Dublin to Galway

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The next day in Dublin Mary and I set out to check out one of the biggest parks in the west of the city as well as a bar our Irish friend Fitzy recommended back in DC. We got a late start so we never made it all the way to the park, but we did stop at the bar. It's called the Brazen Head and is one of the oldest pubs in Ireland, founded in 1198. One of the reasons I love Europe is the history everywhere, and where else can you drink a Guinness in a pub that was founded at the start of the Middle Ages! Before returning to our hostel we did pop into another bar (shocker) that I had really liked on my last visit to Dublin, the Porterhouse. Unlike the rest of Ireland where you find the usual suspects on tap (Guinness of course, Smithwicks, Carlsberg, and even the likes of Budweiser and Coors light), the Porterhouse brews all it's own drafts, including an oyster stout made with actual oysters! Being allergic to shellfish I decided to go with a great ale instead, also because its hard to find ales in Ireland except for of course Smithwicks. Delicious!

After two days in Dublin we set out to our next destination across the Emerald Isle to the city of Galway. Before leaving Dublin Mary and I found a cute little B and B online to stay at right near the main cathedral in town. We had made a reservation for a car back in the US, which we plan to use for transportation to jump from city to city during out stay here. After packing up all out things we set out to find the car rental place which was located on the outskirts of the city. Well several wrong turns on foot, and then missing our stop on the bus, we finally found the Budget. I got behind the manual car and was excited to drive on the other side of the road again, taking me back to where I first learned to drive in Pakistan. The drive to Galway was painless, highway basically the whole way. We drove through some typical Irish weather, going from bright sunshine to torrential downpour, and beautiful landscapes.

We pulled into our B and B late afternoon, and after cleaning up a bit set off to check out the town. Both Mary and I have been to Galway before on our previous trips to Ireland, but any Ireland visit has to include Galway as we both loved the city! We walked up and down Quay street, and finally stopped into a bar Andrea's husband Conor claims has the best Guinness in Galway (Andrea is Mary's cousin who we are visiting in Belfast). After a few delicious pints and some food we returned to our B and B to get some rest. The next morning we awoke to gusty wind and whipping rain, so decided to have a lazy day in our room reading and watching TV. After the rain died down we were in the mood for some fish and chips, and walked down the road to a bar Mary had been to on her last visit to Galway, Monroe's. Excellent atmosphere with live music almost every night we ordered the fish and chips we were craving, and as our fried food induced coma set in realized we probably could have just ordered one plate.

That night the NFL playoff games were on and I had searched online and found a bar that could potentially be showing the games. Located in the main square the bar sure enough was showing the games as the bouncer exclaimed that a bunch of our 'american friends' were inside. Mostly a Baltimore crowd (some Baltimore/Maryland guys school rugby team was probably traveling through Ireland) was huddled around the two TVs. As the game progressed Mary and I realized the bar was also the location for some irish girl's 21st birthday. So as the game went on the bar quickly became a thumping teeny-bopper dance party with music so loud I could barely speak to Mary right next to me. I think Mary (and possibly myself at moments) became more interested in the cute outfits/shoes that all the girls were wearing than the game itself, plus the Baltimore crowd had little to cheer about in the 2nd half anyway. We didn't stay up for the packer/falcon game after seeing how it was well past midnight at this point, and retired to our nice, quiet B and B.

The next morning we were blessed with a crystal clear day, and decided to walk out to the shores of the city. We had a great walk around a huge field that overlooked the Atlantic, and then meandered through the shops again on the main pedestrian walk-way in the center of town. That night we returned to Monroe's, and the staff was nice enough to change a TV to the patriots/ jets game. Not feeling particularly well we retired early to rest up for our trip to the Cliffs of Mohor and Kilkenny the next day!

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