June 22nd, 2001
DAY TWO: Galway
HOSTEL: The Kinlay House (IHH) Merchants Rd. (091 565 244)

Globetrotters thankfully had an amazing breakfast in the morning, which brought us both back up to speed. Keri learned the meaning of a "Full Irish Breakfast" (which consists of any kind of meat product you can imagine with tea and other assortments, all crammed on one plate) by accident and didn't make that mistake again! We finished up quickly and got over to the bus station to get a ride over to Galway, a port city on the west coast of Ireland. We found that Ireland's bus system is actually quite excellent and could quite easily get us anywhere we needed for cheap. We bought our ticket, hopped on the bus (not before we sent out a mailing to all the Cheapfree.com readers on an Internet kiosk) and set off on a 3-4 hour drive across the island. We arrived mid-day, with plenty of time to go around and see sights. The sky was very gray out and it was a little on the cold side. Dropping off the bags at the hostel seemed to be a must, and after which we headed out around town. Galway was easily was one of my favorite cities in Ireland. The buildings are quaint, the atmosphere is incredible, and there is always much going on. We checked out Eyre Square first and sat down and relaxed. Eyre Square is a small park in the center of town with beautiful purple and yellow flowers. We went and found a nice pub and got a bite to eat of chicken and fries. In Galway there is this big river that flows through the center of town that starts at the ocean. Over near the mouth of this river reside the most swans you will ever see in your entire life, not 10 or 20 but easily a good hundred. Absolutely incredible and feeding them is a real treat. Galway is well known for their swans and you always see them on postcards and travel guides. As we moved in toward the center of the city there were beautiful old bridges going over the water as well as neat looking waterfalls and exotic birds. I can't say enough about the ambiance around the place. So after wandering for a while, we went and got a much-needed dinner at a nice American tourist trap (as much as we wanted to stay away, sometimes you don't know what you're walking into) so we were a little upset, but a good expensive American meal got rid of any resentment. By then we were exhausted from running around so we got a drink and headed back to our hostel. The Kinlay House is somewhat a chain for hostels having other ones in Dublin and Cork. It was almost like a mini dorm of sorts, a big public bathroom and the typical hostel bunk beds. Everything was good, except my bed was incredibly loose and I literally sank into it. Ok, not too big of a deal, but every time I moved it made a very loud squeaking noise. Not fun. That night we also met our roommate Camille and he was from Holland. I believe he was about our age, and was on a similar trip to ours, except he was staying in the hostel until he could find a place of his own in Galway. We stayed up some of the night talking, except by 10:00 or so Keri and I were so tired we pretty much just dosed off...lots of traveling makes you tired.

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