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Published: April 17th 2009
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We were told before we even got to Galway that you don’t go there for the sites - you go there for the people. So, Erica and I spent the entire day amongst the townies, shopping, eating, and going out to the pubs.
We slept in late, as the past week has been spent been gallivanting around the island like crazy. Our B&B landlords Eddie and Helen, couldn’t understand why two girls in their 20’s would choose to go to bed before 1am (the night before), but we were “wrecked.”
After some fuel (coffee, sausage, scones and eggs and more coffee), we shopped for hours! Shoes, handbags, dresses, souvenirs…it was so fun. I had died and gone to shoe and handbag heaven! As you can see in the photos, the shoe selection here is phenomenal.
We both ended up getting pairs of shoes. Erica got a very pretty dress and purse, while I got some jewelry. For me, the tough part is knowing what we’re buying, (quality wise.) The brands here are different, so it’s hard to know whether or not you’re going into a Forever 21 type store, or a Nordstrom. For the most part you can
tell, but also, we could be getting completely ripped off. It was overall a very successful shopping day. We also discovered that Mischa Barton - (remember Marissa on “The OC?”) has a handbag line that was just released and is only available in the UK. Coming to the U.S. soon ladies! (Oh, and Will we got you something sweet, so get excited!
Later in the afternoon we were getting a little tired and sore, so for a pick-me-up we got 30 min back massages - they were lovely! Then, revisiting my college days in true Gamma Phi Beta fashion, I saw a picture of a Crescent Moon on a restaurant and took a picture of it. GPHIs, I will probably send it into the Crescent for the “Capture a Crescent” section - I KNOW, nerd alllllllert. We saw an Apple store and laughed because they call it the “3G store” and enjoyed the many street performers, which reminded us of San Francisco.
After a meal of yummy crepes, we walked down to the river and the harbor. There we met Septa and Bert. Septa was a woman in her 60’s feeding the ducks. There was one Crain who
kept following her around, but wouldn’t eat the bread. When we asked her to take our picture, she said yes and asked if we would like to take it with the Crain; he wouldn’t eat bread, he’s picky - only eats meats and cheeses. We said, “sure?” She went inside her house to get us some cheese to lure the Crain in, to have a photo with. Sure enough, “Bert” (as she named him), ate the cheese we threw in front of us and appeared in our photo.
We visited the Saint Nicholas Church of Ireland, which was absolutely beautiful. We walked in while there was a rehearsal wedding going on, and sat and watched for a little. The stained glass was stunning.
One thing we noticed while walking the streets, as that there is an exponential amount of a) Hair Salons, b) Dentists and c) Swimwear Shops. This was amusing to us because, what city needs more than 20+ hair salons? Also, why would they need swim shops??? It is cold and the water is freezing. We have not gone anywhere sans fleece, jacket and scarf. I have worn my black North Face puffy vest every single
day (yes Mom, the one you told me not to bring since it would take up too much room in my bag).
We made our way back to the B&B, chatted it up with Eddie and got ourselves dolled up for a night on the town.
To start off the evening we made our way down the road to Galway Greyhound Stadium, home of the Galway Greyhound dog races! According to our tour book, the station was so close to our B&B - a “barking” distance away. To Erica’s disappointment, there was absolutely no barking involved. These greyhounds flew around the track at ridiculous speeds. We took a video on my camera as well as some photos, missing the sign that said “No Flash Photography.” There we were, the two dumb Americans, taking photos. We got into trouble, because the flash affects the dog’s racing. Some old Irish man is probably blaming us for his dog losing and him losing money on his bet. We got out of there quickly.
We made our first stop at An Punac, a little pub just down the street from our pub, where there was live Irish dancing and music. We
met three guys from Northern Ireland (Donegal) whose accent was so thick, that it almost was a different language. It was by far the hardest one to understand the entire trip. However, from what we got of it, his name was Michael and he was celebrating his 27th birthday…and he as drinking vodka instead of beer, because according to weight watchers, vodka is only “one point.” Who would have known…weight watchers? I told him I was on vacation and didn’t care about points, so I got my authentic Irish pilsner. Erica was busy talking to a young couple (18 and 17) from Germany. The girl has been in Dublin with a host family since January learning English, and he came out to visit her for the weekend.
We made our way down to Quay Street to check out the scene and went into another small pub. While at the pub we met two more lads who were about 27, born and bread in Galway. We stuck with them and moved on with them from pub to pub for a few hours. They were great fun and we talked, laughed and danced (well, I did) for hours. Damian (aka Damo)
informed us that our recession in America is over now. I said, “Wow, really? Thanks for the heads up, I disagree 100%” Ireland is also in a bad recession - they actually think they are going to go completely bankrupt. They did not receive any type of stimulus package - government or personal. Everyone here loves Obama and think that he is great not only for America, but the entire world. Nothing but positive things to say. We are glad; it gave us better street cred.
It started getting pretty late and we had an early bus to catch to Dublin. During our walk back to the B&B, Erica decided it would be a GRAND idea for us to get in our run for the day. So, there we were, running through the streets of Galway, everyone looking at us wide-eyed to see if there was actually somebody chasing us - because why on earth would we be sprinting? All you could hear was us panting, saying to each other “Run off those sausages…damn the rashers…ugh, so many carbs on this trip…run!!!!” Crazy Americans. We made it back to the B&B and I thought I was going to have
a heart attack. I have no clue how I am going to continue training for my marathon when I get back.
Off to Dublin for the next couple days in the morning. Unfortunately, most locals we talked with in Galway hated Dublin. That’s grand. Stay tuned.
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Andrea and Erica
A Sister's Journey Through Ireland
shoes.......
Yes, it definitely looks like you've died and gone to "shoe heaven"!