When I was younger, I loved watching Mary Kate and Ashley movies. "Holiday in the Sun", "When in Rome", "Our Lips are Sealed", all of them were some of my favorite movies to watch. One of the movies that came out just as I was reaching the end of my Mary Kate and Ashley adoration was "New York Minute", the story of twin sisters who are nothing alike and their tumultuous day in New York City.
In one scene, Ashley's character needs to clean up and tries to use the bathroom at a questionable-looking convenience store. The cashier stops her, saying the bathroom is for paying customers only. In response, Mary Kate places a single Tootsie Roll on the counter.
This scene immediately came to mind when I went to use the bathroom at the shopping mall in Galway. After following the signs, I rounded the corner of a small hallway expecting to see the doors to the bathrooms. Instead, I saw two turnstiles, which I had previously associated with amusement parks. I didn't wan to ride a roller coaster, I wanted to use the bathroom.
To my surprise, I had to pay 20 cents to go to the bathroom. Luckily, there was a coin machine to change other coins into 20 cent pieces, otherwise I would have been out of luck. It was astonishing to me that something I had given no thought to before was suddenly something I had to pay to do.
The bathroom experience was the weirdest part of the group's first trip to town last Wednesday, but the trip was a success over all. After taking a tour of the city and learning about its history, we got to eat dinner and explore on our own for a couple hours.
The three other girls in my cabin and I decided to go back to town on Saturday to have more times at the shops (which close at 7:00!) and to explore. Galway is a beautiful city. It's just what I imagined it would be like. Walking down the city center, you see shops lining a narrow walking street with crowds of people walking in all directions. You can hear conversations in Gaelic and English (with a beautiful accent of course) and street musicians playing all sorts of instruments and singing.
Unfortunately, any thought of taking pictures went out the window as I got lost in experiencing everything that was going on around me (sorry Daddy). I do, however, have this gem:
In one scene, Ashley's character needs to clean up and tries to use the bathroom at a questionable-looking convenience store. The cashier stops her, saying the bathroom is for paying customers only. In response, Mary Kate places a single Tootsie Roll on the counter.
This scene immediately came to mind when I went to use the bathroom at the shopping mall in Galway. After following the signs, I rounded the corner of a small hallway expecting to see the doors to the bathrooms. Instead, I saw two turnstiles, which I had previously associated with amusement parks. I didn't wan to ride a roller coaster, I wanted to use the bathroom.
To my surprise, I had to pay 20 cents to go to the bathroom. Luckily, there was a coin machine to change other coins into 20 cent pieces, otherwise I would have been out of luck. It was astonishing to me that something I had given no thought to before was suddenly something I had to pay to do.
The bathroom experience was the weirdest part of the group's first trip to town last Wednesday, but the trip was a success over all. After taking a tour of the city and learning about its history, we got to eat dinner and explore on our own for a couple hours.
The three other girls in my cabin and I decided to go back to town on Saturday to have more times at the shops (which close at 7:00!) and to explore. Galway is a beautiful city. It's just what I imagined it would be like. Walking down the city center, you see shops lining a narrow walking street with crowds of people walking in all directions. You can hear conversations in Gaelic and English (with a beautiful accent of course) and street musicians playing all sorts of instruments and singing.
Unfortunately, any thought of taking pictures went out the window as I got lost in experiencing everything that was going on around me (sorry Daddy). I do, however, have this gem:
I can honestly say that this sandwich at Lynch's Cafe has been the best meal I've had since getting to Ireland (mostly because I've moved from apples and toast to cereal and peanut butter toast).
There'll be plenty of other chances to explore and take pictures of Galway since we have a contract with one of the bus companies. We get free rides from Galway to Spiddal at 9:00AM and free rides back at 5:00PM any day of the week.
This past week I also took it upon myself to walk to Spiddal to explore a bit more. We've been here a week and the most I'd done in Spiddal was enjoy a few nights at the pub. Unfortunately, many shops in Spiddal only open for tourist season, so the craft village in town won't open for another couple weeks (I'll keep you posted). I did however, get a few amazing pictures of the walk there and back.
There'll be plenty of other chances to explore and take pictures of Galway since we have a contract with one of the bus companies. We get free rides from Galway to Spiddal at 9:00AM and free rides back at 5:00PM any day of the week.
This past week I also took it upon myself to walk to Spiddal to explore a bit more. We've been here a week and the most I'd done in Spiddal was enjoy a few nights at the pub. Unfortunately, many shops in Spiddal only open for tourist season, so the craft village in town won't open for another couple weeks (I'll keep you posted). I did however, get a few amazing pictures of the walk there and back.
This is our last free weekend before field trips start, and while it'll be nice to have another relaxing break, I'm ready for more adventures to begin.
Until next time!
Until next time!