Ah, yes, we were at Heathrow, Ireland-bound.
We boarded the plane and found our seats -- not hard, since were were in Row 1. Brian had the aisle seat, I had the middle seat, and the window seat was empty. Well, not for long.
A rather unsteady elderly man stumbled on, a mix of Otis from the Andy Griffith Show and WC Fields.
He sat down, hard, and appeared to be confused by the buckle portion of the seat belt, so I helped him understand how to strap in (!) and he settled in quickly, talking to himself (I think!). He had a bit of body odor, and was frequently coughing into a handkerchief. Yay. I tried to lean on Brian as much as possible during the trip, to stay out of the line of fire! Toward the end of the flight, WC Otis burped loudly, and quite possibly pooped himself. *sigh*
He sat down, hard, and appeared to be confused by the buckle portion of the seat belt, so I helped him understand how to strap in (!) and he settled in quickly, talking to himself (I think!). He had a bit of body odor, and was frequently coughing into a handkerchief. Yay. I tried to lean on Brian as much as possible during the trip, to stay out of the line of fire! Toward the end of the flight, WC Otis burped loudly, and quite possibly pooped himself. *sigh*Brian and I got up quickly, and went down the steps to the tarmac at Shannon Airport, and headed in to get our passports stamped. We were #1 and #2 from our flight! We didn't have to wait long for our luggage and headed for the info desk to find out where to catch the bus. Oh, and since Ireland uses the Euro and England doesn't, we had to exchange our Pounds for Euros, too. We found the bus stop, and luckily only had about 15 minutes to wait.
It was only about 1 1/2 hours to Galway from Shannon by bus, but the roads are so narrow! And the Roundabouts! Oh. My. Golly Gosh. There seemed to be about 1,000 roundabouts between the airport in Shannon and Galway city center. The scenery was lovely -- so green! But unfortunately I started feeling a bit green, and I had to close my eyes for the rest of the trip. Of course, I won't let Brian forget that HE was the one who decided we should sit toward the BACK of the bus, the kiss of death for any person who has ever gotten car sick. And then you add those roundabouts... you get the point. Poor Brian! I couldn't even talk to him, just so I could concentrate on not throwing up. Guess my ginger was not cut out for Irish Roundabouts.
But, I survived the trip, and we got off the bus at the bus station in Galway. Of course, the information office was closed (as our luck would have it), and so we had to get our bearings the hard way -- wandering around. With suitcases in tow, we wandered down the hill to the corner, and saw a hotel. There was a park-like square in front of it, which turned out to be Eyre Square, in the city's center. To be honest, I was just SO glad to be off that bus and breathing some fresh air, I could have walked to the B&B and been completely fine!
We noticed a "Taxi" sign off to the right of Eyre Square, so we worked our way over there. The crosswalks there have the audible signals for the visually impaired, and it took me a while to NOT jump when I heard it! The taxi spot we walked to was apparently for late-night taxi rides, as a very helpful older man informed us, and he pointed us to the top of the Square, where there were buses and taxis. He also gave us a little tip: When choosing a taxi, pick one being driven by a "loci" (pronounced low-key), since "tose others, they'll add on a lil extra, they'll fleece ya" -- in other words, an Irish driver. Interesting introduction to Galway. So, we headed up the top of the Square and caught a cab. Our driver's name was something like Michael Patrick O'Malley -- clearly an Irishman :). He was friendly, pointing out several landmarks on the way to our B&B, though the sun was going down, so it was a bit harder to see clearly.
Amber Hill Bed and Breakfast. Oh, how we love you! It's closer to Salt Hill than Galway, but still close enough, about a 10Euro cab ride to Galway city center, and a 10 minute walk down to Galway Bay takes you to Salt Hill. But I digress. We were greeted by Anthony, and he gave us a quick tour of the place -- the breakfast room, the tv lounge, and showed us to our room. Lovely! So comfy, we loved it! Brian and I apparently have some work to do on understanding the brogue, as we tried to get walking directions to a restaurant, and got lost. We eventually wandered down to Galway Bay, which I thought was beautiful! Brian, of course, was all business, as it was cold, dark, and we were hungry. "The water will be there, we need food!" So we found a restaurant in Salt Hill, Lohan's,
and finally ate. Brian got the Irish stew, and I had Vegetarian Shepard's Pie... yum! Once our tummies were happy, we walked back to the B&B to make the plan for the next day.
Looking at the weather forecast, Wednesday and Thursday are supposed to be pretty clear, and Friday is supposed to be rainy, so we knew this meant our outdoor activities would have to happen right away. So, the plan? Bed, so we can get up early to go to the Cliffs of Moher!
It was only about 1 1/2 hours to Galway from Shannon by bus, but the roads are so narrow! And the Roundabouts! Oh. My. Golly Gosh. There seemed to be about 1,000 roundabouts between the airport in Shannon and Galway city center. The scenery was lovely -- so green! But unfortunately I started feeling a bit green, and I had to close my eyes for the rest of the trip. Of course, I won't let Brian forget that HE was the one who decided we should sit toward the BACK of the bus, the kiss of death for any person who has ever gotten car sick. And then you add those roundabouts... you get the point. Poor Brian! I couldn't even talk to him, just so I could concentrate on not throwing up. Guess my ginger was not cut out for Irish Roundabouts.
But, I survived the trip, and we got off the bus at the bus station in Galway. Of course, the information office was closed (as our luck would have it), and so we had to get our bearings the hard way -- wandering around. With suitcases in tow, we wandered down the hill to the corner, and saw a hotel. There was a park-like square in front of it, which turned out to be Eyre Square, in the city's center. To be honest, I was just SO glad to be off that bus and breathing some fresh air, I could have walked to the B&B and been completely fine!
We noticed a "Taxi" sign off to the right of Eyre Square, so we worked our way over there. The crosswalks there have the audible signals for the visually impaired, and it took me a while to NOT jump when I heard it! The taxi spot we walked to was apparently for late-night taxi rides, as a very helpful older man informed us, and he pointed us to the top of the Square, where there were buses and taxis. He also gave us a little tip: When choosing a taxi, pick one being driven by a "loci" (pronounced low-key), since "tose others, they'll add on a lil extra, they'll fleece ya" -- in other words, an Irish driver. Interesting introduction to Galway. So, we headed up the top of the Square and caught a cab. Our driver's name was something like Michael Patrick O'Malley -- clearly an Irishman :). He was friendly, pointing out several landmarks on the way to our B&B, though the sun was going down, so it was a bit harder to see clearly.
Amber Hill Bed and Breakfast. Oh, how we love you! It's closer to Salt Hill than Galway, but still close enough, about a 10Euro cab ride to Galway city center, and a 10 minute walk down to Galway Bay takes you to Salt Hill. But I digress. We were greeted by Anthony, and he gave us a quick tour of the place -- the breakfast room, the tv lounge, and showed us to our room. Lovely! So comfy, we loved it! Brian and I apparently have some work to do on understanding the brogue, as we tried to get walking directions to a restaurant, and got lost. We eventually wandered down to Galway Bay, which I thought was beautiful! Brian, of course, was all business, as it was cold, dark, and we were hungry. "The water will be there, we need food!" So we found a restaurant in Salt Hill, Lohan's,
and finally ate. Brian got the Irish stew, and I had Vegetarian Shepard's Pie... yum! Once our tummies were happy, we walked back to the B&B to make the plan for the next day.Looking at the weather forecast, Wednesday and Thursday are supposed to be pretty clear, and Friday is supposed to be rainy, so we knew this meant our outdoor activities would have to happen right away. So, the plan? Bed, so we can get up early to go to the Cliffs of Moher!
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