Why Galway???

An uneventful, short flight from London to Shannon Airport on Aer Lingus. Their flights leave from the most inconvenient, boring, and run-down terminal at Heathrow. I hate it when getting to the terminal and waiting for the flight turns out to be longer than the flight itself! But I guess that's what happens to mega short-haul flights…

Coming in for the landing, I was very excited to see the rolling green hills with white spots. SHEEPS!!!!! So in-line with my image of Ireland : ) Which is greenery and sheeps. How simplistic.
Having entered an EU nation, I had to go through entry formalities, and was shocked to receive one of the biggest entry stamps in my passport. Took up the whole entire page, and it's not even a visa!!! I don't have that many blank pages left…

Although I arrived in Shannon, my final destination for the day was Galway. From the airport, there's a semi-frequent bus for 15 euros. Ride time about 1.5 hours. Pricy, considering that I was able to purchase a longer Galway - Dublin bus ticket for 2 days later for only 5 euros.

Out of all the cities in Ireland, I don't know why I chose Galway as my first stop, rather than head directly to Dublin with my friends. I knew I wanted to see more of Ireland than just its capital city, but why Galway?!?!?! Please don't ask. Maybe I read somewhere that this area has the most sheep in the country.

You know what…that's probably it!!!!!

After checking into my youngster-filled hostel, I went out to explore the town. Charming and colorful stores lined the main Promenade. Mostly tourist stores and restaurants and pubs. I did find a cute pet store:

Along with this awesome sand work:

(Where does the sand come from, I wonder...)

The Promenade ends and opens up at the bay, with some old fortress walls. Nothing exciting to note, excepts that the bay was prettier and more photogenic than the walls:

With that walk thru the Promenade, I was sadly done with the main highlights of the city. So, I spent the rest of the day just wandering around random streets. What better way to explore the city on such a beautiful day! And so rewarding when encountering beautiful sceneries like this:Reminded me of New England.

That evening, I went to Supermac. Not McDonald, but Supermac. And yes, they serve very similar menus, with my choice for the night being chicken nuggets.

Back at the hostel, I chatted the night away with my dorm mates. Who all happened to be heading to Dublin for the U2 concert as well. Being avid fans, it seemed like they were going to as many concerts as they could throughout Europe for the summer. Coolio!