Blogs from County Galway, Ireland, Europe - page 44

Australia was playing Ireland in the hybrid game of International Rules. The matches were one week apart and so myself and two friends, Cath and Jonathan, decided to make a week of it and do some sightseeing as well. We were away for 9 days and had a great time. We arrived in Dublin on Saturday morning and had to get to Galway for the first match later that evening. We managed to get £40 return tickets from London to Dublin with Aer Lingus and picked up our rental car upon arrival. It was a nightmare drive. What should have taken us 3 hours took about 6. At one stage I sat in first gear for about 45 minutes. Very, very frustrating. Anyway, we finally made it to Galway and found our hostel. There were a ... read more

Arrived at Dublin airport and got picked up by Em in her work provided BMW (beats a work van!). We got back to where she lives at Portarlington and headed straight for her local pub. I've been dying for a real Guinness so they went back very smoothly and quickly. Em was happy to see someone that could keep up with her, but disappointed that she was now the second fastest drinker. The next morning after a sleepin, we headed out on our calender pub crawl. For those who don't know, Alex a friend of ours, challenged Em to visit every pub on an Irish pubs calender she bought a year or two ago. By the time I'd arrived, she had visited 2. Our first stop was Cork, in South Ireland where we could not find ... read more

Now, THIS is where the hills of Armagh really killed us - it’s as hard to drag rolling bags downhill as it is uphill, in my experience. The people of Armagh like to wave at you from cars and sidewalks as you cart your bags through the streets (hills) but won’t offer to help. I don’t blame them. We stopped off for some delicious breakfast bagels at the Bagel Bean and arrived at the bus station for our trip to Galway. This was to be our longest journey yet, over 5 hours, with a change in Athlone on the way to Galway. At our stop in Athlone, I went to use the washroom and was rather stunned when a young man followed me right into the ladies room. After he was corrected by a woman in ... read more

We were sharing a dorm with two guys from the US. It was by conincidence that we had booked the same tour for today, until we realized that 10 different companies do the same thing. The only difference was that we booked one that included a 'gentle walking tour'. At 10:00am we loaded the bus, our driver/guide was very Irish and was loads of fun. We learned the history behind names of Irish places ie. Kil = church in gaelic hence all the names that start with Kill - Killarney, Killenny etc. Our guide for the walking tour was a farmer who's family owned the farm and a bit of the mountain we were about to walk through. He was definately husband material Cathy! But as a policy he doesn't give out his number...darn. His family ... read more

Jack went to the Power Soccer Camp in Galway yesterday and today. He loved it because it was his first opportunity to be with kids his own age. Karen and I went into Galway both days, walked around, had lunch and went to see John's sister's guest house in Salt Hill (part of Galway). After we picked up Jack from soccer on Friday, we drove out to the ruins of the Ross Errily Friary outside of Headford. It was a dull, late afternoon and their were very few people around. Now this is my idea of ruins.... read more