Lost in Galway

Hey Everyone!

Today was filled with lots of adventure (which is how I like to say that we got lost a lot).  We woke up to a new roommate moving in, her name is Caitlin and she seems pretty great so that's awesome.  After having some breakfast and checking on Marie's (read her blog here) luggage (which still isn't here) we ventured out into Galway with plans to go to Penny's (a supper cheap clothing/home-goods store) and Lidl (a super cheap grocery store).  We stopped with Caitlin at the phone store to get her set up with the same plan we have and then she went back to the apartment to sleep while we went deeper into the city to find the stores we were looking for.  We decided that if Galway was in the states it would be a highly marketed touristy town for its quaint charm (see below).  One of my favorite things so far about the city is the several street performers, they add such depth to the city. 

    

                                  

Making our way in what we think is the right direction, we began to notice that there weren't as many shops and the surrounding area looked a little sketchy and a lot residential.  I decided we needed to ask directions but wanted to do it from someone who looked trustworthy and reliable.  So we walked until we saw an old lady heading in our direction. When we told the old lady our dilemma she was very kind but you could tell that she was trying not to laugh at us.  She informed us that we were well past the store we were looking for and were on our way out to the countryside.  Feeling quite foolish we followed her until she got to the shop she was going to and headed back towards the center of town.  The old lady told us that Penny's was in town but to ask someone closer for more explicit directions, and that is exactly what we did.  We stopped another woman, this time a young friendly-looking one, and asked her where we could find the store.  She told us to look for arches and that was the entrance into the shopping center that Penny's was inside of - we never did find the arches until the end of this adventure.  We kept walking until we were by the grocery store we went to yesterday (which is in the same shopping center by the way) but because the name posted wasn't the name the woman told us to look for and there were no arches we decided to keep walking down the street.  Soon we were surrounded by small shops and it became clear that for the third time we needed to ask for directions, and so we did.  Popping into a souvenir/sweater shop we looked around for someone who worked there and upon finding and asking the shopkeeper we found out that Penny's was in the shopping center we debated on going into.  Yet again feeling foolish we thanked the shopkeeper and went on our way.  It is hard to be mad or frustrated about getting "lost" because we found a lot of shops, pubs, and cafes that we wouldn't have otherwise known existed (at this point in time anyways).

After making it to Penny's we had lunch in the shopping center and then went to get Marie and Lauren outlet adapters.  At this computer store we decided to be proactive and ask the guy for directions to Lidl before venturing out on our own.  After a series of "go to this store and turn left and then turn right" type of directions we were off yet again.  This time we found our way there on the first try and we found everything that we needed and were on our way in a decent amount of time.  Once getting back to our apartment we retired for naps/relaxing and didn't move again until 4ish.  We hung out and skyped with people back home for a little while and then (once Caitlin had gotten up) had our first sit-down dinner as a complete "family".  On the menu was pasta with meatballs and it was delicious!

As a group we made the decision that we were going to go out to Taaffe's which is one of the pubs we had passed during the day that has live music every night.  Once we got ready (a blown fuse delayed us a bit) we headed out into the eerie fog of the night.

Getting ready

Finished product

Creepy fog

Taaffe's <3

The street we live on was weirdly empty and at first we were concerned but as we got closer to our destination more people we milling about.  We entered in and were hit hard with vibrant Irish music which I absolutely loved and were lucky enough to find four free stools next to each other at the bar.  After sitting down we were approached by our magnificent bartender Johnny (who by the way will be doubling as one of our orientation leaders in the morning) who immediately guessed that we were students and began telling jokes - none clean enough that I would put them on here.  We ordered pints of Guinness all around (as if we could get anything else) and what a difference!  Guinness in Ireland tastes nothing like Guinness at home, it was so smooth and delicious that I could've had more but we were limiting ourselves to one for the night due to the fact that we have to wake up early.  I had noticed the man I know now as PJ when we came in (to be fair it's kinda hard not to, he has a very Hagrid-esque appearance) but he and I didn't talk until he offered to take a picture of us four girls and we didn't truly converse until he photobombed me (both can be seen below).  PJ, I now know, is a security guard for several bars in Galway, not a bad friend to make on our first night out.

First Irish Guinness pint with the roomies!

PJ's photobomb.. all the laughs!!

Johnny telling jokes

What time is it? Guinness time!!

We finished our pints over great conversation and then headed back to the apartment.  Overall I view today as a success (the twists and turns made it fun) and look forward to what orientation brings in the morning - don't worry, we are giving ourselves extra time in case we get lost.

Until next time,
Sarah