Dublin to Galway

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Today we had a leisurely breakfast before boarding the bus for a panoramic tour of Dublin including a visit to Trinity College, home of the Book of Kells which is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin containing the four Gospels of the New Testament. Also at Trinity College was the Long Room which is filled with 200,000 of the Library's oldest books. We were told that the wait time can be as long or longer than 2 hours to get in to see the Book of Kells. However, we had a fast pass that put as at the beginning of the line. Thank you Gate 1. We also viewed St. Stephen's Green, Phoenix Park and St. Patrick's Cathedral. We didn't have a chance to go in but we will be back in Dublin at the end of the tour so that is one option during our free time. After time for lunch we continued westward to Galway, a seafaring town steeped in tradition and a cultural center for the west of Ireland. During our ride, Patrick shared anecdotes and stories about the landscape, architecture, and history of Ireland. One fact is that there are no snakes in Ireland. There are a lot of men named Patrick, that the rainy season in Ireland is from January 1 to December 31. The climate is temperate though so it doesn't get too hot or too cold. Average temperature is about 50 degrees.

We arrived in Galway about 4:00, checked into our hotel and decided to take a walk along the pier and enjoy the Galway Bay before returning for dinner in the hotel. It was a beautiful end to the day with some rare sunshine. After our meal we decided to check out some of the pubs in the pedestrian district. The location of our hotel is awesome as we walked out the door of our hotel, turned a corner and the street was lined with sidewalk cafes and street performers, quaint shops and several pubs. If you go to more than 1 pub it is called a pub crawl and we made it to two. They were very small and very crowded. While we were waiting to see if a band showed up at one place, a man at the bar started singing a beautiful Irish song. The band didn't show up on schedule so we left, but it was a nice experience nonetheless.

Jet lag hasn't been too bad, but at about 9:30 I felt like I hit a wall and had to go to bed. Tomorrow is a day in the Irish countryside. Can't wait.

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