seagulls and swans and rhubarb tart!

we are in galway for our second night. we took the bus yesterday from cork, a long ride through the beautiful green hills, spotted with black-faced sheep, old castle ruins, and two rainbows. the bus was making weird sounds after we left limerick, and as soon as we got on the road from the shannon stop the engine blew! both carson and i were immersed in our books (me, finally reading harry potter, and he finishing eat pray love) so the hour wait wasn't too bad, though we were tired once we got to galway. luckily our hostel is right across from the bus station, the aptly named galway hostel. it is smaller than the last one, the kitchen and eating area cozy and intimate. we are sitting in there now, it is loud and wild with people playing cards, laughing, cooking dinner and drinking vodka and cokes. last night we walked around the town for a bit and went to a charming little irish pub....home of traditional music seven nights a week. last night was a duo, a pennywhistler and a violinist. they played traditional tunes for all the two hours we were there, interspersed with little breaks to drink from their endless supply of pints of guinness. we both had our first pints of the thick yummy creamy drink last night too, it was delicious! the foam was almost like a whipped topping, and it goes down so smooth, i can see how people can get very into drinking them every night :) we were very charmed by the yellow walled, black and white photo-of musicians-studded pub. right before we left an older irish man asked us where we were from, and when we said the US, he went off on his frustrations and anger about what our country has done around the world, especially in iraq. i agreed with him completely, and felt uncomfortable in the interaction too, as just because i am from the US does not mean i agree with what has happened, and yet i represent it because it is my country. i was not suprised by the interaction, i was almost expecting it. i wonder what my nationality automatically brings up for people i meet, even if they know nothing more of who i am.

today we had a lazy morning squeezed together napping on our top bunk...we were so tired, i think still catching up from our travels (three weeks long today!) we awoke at around 1 and went for a great walk around galway...it is so charming here, very alive and active through the smaller town center....we found a market with the most delicious yoghurt i've ever had, in a little glass jar, fresh from this county, with rhubarb compote on the bottom! wow was it good. we walked to the river emptying out into the bay, and saw hundreds of seagulls fighting over a piece of bread a man had thrown...we also saw dozens of white swans, graceful in their movements. we sat on a beach for a long time scattered with hundreds of multicolored snail shells and pearly luminescent mussell shells churned by the sea. we walked in the wind and through the back streets and along the river's channels through the city. (we also ate a delicous rhubarb tart along the way!) :) tomorrow we are taking a ferry to the aran islands and staying at the kilronan house hostel on inishmore....it will be nice to be out of the cities and into more of the wild, countryside, water, seashore, etc.

we think of all of you and love you very much!!!!
love,
melissa & cars