Good News, Bad News or just News?

Okay, so I had my plane ticket home tentatively issued today. I was going to be back three weeks from yesterday (the 23rd). This not only would have gotten us home sooner than expected, but as an additional incentive I would have been able to make the annual Tobin/Last camping trip at Cape Lookout. I even planned on not telling anyone I was coming home and just showing up at the campsite. Or maybe pull up to the group in my own crabbing boat.

But alas, in the space of less than an hour after we had decided to confirm those tickets home something came up.

Now we aren't going to be here for the additional 2-4 months that I suspected, but it looks like we are going to be in Europe until early June. We will most likely head home the weekend after Memorial Day weekend.

That ends the news portion of our blog, now for some pics.

Today was a beautiful day in Galway. I decided to leave the computer for a while and head out to the water and see what all the fuss is about.

For those of you that have not visited, we live right next to where the river empties into Galway Bay. Really close to the Spanish Arch if you are familiar with Galway.

This picture was taken about 20 yards from my apartment across the main street that I live on:

So when it gets nice people just hang out here. The Spanish Arch is in the background behind the tree.

Looking up the river towards the Cathedral and NIU Galway:


Lovely day for a cider:

or two:

And yes, I now drink cider. Make fun of me all you want, but only after you try a nice cold Bulmer's with ice on a sunny day while sitting outside admiring the view. If you still don't like cider, then you can make fun of me all you want.

Mostly I added these pictures to show you what Galway looks like. So when my better half or myself complains about being 'stuck' in Galway these last seven months, realize that it wasn't all bad. Our apartment is in the background of this picture. We live right behind the girl wearing the very last year capri pants with the sun glare over her shoulder.

I mainly took this picture to show you the zeit geist of Galway when it is nice. No worries on public drinking, lots of hanging out by the river, many picnics, etc..... But as we were leaving I noticed the shirt this guy was wearing. Yes, you are correct, that is a Seattle Mariners shirt. I so felt like I was on Alki beach! The first Mariners paraphernalia I have seen in Europe that was not worn by myself or a Japanese tourist.

The problem with Galway was, how would you feel about moving to Seattle for seven months? Starting in October and lasting until the end of May? Just the absolutely wrong time of year in terms of weather. Galway's winter is a lot like Seattle's, but more rain and much more wind. Plus Galway is farther north than Seattle (it is actually North of Whistler) so there is even less light during the depths of winter.

In summary, Galway isn't bad at all. We just let the winter get to us somewhat and that biased our opinion.