Jet Laaagggggggggg- Ireland, August 20th, 2006

I can honestly say, this is one of the days I was happiest that it was Sunday!! Unfortunately, since the island we were on was really small, it only had one church—and it was obviously not an LDS church. We were planning on attending mass, but we got the times wrong, and by the time we realized this, we wouldn’t have had enough time to get there. Which was too bad, because that would have been an interesting cultural expereince!
So I decided to take it easy! I was still feeling a little under the weather, and was grateful that the plan for today was only to “explore the island.” I was really not feeling well enough to go bike around, so I let Sheri go do the hard-core exploring, opting for a more leisurely pace myself. I grabbed a book and set off. I didn’t really go very far, but I did find a nice outcropping of rocks where I could just relax and read. But I did have a really nice view of the bay, and quite a bit of the island. This particular island is the largest of the three islands, and was actually a lot larger than I had originally supposed. They are all located off the western coast of Ireland in Galway County. I heard someone describe these islands as how Ireland was about 50 years ago. I really agree with that—there were thatched roofs on some of the cottages, old fortresses, and cows. People were biking everywhere—there were a few cars and some buses for the tourists, but most people seemed to take a more leisurely pace here. It was so nice, especially since I was sick and wasn’t up for the “museum mad dash” that would categorize the next two weeks following Ireland.
I really enjoyed sitting and reading—I guess I was feeling a little bit of culture shock (I know—Ireland really isn’t that different from America, but add that to stress and being sick…) but I realized that reading was my method of coping with the culture shock. And what better place to read than a beautiful, mysterious, picturesque setting? That is until it started to sprinkle… then I had to go back inside!
The bed and breakfast we were staying at was really nice—Sheri and I each got our own Queen Sized bed, and a shower actually attached to our room (later, that would be something I would really appreciate!). The only thing bad about it was that the woman who ran the B&B acted like we were totally imposing on her. Especially since Sheri and I decided that rather than spend our money eating out, we would bring back something and prepare it there. The only problem was that apparently they don’t believe in cold cuts, and the only sandwich meat was this turkey thrasher that you apparently have to cook! We ended up totally interrupting their families’ dinner—which wasn’t our intent at all. However, we did get our turkey thrasher cooked! I guess they assume that all the people that stay there are wealthy enough to afford to go out and eat—unfortunately for us though, all the hostels had already been booked! But it was nice to actually have nicer accommodations for a couple of nights, especially since we would have plenty of time to stay in hostels!
Although Sheri had many more adventures on this day than I did, I was so grateful to have a chance to just relax!!