Touchdown in Ireland!

After Wendy's heart stopped beating quickly and we boarded the plane, we took a 5 hour flight to Shannon, Ireland. We then were able to pick up our transportation: a big, blue, 9 passenger BEAST of a van! Not only did Bill have to drive this beast on the left side of the road and right side of the car, it was also a standard! We ventured out for our journey to Galway, our first stop on our week long tour of the Irish coast. We stopped in Galway to explore the city and ran into this very nice Irishman. He told us about an Irish sport called Hurling and "if we wanted a real treat", that we should try to see the match between Galway and Clare the following day (More about hurling coming up). We first explored downtown Galway where the streets are filled with old buildings decorated so lively and quaint that you feel like you're in a fairytale. People pulled out their banjos, guitars, and singing voices to serenade the town with their wonderful Irish music. You almost feel at home and peaceful in such a town.

We roamed the streets to find McDonough's restaurant where we tried some fresh seafood. There was seafood chowder, fried cod, ray, and hake at the table and everyone enjoyed it very much! We then decided to go to the Castlegate Hotel in a small, nearby town called Athenry to get ourselves rested before hitting some pubs and exploring The Burren, The Cliffs of Mohr, and the hurling match!