Oh how excited we were to get to Ireland. SO EXCITED. Adam came here on a trip in high school to build playgrounds and had always wanted to come back, and I was MORE than on board with this desire. Word of advice: When you are departing a city and have a specific time line, make sure to look up any events that may be happening in the city on the day of departure. Events such as "The Great Scottish Race", the largest marathon in the country. The race that shuts down the entire downtown of Glasgow, the race that reroutes all of the buses to get to the airport. And there are no taxis. Yeah. This was a problem. So we missed our planned bus, we had to find and then walk to the bus station (hint: this was not close), and we missed our plane. Our excitement was waning. After paying a boat load to rebook our flight, we finally made it into the air. Ohhhh and the sights to seeeeeeee.....beautiful Ireland, here we come!
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| View of Ireland from the plane |
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| View of Ireland as we land |
Unfortunately, our bad luck did not stay in Scotland. It took 2.5 hours to clear customs because 3 of the 4 lines were occupied by the same people THE ENTIRE TIME WE WERE THERE. No, they did not move them out of the way. And no, they did not clear customs. This was followed by the fact that due to our lateness, the rental car agency gave away our car and left us having to scout other agencies to even get a car. And pay twice the original price. This was not a good start to the trip. Adam wanted to get back on the plane to Scotland. It got ALL BETTER from this point though. Thank GOD.
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| This is on the windshield. It was VERY helpful. |
In Great Britain, you drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. Adam did not trust me to drive, not one single time (not that I can blame him, I am a very distractible driver). I think he did fantastic, though the morning beginnings always started on the wrong side of the road. The most interesting aspect was doing round-a-bouts (which Ireland LOVES), everything is backwards, and logistically messes with your mind. I struggled with it and wasn't even driving! Also, the windshield wipers swing the other way. It's the little things that really get your attention.
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| My wonderful chauffer |
We immediately left Dublin behind and headed to Galway on the west coast. It was a 3 hour drive and had nice scenery once we departed the main highways. By the time we arrived in the late afternoon we were tired and absolutely starving, as we were suppose to be here about 5 hours earlier. So we dropped our things and walked into the "city". It looks like a city on the map, but it is not really at all, and all easily and comfortably navigated on foot.
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| Galway |
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| Galway |
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| Galway |
We could not decide what we wanted to eat, as we were SO hungry, so we just ended up in a quiet pub off of the main drag. If you ever make it to Galway, scout out
Blake's Pub at Brasserie on the Corner. Nothing fantastic, really good food and drinks, but it is very local and very relaxed. It was exactly what we needed, with an awesome waiter, and we were here for many hours...enjoying the drinks, the food, the soccer game, and the camaraderie. It is a pub in the restaurant, but they are separate. The restaurant is quite fancy, the pub is not, but they share the kitchen, so the food is top-notch. It was local fare and delicious.
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| First Irish libations, the first of many |
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| Adam's first true Guinness |
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| My first Bulmer's Irish cider...it was true love |
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| The charcuterie board to start the evening |
Our evening was wrapped up by a nice walk back to our place, nice hot showers, and completely passing out immediately. Sleeping in hopes of waking up to a much smoother and less eventful day to follow.
