Welcome to Ireland

What a very very long day. I said goodbye to my boyfriend and my parents and flew to Chicago, a great lil taste of the long flight ahead. I found my friends in the airport and we got seats together right at the front of the HUGE plane with adorable flight attendants (I actually enjoyed listening to the safety talk!!) the food was gluten free and excellent they even included a cookie! They also made sure we has tea after supper.

After 6 hours of attempting to sleep and watching the hunger games we finally arrived in Dublin! So our little group grew to 7 And we grabbed taxis to the place we were keeping our luggage. Our taxi driver was our first real taste of and true Irish man and he was a perfect mix of swear words a thick accent and a wonderful source of Irish history and culture.

Once in the city we got on a free tram (well we thought it was... Oops) to the Guinness Factory. It wast a tour of the actual brewery but we did get to go to the gravity bar at the very top and it had the most amazing view! The whole museum was shaped like a beer glass. Although I did not get to partake in a lovely pint of beer, I did get a free fanta.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a gas station (oh the life of a traveling college student) and headed to Trinity College. It was absolutely beautiful, a little gem of green grass and fantastic architecture in the midst of a busy dirty city. We got to see the Book Of Kells and the old library. It was the best thing i saw all day.

We then ran full speed through Dublin to catch the bus to Galway, as if running wasn't enough, keep in mind we still has our 30lb backpacks on. The long bus ride was a very welcome rest and for 3 hours we rolled trough the beautiful green county side of Galway.

After asking a lot of questions we finally got to our house in Galway and found three of the girls staying with us preparing dinner for us. We stayed up for a few hours and fell into a deep much needed sleep.

It was a beautiful first day in Ireland. Our house doesn't have wireless which is a big bummer, but so many places offer free Internet. I absolutely love the people here. They are all so nice and helpful. Everyone is generous with there knowledge and If we are lost we aren't surprised if a person takes us by the hand and walks us there themselves.

Oh, and dogs are not on leashes.