Our adventures started bright and early as we arrived at Paddy's Palace at 8:00 am to get ready to leave on our tour. We boarded our huggge coach bus and off we went. Within 5 minutes of leaving, we realized our tour guide and driver, Gabriel, was definitely a spirited Irishman...witty, loud, comical, and says the words "very tight" or "bang" after almost every sentence. It should be noted that "very tight" can be used in many different contexts. For example "It's going to be verrrrry tight lads" -- tight meaning we are driving a huge bus through lots of tiny streets.... Another example "The Americans and the Irish are the only ones in history to run the English out of their country... verrrry tight"...... another example..."once a paddywagon bus got hit by a truck and put six people in the hospital... verry tight".... so yes, now I say verrrry tight a lot.
On our way out of Dublin, we stopped by the papal cross area where the Pope John Paul II blessed over one million people at one time. We also drove past the Irish President's house, which looks quite similar to the White House. And just a side note: the house (well it's really an estate) of the American Ambassador to Ireland was basically right across the street from the house of the Irish President :). As we drove through the countryside and headed to Galway, we stopped at the monastic settlement of clonnmacnoise. Very beautiful, also very windy. On the first day, I wasn't exactly prepared for the amount of cutting wind in Ireland, but after day 1 on the road I learned my lesson and just wore my long underwear all the time. After looking at all the crosses and taking a few pics and a walk through the museum, we loaded back on the bus and barreled on towards Galway. The drive was beautiful and he sung us some songs like "Molly Malone" and "Willy MacBride" and told us bits of Irish history when and where it applied.
We got to Galway around 4:30 and after checking into our B&B for the night called the Aran house we headed into the city to do a bit of shopping and eating. Now, this was on Good Friday so all the pubs were closed. While this cut down on our eating choices, it also thankfully cut down on the number of intoxicated persons roaming the streets for which I was happy. I got some good shopping done in Galway and bought something that I've always wanted... a claddagh ring! After going shopping and taking some pictures at Galway Bay, which is the one you see, my roommate and I ate at an authentic Thai restaurant on the bay.... and all I can say is yummmmmmy! I love tai food in general and it had been a while since I'd had the opportunity to go to a good thai place so I decided to indulge and had some pad thai goong and crab wontons. It was very tasty and definitely hit the spot. After our delicious dinner, we moseyed back to our B&B where we sat down and had some irish tea, along with some chocolates we had bought earlier in the evening. Now, I have to tell you about this chocolate I found....It's called a Senzi bar... and it's a branch of Galaxy chocolate... but it's so creamy and has like this wafer thing in the middle surrounded by silky chocolate cream, I definitely say get one (or a bunch) if you can find it!
After our tea time, it was another hot shower and off to bed because we had to be up and at it again the next day!
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