as Irish as the day is long...

We made it safely to Galway and immediately fell in love with the city! It is right on a huge bay and filled with parks and interesting shops. There is a university here and many artists so it gives the streets a youthful, vibrant feel. The Irish are so friendly and fun to talk to that you can't help but feel right at home. We've spent our days exploring the city, walking along the quays, and adventuring out to the surrounding area of Connemara. We've seen massive hills (that Beth likes to call mountains), the Kylemore Abbey and hundreds of free range sheep! At nights we like to head down to one of the MANY pubs to listen to some traditional Irish music (called Trad). It doesn't take long for a friendly Irishman to buy us an extremely tasty round of Guinness. On one particular night a nice gent named Sean proclaimed to me, "You look as Irish as the day is long!" He said it nearly every time he looked at me so we heard it said approximately 147 times that night. I took it as a compliment as I absolutely adore the Irish. Pale skin and red hair was never so stylish as it is here!
We found out I won't be able to get a job without a work permit but we kind of expected that to happen. We're still hoping Beth will be able to secure some form of employment and I will look into volunteering somewhere. We are looking for a place to live for at least two months so that we will be able to travel some before we head back to the states.