I've decided to write about Katy and Tara's visit in sections because there is a lot to say because they are the best friends anyone could ask for and their visit has been insanely epic. Also there are still two more days before they leave. So.
The epicness started on December 28. My flight was delayed about an hour and a half. Given that Katy and Tara's flight was already getting into Dublin about an hour before mine, this made me stressed because I didn't want them to have to wait around the airport any longer than they had to waiting for me. So as soon as our plane landed, I BOOKED it off that sucker. I literally ran to baggage claim (which as anyone who has been to the Dubs airport probs knows, is an INSANELY long way because the Dublin Airport is one of the most poorly organized airports in probably the world.) I was running, scanning the baggage claim from left to right. Apparently I didn't do a very good job because I ran past these two girls I didn't think I knew and all of a sudden I heard, "MOLLS!" I pulled to a stop and, gasping for breath, pointed ahead at these two women who had also run off the plane with me (I think they had a connecting flight though) and panted, "You see those women? They are the only two who beat me off the plane." That ushered in the first of many, many, many belly laughs which, we decided, are good for the soul.
So from there it just got better. We took the bus back to Galway and were there by early afternoon. I took them to Monroe's, which is my favorite food-serving pub, for dinner, and then we just kind of pub-hopped in my neighborhood and up Shop Street (the main drag). We met some people from Australia and New Zealand and this inspired Katy's antics the next night. (slight sidenote) She decided to pretend she was also from New Zealand so she could get free fries at Vinnie's before we went home for the night. If this doesn't make sense to you, that is okay. It probably shouldn't. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, either. But it did work.
So the next day (this being the 29 and the day of the night Katy got free fries... sorry if that seems confusing but I wanted to group Oceania-related events together) I showed them around Galway (the like 3 things there are to see). I took them to my school and to Eyre Square and we took a picture of a Galway hooker sculpture (a hooker is a kind of boat). We also considered renting a car to drive out into the country but decided against it when we realized it was 150 euro. I am very glad we decided against this, because while at the time we were under the impression we would be able to drive on the left side of the road, I very much doubt that when push came to shove any of us would have been able to competently do so. That night we listened to Irish music at the Crane Bar and went to my fave restaurant and Katy almost broke her hand because someone slammed it in a door but overall we had very good times. Also, this night Tara wandered around in an alley forlornly calling, "Katy? Katy? Kattttyyyyyyyyyyyy?" until she found her.
NEXT DAY we were going to go to the Aran Islands (an Irish-speaking community off the coast of Galway). We missed the bus by three hours. That is not an exaggeration. It was supposed to leave at 9 but we got ourselves together at noon. Then we did some googling and thought there was a noon boat to the islands, but there ended up not being. So we asked the Aran Islands tour organizer lady we spoke with to recommend a new day trip and she suggested going to the Bus Eireann (kind of like the Greyhound of Ireland) station and looking at the destinations to get inspired. That led to this conversation with the Bus Eireann ticket lady:
Me: Hi! Can you tell me where the buses are going today?
Lady: (taken aback) um... where do you want to go?
Me: Anywhere. What buses are leaving in the next half hourish?
Lady: Do you have... a destination in mind?
Me: I dunno. We'll pretty much go anywhere. (seeing her confusion, I leaned in and got real.) Okay, so here's the deal. We were going to go to the Aran Islands today but we missed the bus by three hours. We need a new day trip. Where can the buses take us?
Lady: Well... it's a little late in the day for a day trip. But there's a bus going to Westport in ten minutes. You could go there.
Us: Okay!
Then we went to Westport. The journey there was probably the single-worst two hours of any of our lives. It was on these twisty, tiny roads that were bumpy and at one point the bus jounced so hard over a bump that we literally flew out of our seats and our heads almost grazed the top of the bus. It was miserable. I actually did not think I was going to make it for a few minutes.
But then we got to Westport. Westport is my new favorite town. It is so beautiful. It's really cute and precious and Georgian and lovely and resort-like and calm and peaceful and gorgeous and there is this river that runs through it that makes it look like something out of a movie. Westport is highly recommended to anyone who finds themselves in the west of Ireland. We took a two hour bus there, spent four hours in the city, and then took a two hour bus back. But it was actually totally worth it.
This is Westport:
See?
The next day it was time to go to Dublin. As we are still in Dublin and we are getting ready to go to dinner soon, I'll save that for another post. But preview: we went to a club called Club M and a man stopped Tara on the street and asked her what her ethnic heritage was. It was WILDLY inappropriate but also mildly hilarious.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!
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