Ireland

View from the bus to Galway

This past weekend I took a whirl wind trip to Ireland!  I traveled with four other girls and we left our flat at 3:30 a.m. to catch our flight...crazy I know.  We arrived in Dublin and then took a bus to Galway, a quaint little town on a beauitful bay.  Walking down the main street I felt like I was in a movie.  Street performers everywhere singing Irish music and cute little shops.

We saw a beautiful cathedral and some other tourist attractions, but the best part about Galway was the view over the bay.   It was so lush and peacful, quite a nice change from London.  Three Irish men were sitting on a bench singing and playing "Sweet Home Alabama" on their guitars, which seems to be a popular song even over here.  There were sailboats in the Bay and swanns and birds everywhere, very picturesque.

After that we went to a Spanish restaurant, Cava, for a late lunch/dinner and it turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the trip.  We started with cappucinos and then I got a delicious salad with chicken and spanish tomato soup.  To finish off the meal we got homemade sangria with fresh strawberries and blackberries.

For our night in Galway we went on a pub crawl that took us to four different Irish pubs.  None of them were too crowded, but we still had a lot of fun.  At one of the pubs everyone played flip cup and beer pong, asking the Americans for tips.

The next morning we woke up early to head to Dublin.  After walking around a little we headed to the Guinness Storehouse.  This seven story factory shows how the beer is made and poured and included sampling.  This is definitely a must see if you go to Dublin, however being gluten free and not being able to drink the beer made it not as exciting.

For our night in Dublin we had to go to the pub Whelan's because it was where part of the movie P.S. I Love You was filmed.   This is one of my favorite rom-coms so I was very excited to see it.  For five euros we saw a two great live bands there and got the true Irish pub experience.

It was a short trip but we fit a lot in.  For the first trip on our own, I think we did pretty well figuring things out.  I was quite resourceful with the maps, which was shocking because I am used to using my phone or gps.  I am so grateful for the experiences I am having and so happy I got to visit this beautiful country where I have family ties!