day is so mundane
Friends, for a second imagine this is a horror movie…. Four students returning to the mainland (and by extension the real world) and find their way to the town of Clifden. They had planned to stay in the isolated Ben Lettery hostel, a beautiful spot in the shadow of another of the Bens. But following
“To everything there is a season. Yes. A time to break down, and a time to build up. Yes. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. Yes, all that. But what else?” Fahrenheit 451 by Rad Bradbury 9/10 I have an interest in banned books. I don’t always like them (example anything
There’s only one place to get the ferry to Inisbofin (Inis Bó Fionn – Island of the pale cow) and that’s the seaside village of Cleggan. You can also get ferries to the Aran Islands here as well as find good stables for pony trekking around the beach – but not a lot else. Getting out
Once we were on the bus to Letterfrack the hot tempers cooled. This however was not helped by our hostel, the Letterfrack Lodge calling and letting us know that due to a double booking they had to move us to another hostel in the village, the Bard’s Den. We were pretty annoyed and it would stop
Following Westport we managed to get to the Connemara Sleepzone hostel between Killary and Leenane. If you’re looking for a quiet break this is a fabulous spot. Good value and they do group deals. Stay and enjoy for €16-€20 a night. There’s a pool table and a bar, a TV with a good DVD collection,
So back in August of 2010 I went on a trip down the west coast of Ireland with three friends who do not want to be named (so let’s call them A, T and L) going from Westport to Galway city over eight days. Westport is gorgeous little place, where we stayed in the Old
