Galway Girl

16 June 2012
Dublin, Carlow, Galway
After a breakfast of toast, cornflakes, coffee, and orange juice at the hostel, we got in the van to head to Carlow for our tag rugby 7s tournament.  We were paired with a men's U-19 (high school) team from Pennsylvania--West Shore United--we each split our teams in half and put them together.  Airriell, Chapman, and Megan were with the West Shore alumni and coaches, and Alie, Olivia, Bootheel, and I were with the high school boys.  The alumni team won one of their two games, but our team didn't win any of our three.  Since none of us had ever played tag rugby before (think flag football), it was in general pretty awful, since we were playing teams that solely play tag, not tackle (not to mention 7s, not 15s).  It was like learning an entirely new sport, but we started to get the hang of it by the end and had a bunch of fun.  A few of us met George Hook Senior, the father of the guy who organized our trip.  Turns out he used to be a pretty good rugby player for Carlow and was once the coach of the US national team, the Eagles.  

When our third game was over, we hopped back into the van to head to Galway.  We arrived at our hostel and checked in--this time we had two 4-person rooms instead of the one 8-person room in Dublin (so two bathrooms for 7 girls instead of one).  After showering, we headed out to a famed fish & chips restaurant--McDonagh's.  Since I don't like seafood, I got one of the only non-fish things on the menu, sausage and chips, which was pretty tasty.  We sat down at a table where another guy (a local) was already sitting, and I had a nice chat with him about Galway and what to do there whilst we ate.  It turns out he doesn't like Galway much--too small town for him--though he thought it was a great place to grow up.  

After dinner, we went to the Quays (pronounced Keys), a large pub recommended to us both by the hostel receptionist and the fish and chips guy.  It was huge and crowded, with at least five hen (bachelorette) parties.  I had a Guinness (it was a really cool glass, with a 3-D harp on it, but we were being watched like a hawk so I couldn't take it), and was falling asleep at the pub, so I went home after the one drink with Airriell, Chapman, and Megan and immediately fell into bed.


17 June 2012
Galway
Ow.  This morning I tried to wake up at 9, but didn't actually get up until about 11 since I was so sore.  My lower back and my knee hurt so much that it was a bit difficult to move until I took some Aleve.  I finally made it through a shower and out the door to a cafe where I had a cappuccino and bowl of oatmeal (porridge), which came with a berry compote and honey (plus there was brown sugar on the table), so I tried it plain as well as with each topping in turn.  The porridge was quite delicious (this hostel did not have a continental breakfast).

After breakfast, I walked around Galway, which is a beautiful little town.  It was actually my favorite of all the places we went.  Ironically, our game was canceled due to a forecast for a really bad storm and generally shitty weather, but it was actually sunny and warm all day long; probably the warmest it was the whole trip.  Though it's one of the 4 most populated Irish cities, Galway is a pretty small city so it's luckily definitely doable in a day.  I saw the Spanish Arch, the harbor, and the cathedral.  I walked along the river, which was beautiful.  I also did a bit of shopping for souvenirs and such.  There was really neat artist market on the street as well.  As I was wandering, I ate some Guinness flavored gelato, which was fantastic.

Since our game was canceled, George Hook made us dinner reservations at a swanky hotel restaurant.  We had a three course meal--we got brown bread and Irish butter, I got potato & leek soup for my starter, my main dish was chicken breast with a bunch of stuff (i.e. sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and a lot more things I don't remember) stuffed inside, which came with mashed potatoes and mixed veggies, and profiteroles for dessert.  We were also given two jugs of water--both still and bubbly--and I had a glass of Merlot with my meal.  Tasty dinner.

After we were done stuffing our faces, we stopped by the hostel to pack our suitcases for the next day before going out.  We went to the King's Head, which after the DJ was done, a live band started.  This band (like most live pub bands in Ireland, as I found) covered everything from Johnny Cash to Pink Floyd to Black Eyed Peas; their range was ridiculous.  A group of boys out for a stag (bachelor) party came over and talked with us all night.  They were astounded that I was drinking Guinness; maybe that's not something that Irish girls do?  One of them attached themselves to each of us, and one boy, James, who had a gimp leg from a soccer injury, attached himself to me and bought me drinks (despite the fact that he knew I have a boyfriend).  Airriell ended up arm wrestling most of the boys, as well as some of us.  It was definitely an interesting night, and we didn't end up getting home until 4:30am or so.

Photos from Carlow and Galway!