Exploring the city

The past week we have done a lot of walking and exploring of Galway.  This is probably going to be completely based on where we ate (and drank) this week because it's such a big part of Irish culture (and I'm obsessed with food...) So once we finally got into our apartments at Donegan Court we were all completely exhausted and jet-lagged.  I obviously could have easily passed out because it was about 4am U.S. time and I had only gotten a little bit of sleep on the plane and bus.  But... the little voice of Jeffrey Crothers popped into my head telling me I had to stay up so that I could get on schedule for the rest of the week.  

Realizing none of us had eaten in awhile, Kelsey, Allison, Amanda, Kelley, Pat, Mike and I set off in search of somewhere to eat.  We stopped at a tiny little pub on the street next to us called E. Brun because they had a sign advertising a soup and sandwich deal for 5 euro.  The bar was small and a little dingy, you could tell everyone in there was a regular or family, and they were all at least 60 years old.  There weren't even menus and the woman that served us reminded everyone of a warm grandma.  I got a ham, cheese, and onion toastie (warm sandwich) with vegetable soup and irish soda bread.  It was deliiiiicious and just what we needed at the time.  

We then set off to find some bedding and essentials because when we got to the apartment it was FREEEZZZING and we didn't even have a blanket. We went into Dunnes Stores (they have everything from clothing to groceries) and found us some pillows and blankets.  We felt like HUGE tourists walking back with all of our stuff back to our apartment.  It was kinda funny though.  All of the stores and shops and pubs are along Shop Street.  It's really pretty and European looking because it's all cobblestones and just a walking street.  

Once we got back around 3 it really hit me and I took a nap for 2 or 3 hours.  It felt good but I had to force myself to wake up because I could have slept through the night.  Kelsey, Allison and I then made ourselves get up and walk back into town to try and get more stuff and get some food in us.  As we walked there it started PORING rain which is something we definitely have to get used to! It was a national holiday so all of the stores were closed by then, so we met up with Pat and Mike for a drink at Tig Coili.  We ended up picking that bar just because as we were walking by we heard traditional Irish music so it seemed like the right thing to do! I had my first guiness there and we listened to some great music.  Every once in a while the bartender would pound his hand on the bar and everyone would go silent.  The man in the corner would start singing a very Irish song with no background music at all.  It was a really cool experience for my first Irish pub!

That night we also went to The Kings Head for some more music and a pint of Bulmers (cider) where they played some American songs and Galway Girl (I think they were making fun of us a little bit.) We also tried out The Quays for some more music.  The Quays used to be a church  so the architecture is really unique and beautiful.  It was a really fun first night to just explore Galway and try out some of the pubs.