It actually started out in Germany. We landed in Frankfurt at 6:20 a.m. in Terminal A/Z. It was a very long walk to Terminal B. We were both glad for the walk though after sitting for so long. We got to the gate and found some benches nearby. I think we both took a bit of a nap there while waiting. Brenda exchanged some USD for Euro at a rate of $1 to 1.29. This ended up being high due to the commission, but she was glad to have some Euro.
The flight to Dublin was full. We had exit row seats with lots of leg room. The flight attendant’s jump seat was in our row. Stephanie was very nice. Even though this was a short flight they served drinks and sandwiches. We arrived in Dublin just about on time. The line for immigration was very long for the non-EU passengers, but went quickly. There was not proper customs procedure to speak of after they stamped out passports. The luggage arrived quickly and we found the rental car desk. That process went very quickly as well. The agent for Enterprise was pleasant and easy to work with.
The car is small, which is good! We got out of the lot and onto the highway system right away. After a little directional issue we got on the correct road and headed to Galway. The highway system is very well marked, it was more of a user error. We made a stop about halfway across at Clonmacnoise. This ancient Christian site is well worth the stop. The short movie that is included in the cost of 7 Euro to enter is worth the time. It was Brenda’s turn to drive when we left Clonmacnoise. The narrow country roads were thankful fairly empty on Sunday. She got the hang of the left side driving quickly. We returned to the highway and continued on to Galway. I made a misdirection and sent up through the city proper. That was an experience! Traffic was heavy, but we made it through. There was a circus tent set up in the Salthill area. By the time we returned to town for dinner at night, the tent was down. The Salthill Hotel is beautiful. We have an ocean view! I can see why this hotel is a great one for our groups. There is plenty of room in the restaurant for a large group to have breakfast and the lobby area is nice and large.
We took a taxi into Galway city (10 euro) and got some great recommendations from the driver. We walked High St., which is pedestrian only, have saw so many great places to eat, drink and shop. I can’t remember the name of the restaurant we had dinner at. We each had the Guiness and beef stew. It was very good. Just prior to dinner we had went into Taaffe’s as they listed food on their sign. Unfortunately the kitchen is not open on Sunday. There was some music there so we stayed for a pint and listened to the music for a while. I danced with a gentleman after he saw us tapping our feet to the music. That was interesting, to saw the least. After we had dinner, we went to Tig Coili for music and a pint. We arrived just as the music was about to start. We got our pints at the bar and found stools to sit on. Right near us was a young couple that looked about to leave. We planned to take their place, but they decided to stay. We asked them if they minded if we moved our stools closer to the music. Joe and Allison, here from Philadelphia, were very pleasant to talk to. And guess who we should run into but Eugene, the dancing man from Taaffe’s. After all this we hailed a taxi back to the hotel and went to bed. The end of a very long but fun-filled day.