Day 4

---

Thursday, October 7: Happy 80th Birthday to my Dad! This morning we were up early to catch a tour bus to the ferry and on to the Aran Island of Inishmore. We walked to the city centre and made a quick stop to buy a plugin adapter for our laptop. The clerk in the store was very helpful but I couldn't understand a word he said--seemed mostly like mumbling and reminded me of a character in a movie I once watched but I still haven't recalled the movie. The bus trip took about an hour and was a nice break for Ed from driving. We drove through County Mayo along Galway Bay getting an eyeful of the Connemara landscape. We caught the ferry at Rossaveel and had a lulling ferry ride out of the bay to Kilronan on the Aran Island of Inishmore. Ed and I both fell asleep on the boat but were wide awake by the time we reached the island. We were met by a barrage of horse and buggies and tour vans. We passed those up in favor of a local pub and a pint. Then we strolled through the village stores, made some purchases, and found a lunch of seafood chowder. Many of the people who live on the island still speak Gaelic as their first language. It was fascinating to just sit and listen to them and Ed says the best place to do that is always a pub. Ed had planned for us to rent bicycles but the wind was, again, gale force and any RAGBRAI veteran who can remember Windy Thursday would appreciate why we didn't bike. I know, Jerome, you would have biked anyway but we're weenies! On the return ferry, the wind was strong enough to make for a rough ride, jolting Ed awake at one point. The bus ride back to Galway provided just as much beautiful scenery as the ride out and we were back at city centre by 7:30. We found dinner at Mrs. Garvey's Stout and checked out O'Connell's pub that seemed neverending--just kept going back through hallways to find even more rooms of people and two outdoor patio areas. We stopped by Murphy's where we found Kim and Harry and enjoyed a pint or two with them. Ed and Harry made a connection of a person they knew in common--small world. On to An Pucan for some music. We met a woman from Norway, Mona, who has moved to Galway and is enjoying life here. She was nice enough to rush after us when we left to give us a backpack that she found on the table--however it was not our pack. I hope she was able to find who it belonged to.

---