5.20.12

Our first day on the Paddy Wagon tour of southern Ireland, on the four day tour. The tour began in Dublin and we drove towards Galway, stopping at many scenic spots along the way, including Kenmore Abbey, pictured here.

Our bus driver was really funny, and seems to have a big obsession with the movie, The Silent Man, with John Wayne, because he pointed out every single place that they shot a scene for the movie, even stopping at a few of them.

That night we stayed in Galway at a hostel. Three other people stayed in the room with us, and they became quick friends; when everyone else went to a club, we five went to a local pub and talked over a pint. Wesely, or ‘Wez’, is a native Irish-man, and his girlfriend in Chrystal, a Canadian who met Wez when they were both in Australia. They are coming back to Ireland after a few years in Canada together, so she can meet his family. Also with us was Pierre-Edouard, a French-man studying engineering in Dublin. We were really lucky to meet some friends on the trip, and it made the four days very enjoyable; it was exactly what I had been praying would happen.