Brandon O'Brien

Friday, July 12, 2013 @ 8:26 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 16

Last night Chris and I ended up finishing the whole bottle of Southern Comfort. Fortunately I was drinking a lot of water so I woke up feeling pretty good. Chris took off this afternoon for a different hostel and then he'll head back to the states tomorrow.

After breakfast I got my book and went out to the river and read in the shade. About an hour later I finished the book and walked around the city a little more before deciding to get lunch. I got a chicken baguette and ate by the River Corrib and the Spanish Arch. It was another beautiful day although it was a little cooler.

After lunch I came back to the hostel and worked for a while before deciding to go see the new Superman movie. I enjoyed the movie. I thought it was much better than the last remake of Superman.

I ate some dinner and have been working on editing and uploading some of my photos to IndePrinted. I want to print off some of my best shots from the trip when I get home and hang them in my place.

I'm going to head out in a bit and grab a pint of Guinness. I figure I'll have one last glass before heading to Scotland tomorrow!

Teaser photos:

Drinking some cider by the river

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Tags: daily journal, ireland, galway,

Posted from: Ireland

Thursday, July 11, 2013 @ 5:24 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 15

It was another beautiful day in Galway so I decided I'd take advantage of this freak weather and head to the Salthill beach (about a 3 mile walk away). I ate a quick breakfast and got an early (in Irish standards) start to the beach and arrived around 10:30. I lathered on the sun screen and then walked about knee deep into the frigid North Atlantic waters of Galway Bay. The cold water really helps cool you down!

I didn't really like leaving my back with wallet and phone and camera sitting on the beach so I went back to it and ended up reading on the beach for a while. After I got nice and hot again I moved into the shade and read some more. It was relaxing not really having a schedule and just relaxing around the beach.

I had some lunch and then decided to get in the water again. This time I got up to my waist and was sufficiently cool down enough to stay out for a while longer. I read in the sun some more then went back to the shade. I walked down to a pier where people dive off into the ocean. I saw a few people do it but no one was doing any cool flips or anything so I ventured back into the shade.

When I was in the shade reading I overheard a young couple talking to some police about how all their stuff got jacked when they were in the ocean by the pier. I'm glad my instincts were right about not leaving my stuff exposed for too long (even though I was keeping an eye on it while I was in the water).

By about 4:00 I was ready to head back and shower. I made the hot walk back and enjoyed washing all the sweat, sunscreen and salt off me. I'll probably stay here tonight. Chris messaged me on facebook saying he bought a bottle of Southern Comfort and some cokes so we'll just chill here and drink for a while. That's what we ended up doing last night too.

One of my bunkmates is volunteering at a film festival in town and was talking about some of the showings. I might go do that tomorrow since the weather is looking like it might rain. There are some schedule books laying around the hostel so I'll give them a look over and see if there's anything that looks interesting.

Teaser photos:

On the way to Salthill

Salthill Promenade

People dive off the pier at the back of the photo

Galway Bay with mountains in background

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Tags: daily journal, ireland, galway

Posted from: Ireland

Wednesday, July 10, 2013 @ 8:53 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 14

Last night I ended up finding a book at the hostel called the Moscow Vector so I've been reading that lately. It's a pretty good mystery book about Russians developing a super virus that can target individuals. I'll try to finish it over the next day or two and then swap it out for something else at my current hostel.

My bus for Galway left this afternoon and went through some of the Burren through some extremely curvy and steep roads. I'm still amazed how these buses are able to navigate some of these roads. No bus breakdowns this trip and I made it to Galway around 1:45pm.

I ate a sandwich and apple in Eyre park and then went to the Sleepzone hostel to check in. People are out and about everywhere since the weather has been so nice (although the humidity is really getting to me). All of the Irish and Europeans are walking around completely burnt to a crisp. It's pretty funny seeing how they're not used to the sun what-so-ever.

After checking into the hostel I walked around the town a bit through some nice canal areas and busy shopping/cafe areas. The heat was starting to get to me again so I came back to the hostel for a bit. I met up with Chris (the guy from Tennessee I originally met in Kilkenny) and we chatted for a bit.

I needed to get some food for dinner so I went to a Lidl for the first time. It's basically an Aldi and this was the first time I was able to go shopping without feeling like I was getting completely ripped off. For dinner I got some Irish sausages, peppers, onions and bread and cooked it up. I also had some wine (out of a coffee mug) with dinner which was a nice change from beer.

Since then I've just been taking it easy waiting for it to cool down so I can head out again to try and find some music or entertainment of some kind.

Teaser photos:

Along the River Corrib

Bridge over River Corrib

Spanish Arch and Blind Arch - Part of the original town wall

Cool patterns someone made on the river bank

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Tags: daily journal, ireland, galway

Posted from: Ireland