Everything went well and our luggage arrived unharmed.
Our rental car was waiting for us right where it was supposed to be. Can you tell I was worried about something going wrong? Haha! So far, so good.
Dear Lord, the driving over here is like nothing I've seen before. God bless that sister of mine for taking the driving duties. I'm not sure we would have made it if it was me behind the wheel. I know I would have turned into the wrong lane numerous times already.
I have to believe that when the rental company places a sign like this on the dashboard, I'm not alone in my worries. Reminders are good though!
So after we landed, we headed straight for our first destination, Galway. It was about 7am when we had landed, and we both only got about 1-2 hours of sleep on the plane, so we were running on pure adrenaline at this point. It took just over an hour to get to Galway and we decided we were hungry so I checked in the GPS for a coffee shop near us. What did I find???
How could I not have chosen O'Briens Coffee Shop? We wanted to take one of everything home with us.
Including this awesome wooden sign. So cool! I settled for only taking pictures for the blog. They are much easier to fit on the airplane. 😜
As we left the coffee shop, mama sent this to us in the sky to let us know she's here with us. Love and miss you mom! We tried to find the leprechaun and the pot of gold, but no such luck. He must be faster than these two old chicks.
It was still pretty early and our room wasn't going to be ready until 2:00, so we decided to head out to find the yarn shop that I wanted to visit. I will tell you this about our yarn shop adventure.
I do not recommend driving through the city center of Galway on two hours of sleep if you are:
- Pregnant or nursing
- Have a heart condition
- Have never driven on the left side of the road
- Are a chickensh** like me
The roads are curvy. They are narrow. There are one ways (I think) that are not clearly marked. There are NO street signs. There is very limited parking. When you do find a spot, you have to find the machine to pay for your parking. We couldn't find the machine so we left our spot and started driving again. About 15.3 seconds later, we decided to ditch the car at the B&B and go explore the city on foot. Best decision ever.
You will notice that I have exactly zero pictures of us driving though the city center of Galway. This is because I was too busy trying to stay alive.
This is our first B&B. St. Jude's in Galway. So so so cute! Our room wasn't ready, as we suspected, but we left our stuff and headed out to explore.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Never have I needed a beer like I needed this beer. It actually took us a bit to find a pub that was open, but Carroll's front door was unlocked and called us in. It was us and about 6 gentlemen in their 70s bellied up. That'll do just fine, thank you!
I loved this little sign outside a tea shop!
After walking a little farther, we found the good part of the city center and we were feeling much better. Such cute shops and pubs!
Including this one! I found her!
Gorgeous, gorgeous locally handspun wool. It took some restraints, but I only left with one skein. This was only the first of many yarn stores to come, and unfortunately the suitcase space is limited. Love my purchase though and I'm already looking for the right project for it!
The second pub we went to was a little more modern, but Daniel the bartender was very nice, and the Guinness was very good! This was called The Seven Bar. So much fun!
A little sightseeing...
Such a cute city!
We were seriously tired after a few hours of exploring, so we decided to find a grocery store for some snacks and sandwiches we could throw together in our room. We didn't buy this lasagna, but I thought it was funny that it is designated as "Irish" lasagna. I get that it was made in Co. Dublin, but the pancetta is Italian! Maybe the beef came from an Irish cow? Haha!
Snacks and shampoo for the room!
I love seeing fun little things like these on the placards on the sidewalk corners. So pretty!
We headed back to the B&B pretty early and chilled in our room for the rest of the evening. Exhaustion was taking over, and we had another busy day coming up tomorrow!
Although a bit stressful at times, a fun first day!
Talk to ya tomorrow!
XOXOX
NH
I forgot to tell Kelly not to drive in a city....ever!
ReplyDeleteAnd those roads/streets you think are one way? Nope, they're two way. The roads/streets are that narrow!!
Haha! Well we learned that cities are not for our driving!! We will take the bus or figure out something else for Dublin for sure!! Your map was awesome today by the way! Thank you for letting us borrow it! :)
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