All The Way With Galway

14 hours of travel time, two flights, one bus ride, and a car drive later and we finally made it to Galway last afternoon around 1:30pm. Of course, such an excursion was an adventure in itself. We arrived at the Orlando International Airport about 1:00pm yesterday for our 3:00pm flight. There was some crying between myself, my sister, and my mother and Jess and I set off on our great travel adventure! When we got in we poked our heads into the Disney Store for a hot second but rapidly moved on towards security. Getting through that was mostly easy, but we forgot to take off our money belts and they had to get sent through the machine while we got the rest of our stuff. After that we meandered over towards our terminal. Orlando Airport is enormous so we had to take a tram to get to it. We were supposed to see about picking up cigarettes for our relatives in Ireland at the Duty Free shop but that store was on the otherside of the terminal, meaning we'd have to take three tram rides to get there, get back, then get to our terminal and it just wasn't looking time efficient. We ended up deciding to hit the Duty Free shop during our layover in New Jersey and just went right to the terminal. We got there with a decent amount of time left before the flight and took that time to each each one of the ham sandwiches our mother had packed us.

Not too long after we finished those we were on the flight and on our way to Newark, New Jersey. That flight was only 2 hours and 10 minutes long and Jess and I mostly listened to our iPods. There were screens on the back of the chairs for this flight with free movies, but I didn't realize they were free until we were just about to land, so that was that. We only got apple juice and a pretzel snack on this flight because it was only 2 hours long but that was fine for Jess and I and we saved the pretzels for when we landed and were hungry again. The flight was smooth essentially until we began the descent which was quite rocky and Jess and I both got slightly motion sick. We were fine once we officially landed though and that was the only time we got a little sick, which is fine with me. The layover in Jersey was a quick one, only an hour, so we had to be fast about finding our next terminal for the international flight into Dublin. We asked someone for directions and they were exceptionally helpful and got us there in no time! Along the way we decided we would get to the terminal and then see about whether one of us had time to run and find the Duty Free shop but as it happened we walked right past one on our way to the terminal! We found out, however, that (at least in New Jersey) the legal age to buy cigarettes is now 21, so we couldn't purchase any, which we didn't really mind, but we were glad we hadn't had to go out of our way in order to learn this. The terminal in the Jersey airport was smaller than the Orlando one and Jess and I had to sit a ways away, but we were closer to the bathrooms and water bubblers so it wasn't an issue at all.

Boarding took longer on this flight because more people were getting on the plane. Jess and I were boarding group 4 or 5, so we were in the almost last group of people getting on the plane, but with United we already had our seats listed so it didn't matter when we go on because we still just be going to our assigned seats. Apparently United has issues with not enough overhead storage space for Carry-On bags and ask that backpacks or your personal item be placed under the seat in front of you. Well, Jess and I had backpacks but we also had personal items (a purse and laptop carrier) and our backpacks were our suitcases essentially and were quite stuffed to the brim, so we figured it was fine to put them in the overhead. Everyone had enough room though so it all worked out. That plane ride, from New Jersey to Dublin, Ireland, was a little over 6 hours and we received 2 meals: Dinner and then a light continental breakfast. Dinner was served fairly early on, about an hour into the flight. We had a choice of chicken or pasta, and Jess and I both chose pasta, which was delicious! It might have tasted better because we were hungry, but it tasted nice all the same. The dinner came with a bread roll, butter, and some salad-type thing that wasn't quite salad but I can't remember the name just now. We also got a small ice cream about an hour later, vanilla gelatto, and that was lovely! After that meal Jess and I decided it was time to sleep given that it was about 9:00pm our time but we were going to be arriving in Dublin at 7:00am their time and we wouldn't get to sleep.

Sleeping on a plane is by far the least comfortable place one could possibly sleep. I'm sure you knew that, but I felt it was important for me to confirm and articulate that. Jess and I were in the center row with Jess at the aisle seat and me in a middle seat next to someone else. The guy I was next to was quite funny and nice but I did feel bad because I likely hit him a few times while changing position. The problem was mostly that it was so cold! I was trying to keep my blanket securely around my legs, my jacket around my body, and somehw navigate the pillow to be somewhere useful. Mostly I settled for pulling down the table thing and placing my pillow and head on that. Problem was my legs got cold cause if they were hanging down the back was exposed from under the blanket, but I made do! Jess and I both woke up just as the cart with breakfast was coming around, funny enough, and were able to get a nice hot croissant, yogurt, and more juice which was probably a bad choice on our part because we were about to get on a 4 hour bus ride, but we did it anyway. The guy next to us didn't eat yogurt so he gave us his and our mother had been telling us we need to eat yogurt every day so that was decent of him. We both slept a little bit more before we landed, then headed out into the Dublin Airport, officially in Ireland!

Jess decided we should go through the EU passport line, as we are duel citizens, and the line was faster, but the issues came with getting out passports stamped. Now there's no real reason we need to get stamps anymore besides sentimental reasons but I like getting stamps so I ask for them. But Jessica hadn't signed her Irish passport so the guy said he couldn't stamp it. I said we had a pen and she could sign it but he said that wouldn't work, stamped mine, and sent us through. I didn't get what the issue was, but I wasn't gonna make a scene and just went through. I really wanted that passport stamp though, and while Jess didn't quite care, I did. Right where we got out was the checked baggage pick-up thing so we picked up our one checked bag and I found 2 airport workers to ask about getting my passport stamped. They said customs would do it, which is what we'd just gone through, and I explained that the sign says we're not supposed to go back through it. The guy just told us to go through and ask because no one would stop us and the worst they would do is tell us 'no', so off we went. I went to the American passport people and asked them about it and basically half-lied and confused-Americaned my way into getting them to stamp Jess and my American passports and Jess's Irish passport. I didn't lie really, just said they hadn't gotten stamped when we went through the EU way and it was for special sentimental reasons and he explained that Irish passports don't usually get stamped here because it is, in fact, Ireland, but he stamped them anyway and even asked if I had my Irish passport to stamp but I told him that one didn't matter (not mentioning that it had already been stamped) and we thanked him very much and went on our way, all four passports stamped! I felt a little bad for putting him out by having him stamp them, but I wasn't going to travel several thousand miles across continents to not get a stamp. I just couldn't do it!

On the way out we asked a very nice woman about our bus stop and she pointed us in the perfect direction and we found it no problem. We popped into the bathroom that was right across from our stop before settling down at the stop for about an hour before our bus was set to arrive. While there was had to ask one of the people about our ticket. A mistake was made and our ticket was accidentally bought for the day after we arrived. We wanted to see if we could change it, but the guy there said we'd be "just grand" and have no trouble getting on today. He was right, more or less. The bus arrived (after Jess and I ran to the bathroom one last time because we were informed there was no toilet on the Bus Eireann) and the driver gladly took our ticket and punched it in. The machine didn't process it though, so he tried again, and again, then finally said "Something's wrong with your ticket, I can't get it through, go take a seat." This was a surprise to me! If it was America the driver would have said "Something's wrong with your ticket, get off" but that wasn't the case here! He just let us on and off we went! It was excellent!

We sat on that bus for 2 hours before we arrived who knows where and were let off for 5 minutes to use a bathroom before we all piled back on again. I was grateful for the bathroom break (all the apple juice really was a mistake) and we traveled for another 2 hours. Jess and I both, again, slept, as the bus carried us across Ireland and were quite awake when we arrived in Galway and were picked up by Michael. Michael is, I think, our second cousin. He's a great deal older than us, very nice, and lived in America for some time so is accent isn't so difficult to understand. His name is also, for reference, pronounced like 'Me-hall' because reasons. He laughed at how little luggage we'd brought in comparrison to how much our mother always brings, and loaded us up into his car to take us to our temporary home, his house. I'm not sure what I expected, but the house is outstanding! Michael built it himself and it's right next to lots of his other relatives. Jess and I get our own room together in the upstairs and it's the sweetest thing! I'd stay there the whole time if I could, but we won't be here for more than 2 more nights.

Once we got there Michael had to do some shopping and left us at home to rest, and Jess and I certainly appriciated that! We both napped in bed for several hours which we desperatly needed. Upon waking though, Michael had to go into town to help set up for an art exhibit and took us with him to let us wander the town while he was working. We had a wonderful time exploring Galway! The town is quite small, but filled with people and all number and variety of shops! Street artists fill the area with music and light as you walk through the winding streets and it was wonderful to just exist in that space for a while.

Jess and I managed to not get lost, which is quite a feat considering it's us, as we got acquainted with our surroundings. We tried to not look like tourists and tried to not be overly obvious when we took photographs. Still, we got some nice pictures of the downtown from the shops to the decorations to some strange woman who feed a great number of pigeons an entire bag of feed for no obvious reason.

  We didn't bring any money with us, which was probably a good thing to keep me from purchasing a rather large box of Irish fudge that I didn't really need, but we are on the hunt for some kind of fun souvineer. We want something original, but Irish, something that stands out and says something about our trip to Ireland. It could be a rock, like one's we got in Grand Cayman from the bottom of a secret spot we found while snorkling, or a slightly genuine purchase, like the pressed pennies I collected in Canada. Either way, we have to find something, it's like a law.

             

That night we headed home and had dinner with Michael and his wife, Marie.  Marie had made spaghetti in meat sauce and garlic bread. Jess and Michael drank hard cider, Anne drank white wine, and I had water with lemon because I'm me. We all watched the FIFA semi-final together and all collectively missed the winning score because we were all busy discussing wine. Marie went to be around 10:00pm, which didn't feel like 10:00pm because it was still sunny out! So much for helping me fight jetlag! Meanwhile, Michael, Jess, and I went into a parlor room of sorts and talked and drank and watched To The Manor Born's Christmas special until about 12:00am when Jess and  trotted off to sleep. After being awake for 28+ hours we were estatiec to finally get a proper nights sleep in an actual bed.