It's been a rollercoaster ride ... but I'm in Ireland !!

Greetings from Ireland !!!! I meant to get this up and running sooner ... but there have been quite a few delays due to technical difficulties ... and this city called Galway that I've been exploring. So ... I'll try and update as soon as possible, but until then ... know that I'm keeping my journals along the way and will get them updated ASAP and add pictures when I get back to the states.

This blog is titled "Beatha, grá, gáire !" meaning "Life, Love, Laugther" in Irish Gaelic. Seemed appropriate for my travels. :-)

The following post was originally written on 7/22/08 regarding 7/21/08, my first day in Ireland. Here goes ...


We made it to Ireland !!!! I was beginning to think I might never make it here. Last night, after being up for 30 hours and 15 minutes, Sabrena and I called it a night at 7:15 pm Ireland time (note: this is 2:15 pm USA Eastern time)! We could NOT keep our eyes open any longer, and slept until 6:30 am Ireland time except for a few disturbances outside our window. Despite turning in for an early night, we had quite the eventful day!

My first flight, out of Indy, was supposed to be at 1:50 pm. So, after breakfast with the fam, my sister drove me to the airport, putting me there just at 2 hours before my departure ... perfect timing! Check-in went super smoothly minus the fact that I was told my flight was already delayed an hour. So I grabbed some McDonald's to pass the time, only to find out my flight was delayed until 4:00 p.m when I got to my gate. So, like a good student, I read my Frommer's Ireland book for class, and then chatted with the extremely cute (and extremely gay ... just my luck) man sitting across the way who was Germany-bound to see his boyfriend. Life seemed to look up when we found out that we would actually be boarding at 3:00 for a 3:20 takeoff!

My travels to Ireland was a rollercoaster ride from that point on. While I got on the plane at 3:00 and had seat 1A (a whole row to myself at the front of the plane with plenty of leg room!) and we taxied out on time at 3:20, we didn't take off until 4:30, putting us at an estimated arrival time of 6:25 pm in Newark, NJ. We got there on time, however I had to wait for my carry on (which was gate checked due to the size of our very SMALL plane) and then catch a busy to my next gate. Luckily Sabrena was there with Pam and Tony (our professors) and Lorrianne (another student) to let me know my gate had been changed and to hold the plane for me (otherwise this might have been a very different story)! After a bus ride and the fastest bathroom stop of my life, I speed-walked to my gate to find everyone boarding the plane! No time for food or anything - I BARELY made it!

Luckily things looked up from there. Sabrena and I were in a row to ourselves, and we had a dinner that far surpassed my expectations of airplane food - salad, pot roast, mashed potatoes, a roll and some cookies. We then "slept" the rest of the way to Ireland, where we woke up to a warm croissant and some fruit about an hour before landing. (Katharine, the cookies we got for dinner were those Pepperidge Farms ones you love. I definitely thought of you!)

Once we landed in Shannon, the gang gathered our belongings, exchanged money (holy crap, bad exchange rate!) and ran into Megan (another student) on our way to catch our bus to Galway.

Note, as I was leaving the Shannon airport, I happened to look to my left out the window of the bus to see a large sign that read "SHANNON FREE ZONE." I have NO idea what it means for Ireland, but I took it as a sign that BGR would fair well here. (So all my fellow BGR readers out there, who wants to come back and start it Ireland with me? I'm thinking Irish Gold Rush! I mean, there ARE pots of gold at the end of rainbows here, right?!)

Let me tell you, what I saw of the bus ride to Galway (yes, Sabrena and I dozed off a few times) was interesting! First off, the Irish road system is crazy! Driving on the left, small skinny roads, and these "turnabouts" every so often that send you in all sorts of crazy directions and always made me feel like we were going to run over all the other cars on the road. Lots of colorful little bed and breakfasts were scattered between farms with lots of cows (of all various types - which I thought was weird. In the states we typically have a herd of one type ... just an observation). Many of the cars are similar to U.S. cars, but the license plates are long and skinny with big letters. (Tommy, there is a brand of car here with a symbol like your tattoo you got in SC! Haven't figured out what it is yet, but I'll try to get a picture for you!) The bus trip was a little rough for Sabrena and Tony. They got very nauseas from all the bumps, rocking, and sudden stops, twist, and turns. However, we made it to Galway in one piece, and quickly found our hotel.

Hotel Meyrick (listed in our travel book as one of the most expensive hotels in Galway) is absolutely gorgeous! (Don't worry, I took lots of pictures!) While the structure is very old, the decor is extremely modern. (Bec, you would love the lobby areas - lime green and zebra print!) Luckily we got right into our rooms even though we weren't supposed to check in until 3:00 p.m. Ireland time (10:00 a.m. USA Eastern time).

Our room is gorgeous! Red and brown decor, a perfect mix of Katharine and me. (I took pics, K.Pei!) We took showers to freshen up for the afternoon. Shower = great. Blowing up my straightener the 1st time I used it = not so great! :-( Luckily I could use Sabrena's. Needing some caffeine, Sabrena and I then found a local coffee shop (O'Briens) before stopping by a local pharmacy to get me some eye drops ... my eye was killing me (it's better now!). We then headed downstairs at 11:15 a.m Ireland time (6:15 a.m USA Eastern time) for orientation only to find out 4 people hadn't made it (stupid delayed flights and lost luggage!), so most of our orientation activities got pushed back a night. We then headed to lunch at The Living Room (a short walk from the hotel), were we had seafood chowder, a chicken casear salad, and chocolate cake with 2 kinds of ice cream (mint chocolate chip and one that looked like vanilla but was NOT vanilla ... still haven't figured that one out!).

Sabrena and I then went exploring around the city, despite a little drizzle on and off. I can't even begin to describe it! I COULD LIVE IN DOWNTOWN GALWAY! Eyre Square, the city center, is literally outside our hotel's front door, and opens to the heart of the city. An annual arts and music festival is occurring currently, so the city is bustling even more than ever, complete with street performers of all sorts (which I hear is pretty common any time of year). Sabrena and I wandered through the colorful little shops and restaurants, stopping to look at postcards and jewelry. We found an amazing gallery with all sorts of art for sale, and if I had been really rich, I might have bought the whole store and shipped it back home!

Most exciting for me is that Galway is the city where the Claddagh ring was first created, and I got to see (and take pictures of) the ORIGINAL store that makes them (complete with a Claddagh ring history museum)! Sabrena and I spent a lot of time browsing the rings at various jewelry stores, and I will purchase one before we leave Galway!

After seeing a few street performers (my favorite being the guy with the cardboard guitar and music stand holding cardboard music for the song "Ping Ping"), Sabrena and I made our way to the Galway Museum, which is free of charge! I may have to go through it again as I was TOO tired to read everything, but I saw a lot of the history of Galway and one AMAZING sculpture that I would like to have replicated in my house one day (wonder how many euro that would cost!?)

Sabrena and I then made our way back to the hotel to change shoes (we were in heels and our feet were killing us!) before heading to a local pub called Paddy's for a quick dinner before bed. There we split some AMAZING, authentic Irish stew (U.S. Irish pubs have nothing on the original!), and Sabrena had a Guiness (way better here than in the U.S.) and I had Bailey's and coffee (note ... not the best idea to drink on 30+ hours of no sleep) and listened to some drunk old Irishmen slur a mixture of English and Irish Gaelic. HILARIOUS! Then ... bed! By the way ... our beds our super comfortable ... but trust me, until I get on Ireland time, anything feels good when I'm ready to sleep.