Galway is the Best Way!

Our second and last program trip in Ireland aka more free food, pretty sights, fun surprises, tour bus shenanigans, comfy beds and crazy nights. One may be surprised that all of us were waiting outside the bus at 8am before our program director even arrived, but we literally would never miss the chance for anything free (a new wine bar opened up along the river in January and offered a free glass in between 5-7 for the whole month... you better believe I went there 3 times in one week). So we claimed our usual spots in the very back row of the bus and were on our way to Galway!

There was singing and dancing (and babushkas)...

There were games...

and OH was there napping...

The bus awkwardly dropped us off for free time in a sketchy alley outside the town and THERE WAS SUN! We stripped our coats and rolled around in the grass for a while listening to music before exploring the town and heading back to our hotel for a tasty 3 course meal.

The next day we got back on our beloved bus and started driving along... when I say we had no idea what we were doing this weekend that is an understatement. Out of nowhere and I mean literally NOWHERE we showed up at a what Alex referred to as "the king's castle" (without a king) aka Kylemore Abbey. We spent a few hours exploring the cafe, giftshop, abbey, lake and "gardens" without flowers.

us with the ab

all the elon girls on the abbey... isnt that nice?

Insid the ab- these are for you, buckie!

yada yada yada a few more 3 course meals and we're off to the Aran Islands... once again no idea what or where those were but we're American... we like islands. So we bussed it to the middle of nowhere again, hopped on a ferry and stepped off onto the weirdest place on Earth (huge overstatement I'll admit right away but it was very "different"). The whole island shares a bank the size of my room, there are small stone walls separating everyones property, there is a school... kind of, and sooooo many sheep. We got on a little cramped bus driven by a crazy man and started weaving on up to the top towards "the fort," which I pictures to be somewhere along the lines of a stone structure... well I don't know but I wasn't expecting this.

All in all a beautiful weekend with my dubfam.