Galway, Ireland -- St. Paddy's Week

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March 14th...we were packing it up and ready to leave London when I realized that my credit card was missing. And shortly thereafter I found out that it had been maxed out by someone trying to buy computer equipment and a $400 pair of boots.

But Ireland was a-callin' and I couldn't wait to get there.

After our $30 flight to Shannon Airport and a long bus ride, Kyle, Thompson and I found ourselves in Galway. Ireland was just as green as I had imagined, with fields of sheep just as I had imagined--corraled by aged stone fences...just as I had imagined.

First night in Galway...

Just as night was falling we located a cool hostel called Barnacles, ditched our luggage, and immediately decided to sniff out a hearty traditional Irish dinner and a stout to wash it down with. At that time, I don't think any of us realized the addictive nature of genuine Guinness.

Our next stop was a pub called The Quays, and the inside of the pub resembled the belly of a large galleon ship. There we met a couchsurfer named Rauiri, and though he was leaving for Slovakia the following day and could not host us, he offered to knock back some pints and show us the hotspots in Galway. Before we crawled back into the hostel at 6:00 am, the four of us:

-- hid our beer in a trashcan to avoid a cop, then snuck back to the trashcan to slam them without getting caught.
-- went to a college bar and got free passes to dance club
-- met some girls smashing pint glasses in the street (literally) and decided to take them to the dance club
-- watched Rauiri take over as DJ at the club and do a damn fine job.
-- I hopped in a cab with 2 girls I didn't know and hoped that Kyle and Chris were going to the same place we were.
-- Wound up at a house party full of art students and watched the sun come up.
-- were given the keys to Rauiri's apartment and told that we could stay there while he was in Slovakia.

I would consider the first night in Galway a success. And by the look on his face, I think the doorman at the hostel agreed.

The Great Blur begins...

The rest of the week seemed to race by...the next day I met a woman in her mid-30's that decided she could pick me up by using her multiple personality disorder. She went from "horny" to "hit me" in the course of about 30 minutes. That episode called for some pints. Even better...that night we hit a comedy club/pub called Roisin Dubh, which was actually very impressive aside from a few obnoxious middle aged Americans on the front row.

The following night, we ended up meeting some really cool girls from Dublin, got our picture on the front page of the Galway Independent, and all went to Eddie Rocket's (of all places) for fries and a shake to celebrate.

It was about this time of the trip that I noticed my urine consistently smelled strongly of Guinness.

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