Ireland Part 1

We arrived in Dublin, Ireland late afternoon on Wednesday.  We had to drive 2 hours west across Ireland to reach Galway.  Sadly, renting the car took so long that we didn't start our drive until it was after dark.  So we drove from the east coast in Ireland to the west coast without seeing a thing.  In Ireland they drive on the left side of the road.  Boy, was I glad that Jeremy was driving especially since the car was a stick shift!  We were also very, very grateful for our GPS which got us everywhere we needed to go without too much of a headache.  This was my first view of Ireland, from the hotel balcony after breakfast.

Thursday, Jeremy had to go into the plant for his meetings so I was on my own for the day.  After sleeping in to the unheard of hour of 10:30 I pulled myself out of bed and got ready to head out for the day.  I knew there was a shopping area somewhere within walking distance so I stopped at the front desk and asked for directions.  I have the worst sense of direction so I was a little nervous, but with tourist map in hand I headed out, looking for the shopping area.  I was so pleased with myself that I was able to get to where I wanted to go.  Ireland felt different from Germany but to me it felt very Irish.  I don't even know what it was that made it feel that way, it just was what I imagined it to be. 

 Notice the cars on the left side of the road. 

Lynche's Castle--it is now a bank.

 

  This is the Spanish Arch.  Apparently it was attached to the old city wall and was the place where the spanish came to trade or to bring goods for the city. 

 This is the pub where I ate lunch.  I had fish and chips--trying to get into the Irish spirit. 

Jeremy came out with me later that evening after his meetings.  We were lucky because this was the only day it was rainy.

 I loved all the pennants that were hung across the streets!

 On Friday we drove through the Irish countryside to see the sites.  Jeremy had talked to someone from his company who lived there in Galway what to see so we had a list of a few things.  We went first to Kylemore Abby.  The drive through the countryside was beautiful but I don't know that Jeremy saw much of it.  It took all his attention to drive.  Not only was he driving on the left side of the road in a stick shift car, the roads became incredibly narrow without a shoulder on either side of the road.  The sides of the road were lined with either tall bushes, stone walls or both.  It made for some tight squeezes when passing other vehicles; especially when those vehicles were tour busses.