Ireland: Driving on the Left and Galway

After we left London on a plane to Ireland, we immediately breathed a sigh of relief. We were so ready for cooler temps and greener landscapes. The plane ride was only about 2 hours and we landed in Dublin around lunchtime. After we landed, we went to the car rental shop and picked up our car!  We were super nervous to drive on the left side of the road.

The weather in Ireland was in the 60s and was cloudy and drizzly. We didn't care because it felt like traditional Ireland weather and we loved that!

 So not only did Trev have to drive on the left side of the road, but all of the cars over there are manuals. So he had to learn how to shift with his left hand, which was pretty interesting. We didn't get insurance on that car and as soon as we left the airport, I immediately wish we did: Trevor almost hit a few traffic cones on my side of the car turning out of the airport!

We had arrangements to stay in Galway, Ireland that night which was on the other side of the country.  Good thing it only took like 3 hours to drive from the East coast to the West.

 I'm not sure how, but somehow Trevor and I ended up on the scenic route through Ireland. We thought we were going to take M6 (see above) because it was the fastest route, but we somehow got on a local route that took us a bit north and we avoided M6 altogether. I have to say, I'm so glad that our GPS took us that way! We got to see so much of the country, and Ireland was gorgeous. We drove through local towns, saw farms, stone buildings, stone fences, saw sheep dogs running around cattle in the fields, admired the beautiful flowers and greenery galore, and just really enjoyed the drive!

We stopped on our way at a local pub for some lunch.

 Trevor got a Guinness with his lunch and also got a shepherd's pie. I can't remember exactly what I got to eat, but I remember it was yummy. We shared a dessert, and then got back on the road.

I really wish I would have taken more pictures/videos of the countryside. I'm guilty of not taking many pictures on trips and I wish I was better at it. I think I was just busy admiring everything in real time.

Ireland had so. many. roundabouts. Basically everywhere instead of an intersection, there was a roundabout. It was strange because in America, you go counterclockwise around a roundabout, but in Europe you go clockwise. It was pretty nerve-wracking at first, but I can say that after a few days, we were masters of the roundabout.

We arrived in Galway around 6pm and the streets were packed. There was some sort of weekend festival going on, and our airbnb was in the middle of the city. We had "fun" driving through the crowded streets looking for parking.

Once we found parking, we walked to our airbnb apartment and checked in. This was the first airbnb I booked where we had the entire place to ourselves and we weren't staying with anyone. I did this on purpose because I figured that we would just want some alone time to relax after spending a week living in other peoples' homes. We were so glad to finally have a private place. Fresh flowers were waiting for us on the table when we walked in. This was a common theme in Europe that I noticed.. all of the restaurants, bars, coffee shops, homes, etc always had fresh flowers on the tables and I loved that! It was such a sweet little touch and I wish places in the US took more care to little things like that.

That night we walked down the street and got some brick oven pizza for dinner. We watched some TV and just relaxed in our apartment that night, then went to bed early. We were exhausted from waking up early that morning and traveling all day, plus we had an action packed day planned for the next day!