Rumor has it that jetlag gradually sets in and then hits you really hard on the third day. Well let me tell you, it has smacked me in the face today. I'm exhausted, but still loving Ireland.
Update since last night...
Kate and I were not able to sleep because we had slept so much on the airplanes and took two random naps before dinner so we went exploring Lahinch (pronounced La-Hench). It was a small and sleepy town, but we walked into a dimly lit pub named "P. Frawleys" and watched the soccer game with one other patron and the bar owner, Mr. Frawley. Well we find out the other patron is from Houston, so we start talking to him and then he tells us that the bar owner is Mr. Frawley himself and he's in his late eighties and this bar has been in the family since the 18 hundreds. CRAZY! So Kate and I take a picture with him and continue to hang out in the pub. Eventually more and more locals come around and so we started talking to them about what we were doing in Ireland and where we were going. This is when the Irish became really friendly to us. They were telling us all the "must sees" in Dublin and Paris and where to avoid. It was awesome.
Well Kate and I were out until almost 1am because our bodies were used to California time and we had had so much sleep and so then by the time 730am Ireland time rolled around, we wanted to scream from sleep deprivation. Well then we walked down to breakfast and had a "traditional Irish breakfast". Travel tip: Keep an open mind about food and don't be shocked when it's completely NOT what you thought. We ordered eggs and bacon with corn flake cereal. Well... the cereal was good, if you added a spoonful of sugar to accommodate our American tongues and then the eggs were really jiggly and WAY yellow and then the bacon was seriously a couple slabs of ham. It all tasted great, but I definitely was skeptical at first.
Then we were off to Galway, but we were talking the scenic route. First we stopped at this random small town where there was a video about somewhere in Ireland (accents make it hard to understand sometimes) and then a cemetery next store. So of course a bunch of American kids with digital cameras in hand invade the cemetery. First of all, they give me the creeps in the states, the ones here are even worse. Though their headstones are really pretty and made up of marble and granite, I think they bury like ten people in the same family on top of each other. No thanks.
We stopped at Coole Park where Lady Gregory lived and died. It was beautiful, but a mixture of no food, no sleep and people who wouldn't shut up on the bus made it a little hard to care completely about what was going on around me.
Then we went to William Butler Yeats' house, which was closed, so we looked at the outside of the tower. He built this HUGE tower for his wife... Man I need to find me an Irish poet who will do that for me! haha
Something I have noticed about Ireland's countryside is that there are miles and miles of these walls made up of stone. They are very castle looking and I don't see the point in many of them. They are really interesting and intricate though. Kinda cool.
We're now in Galway, Ireland and it's a big city. Reminds me of parts of San Francisco. It's not NYC huge, but it's not small either. There are a lot of people walking around and a ridiculous amount of pubs. So weird to me, but it's normal here. There are also a lot of places to place sporting bets. I have soo more of those places in my few days in Ireland than my entire time in the states. Granted, I've never been to Vegas, but honestly, does there need to be THAT many bookie places in one city? Wow!
The best were staying here in Galway is a hostel. It reminds me of Nease... old Nease. There are four people in one room that is smaller than an Old Nease room which includes a bathroom. It's going to be interesting. But honestly, I'm gonna grab dinner after this and then do some exploring and then hit the hay. I wanna be up and alive in Dublin.
My current cravings... Red Mango, Brown bread from the caf and Jaron's mom's lasagna.
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