galway

yesterday we left enniskillen and drove to galway, and about 10 minutes into our drive our "sat nav" died.  she had been telling us she had low battery, but was plugged into the car's plug that is made for such things and the light was on indicating it was trying and that was doing no good - we think the cord was bad.  sooooo...me + printed out google maps directions = our new navigation system.  eek.  we got to galway and our hostel just fine, though, and on the way drove through some GORGEOUS land.  we kept meaning to pull over and take pictures, but only did so once:

galway is (apparently) an area where a lot of people still speak the irish language, and walking through the town (and listening to the radio in the car on the way to galway) we definitely heard people speaking something that wasn't english...and wasn't any other language i could recognize.

in galway the weather was perfect - sun, blue skies.  only i could get a little sunburn in ireland, but i did. be embarrassed about how white i am.  claire and i wrote postcards and ate lunch in a little park, then walked along galway bay - and set up our cameras to take this picture.

we had some awesome italian food for dinner with banoffee pie for dessert - nick and jen in belfast had been telling us we needed to try it, and it was every bit as good as i imagined.  as in: HEAVEN.  we left the restaurant intending to wander around and find some live music, and right across the street from the restaurant we found (by using our ears) this band playing amazing traditional music.

it was clear that they were truly talented, and fun, and the place was packed.  it immediately put me in a good mood.  such a lucky find!

today we're headed south to doolin, a town of 250 that is a tourist stop because it's famous for its traditional music.  we're hoping for another great night in a pub!