Galway

My post from last night didn't 'post' it's up now, but I am sorry for the delay.  Last night was a bit hectic.  We got back from the tour around 8pm.  We ate a late dinner in Temple Bar and went back to the apartment.  I found that the dry cycle didn't dry, so I had to start it again.  We also had to start packing and cleaning the apartment since we had to be checked out by 10am.

In the morning as I was cooking breakfast I found that the dry cycle last night still hadn't dried our clothes.  Argh!  I turned the machine on one more time and gave it
 a little kick for good measure.  We ended up having to leave with our still damp laundry packed in the laundry bag in our luggage.  First thing I did here was check out the clothes washer.  It's a much better machine.  We now have dry clothes.

Heuston Train Station in Dublin

Ceannt Train Station in Galway

 



The rain greeted our arrival with gusto.  Ceannt is a very small train station.  But Galway is pretty small town compared to Dublin, with only 72,000 residents compared to the 1.2 million who call Dublin home.

 

We are now in the Gealtecht, the Irish speaking region of Ireland.  While Irish is the official language of Ireland and is a compulsory course for all school kids only 1 in 3 Irish people understand the language to some degree.  Local TV shows and radio programs are in Irish but the majority of Galway City is populated by English speakers.  Listening to Irish on the TV, it reminds me of a less guttural version and shortened of German.  You can hear it's ties to Scandinavian languages.

 

The view from our patio.  The tide is out but the rain is in.

Jeff is waiting for a break in the weather to venture out and explore.

Our break came and we went out to explore the Salthill area of Galway.

 

What a cute post box.  Jeff rolled his eyes at me when I made him stop so I could take this photo.

Umm yeah...I don't know what it says either.  This is from a stone monument in a gas station parking lot. 

 

 The weather is suppose to improve later in the week but for now I think our rain jackets will be put to good use.  We're looking up day tours to Kylemore Abbey and to the Cliffs of Mohr and down the west coast.  I guess we'll see how much we can accomplish while we're here.

 

For now I am off to cook dinner and to free up this computer for William.  He's bored for the first time this whole trip. Guess that's what happens when it's dumping rain, you only have 12 channels, 9 of which are in a foreign language, and you're a sulky teenager.

 

Have a happy Saturday everyone.