After our tour of Londonderry, we drove back to the Republic of Ireland to Galway, which is on the west coast. We were dropped off in town and had a few hours to explore on our own. First I headed across the river to the Galway Cathedral, then I walked along the river, down to the Spanish Arch and the Columbus monument. Next I visited the Church of Saint Nicholas, which dates back to medieval times. I then did a bit of shopping in some of the cute, little stores in town before heading back to Eyre Square, our meeting point to go to the hotel. Galway is part of the Gaeltacht, regions of Ireland where Irish is spoken. It was great overhearing some of the locals speaking Irish. Another interesting observation was to see how much the people in this area loved JFK. The park, which contains a JFK monument, in Eyre Square is named after him as well as a nearby pub. There is even a mosaic of him in the cathedral right next to a mosaic of Christ’s resurrection!