galway

an intro...when we arrived at jfk we noticed our flight had been delayed to dublin. well, delay after delay after delay we still didn't have a plane! then delta decided it would be sweet to downsize our already full plane to dublin. yes, delta that makes perfect sense to downsize a full international flight for people who have spent thousands of dollars on tickets. {sorry still venting}. well, the first seats went to first-class and some other ranking system that did not include us. we are all waiting around this tv screen for our names to pop up as the chosen winner for a seat. then the unthinkable happens and the screen just says "flight full". that was it. so off we go with about 50 others and get in line for our $400 voucher and hotel room for the night when we hear our names. never have i ran so fast. we were the last ones called and they closed the cabin door behind us. even sweeter we got exit row seats! i really do swear michael has the best luck. had it just been me they would have ran out of the vouchers before i got one.
sooo, to make a long story even longer... since we were four hours late leaving JFK we now missed our train in dublin to galway. michael rented us a car and off we went on our own. me with the map {never good} and michael in the driver's seat {again, never good}. needless to say, it was very scary interesting riding on the 'wrong' side of the car for the first time with someone who is was driving on the 'wrong' side of the road for the first time. we eventually made it to galway and it was definitely worth all the frustration!...

SO we started our trip off in galway which means the "city of tribes" and michael's family - 'lynch' just happens to be one of the tribe families that built the city of galway way back when.

flags of the tribes in eyre square:



it is a beautiful city with a small-town feel that sits on the water with shops, cafes, and pubs lining the cobblestone streets.




spanish arch hotel - where we stayed a couple of nights.




national university of ireland, galway:


a beautiful walk along with water in salthill:



we were starving when we arrived so we hit up lynch's cafe for lunch. the food wasn't the best but when the owner found out michael was a 'lynch' he told him the history of the cafe and gave him some information on the lynch family. of course it quickly became michael's favorite.


the church the lynch family built - st. nicholas' collegiate church:


it also holds lynch's window {where the mayor of galway hanged his own son for murdering a spanish man}


we passed a tour group one day that were stopped in front of the lynch castle and michael listened in on what the guide was telling and it turns out that when the lynch family was living there a fire broke out and their pet monkey carried their baby to safety. so there is a monkey holding a baby on the front of the castle. {michael of course thought it was the best story ever and i couldn't stop laughing}


we went to a baroque orchestra concert one night at the church - please note the guy's face in the background - this was right before he told michael photos were not allowed. yes, in the middle of the performance. if i could have crawled under my seat i would have.


and what trip to ireland is complete without a picture with a leprechaun??