Blogs from County Galway, Ireland, Europe - page 18

Wednesday morning May 30 - I got up early and quietly dressed as my roommates were still sleeping. I had tea and toast for breakfast. The tea here is pretty good and they have a good continental breakfast although I wouldn’t mind if they had a boiled egg to go with it. I really am enjoying my stay in Galway and really wouldn’t mind staying a few more days, especially as the hostel is so agreeable to me. But I have reservations in Doolin, Ennis, and Cork so I guess I will head south. There is an expression that goes “wherever you go , there you are”. It pretty much holds up for me. Whether here or at home the first thing I always do is drink my tea and think things over. And that has ... read more

May 29 Tuesday - Today I got up early and gathered up some stuff and went to the lunchroom to log on and catch up with my blog and things while eating breakfast. They have a free continental style breakfast here. I always just have tea and their cups were the largest I have seen since I got to Ireland. This Irish tea is quite good and much better than any I have had in the states. After breakfasting and finishing my computer work I went back to my room and the rest of the guys were gone so I cleaned up and got dressed and sorted out things a bit. It is so difficult not to accumulate stuff as the accumulation bug is ground into Americans but I have to try and keep it down ... read more

I was back in Ballinasloe for the weekend. I pretty much hung around the house and scanned family pictures and visited with family. I put all the pictures I scanned on an SD card which I will leave here. Friday was wash day and I went out to the bog with the cousins to check on the turf. They have bought 8 rows of turf which has been cut and is drying. So that it dries correctly they have to go out this week and turn the turf, and then back later and stack it, and then in a couple of weeks they will load it up in a trailer and bring it home to store it. Quite a bit of work. Of course it can be ordered dried and delivered but it cost more. I ... read more

Wednesday May 23 Ballinasloe to Galway and return - I took the #20 bus from Ballinasloe. It was scheduled for 10:10 but got there at 10:40. It was a beautiful day and I had really enjoyed the Spring like weather. The bus and train station in Galway is the same building. It is right off of Eyre Square. The bus takes a roundabout route which takes it through some other towns it picks up in. The ride takes about an hour. Eyre Square is a great place to relax and people watch. And the weather was so nice and cool. Really excellent and the air was so fresh and the grass so green. After enjoying Erye Square a good while I did a little homework on some of the hostels available near Eyre Square and then ... read more

Rebekah Pierce here.....By now we all are aware that the Irish are extremely nice people but we never thought that a single Irish tour bus driver would make us all fall in love with Ireland even more. Paul was our bus driver for the day and he was a storyteller for the books. Teaching all of us more than we could have ever learned on our own and not only teaching us but also intriguing us with the heritage of this beautiful place. When we got on the bus we asked Paul if he liked horses his response was positive saying that it is the Celtic Irish belief that the spirits of their greatest ancestors live on in the Nobel horse. Before we started our trek to Galway from Dublin we were told that over the ... read more