The trip was coming to an end and I was just so bummed but so thankful for such a great time! It was going to be a little bit of a ride back to Dublin since we had to drive back to the west side of the island. It was a pretty nice day though, the sun was out!
We left Bunratty and made on our way to Connemara Marble Factory where we got a quick presentation about the different marble products that come from there. Beautiful marble! Green (the Green Gold of Connemara) and white marbles are found in Connemara and are about 500 million years old! The red and rose marble come from Cork & Kerry Counties, and jet black marble comes from the Galway area. They only manufacture jewelry from this factory now though, no large slabs like what would be used in home furnishings. The area also is known for its amethyst. Oh boy, not only did I have to get a marble souvenir, but now amethyst too! I found beautiful earrings with green marble and the trinity symbol and an amethyst stone ring with the trinity symbols as well.
It was a pretty interesting place and the best part was that I'm pretty sure a leprechaun gave the presentation.
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| The leprechaun at Connemara Marble |
Next stop was town of Galway for few hours stop to sight see and get lunch. I didn't know much about Galway, so luckily I had my Rick Steves' book to guide me along. All I do know is that I couldn't this song out of my head for the whole day:
If you haven't seen P.S. I Love You, and you feel like watching a chick flick and soaking your shirt with more tears than you did from The Notebook then this movie is for you. I actually watched it the night before leaving for Ireland - with no idea what it was about - and loving it to death. Being one of Brittany's faves too, she and I were keeping our eyes open for "William" :)
I wandered the medieval streets for a little while heading down the the River Corrib to the Cathedral of St. Nicholas. It is one of the last stone churches built in Europe and quite beautiful inside with Connemara Marble floors and hand carved stations of the cross. It seats about 2000.
The McSwiggan's Pub caught my eye with a catchy name so I went in for a pint of Bulmer's and some quiche for lunch. There was only about an hour left to see the town so I made my way back to Eyre Square to meet the group. This is the city's focal point - in 1965 the square was officially renamed "Kennedy Memorial Park" in honor of President John F. Kennedy, who visited Galway city shortly before his assassination in 1963. I snapped a few pictures while waiting for Pat and the coach to arrive.
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| "Hooker Sculpture" in Eyre Square |
It was time to head east back to Dublin. We got to the Academy Plaza Hotel, right off of O'Connell Street around 5:00 and it was an absolute zoo due to a huge rugby match in Dublin that weekend. A bunch of us were trying to figure out a plan and we decided on Pat's recommendation at the Knightsbridge Inn in the Arlington Hotel right down O'Connell from our hotel. It was only €30 for dinner, Irish dancing and music. We had a 7:00 reservation and made our way down the busy street and we came upon the red carpet in front of the Savoy Cinema on O'Connell St. Who could it be we wondered? Vicky and I were absolutely ELATED when we found out Mark Wahlberg was coming for the Irish premier of his movie "Contraband" for the Jameson Dublin Film Festival. We both committed to stay till he arrived and let the group go to the Inn to get our table since we had the reservation.
45 minutes later and still no arrival of Marky Mark, who do we see but the Boston crew walking down the street.
We called them over in hopes that their Boston accents would lure him in and no sooner did he actually arrive! Camera in hand, I was so ready to get an awesome picture since we were RIGHT behind the stupid metal bar separating us. In the meantime Carol from N. Boston is behind me yelling "Dorchester is here" so as Marky is right in front of me signing an autograph I yell to him, "Dorchester's in the house" and he looks up at me and it was over. Locking eyes for that brief second surely did not help me capture that memorable photo but thank goodness for Vicky and the magic of her camera:
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| Thanks to Vicky for getting this amazing picture! |
After that great excitement, Vicky and I were giggling like school girls. We made it to dinner late but with a great story. The show at The Knightsbridge Inn was really fantastic. We had a 3 course dinner and were serviced by our adorable waiter Declan - who tried to get me up on stage during the audience participation segment but I gave him a big NO WAY!
The music and dancing were an absolutely perfect ending to our trip. My camera died right in the middle of the show but luckily I had the iPad and could capture some video of Rocky Road to Dublin and the dancers dancing acapella.
We didn't stay till quite the end but had an absolutely wonderful time. Back at the hotel we said our goodbyes. I had to be up at 4:00 am to get to the airport but didn't care how exhausted I was. I had such a great time on this trip and even though my travel savvy confidant Rick Steves' doesn't prefer to take trips in the manner that I did I still had a great time.
I'm already in the planning process for my Ireland sequel, this time including Dave!
"May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his hand."
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