To Arthur!

This past Thursday, September 24th, marked the 250th anniversary of Guinness. On this day, 250 years ago, Arthur Guinness purchased the St James' Gate Brewery and began making his soon to be famous pints of the "black stuff".

Now, I know this is a shameful thing to say, so I'll say it very quietly:

I don't like Guinness.

I know, I know. It's a travesty, but it's the truth. Even so, I was not going to celebrate this historical moment with a pint of cider, so Guinness was to be had. My friends and I headed into town to get our hands on a pint in order to make the toast at 17:59 on the dot. The streets of Galway were swarming with people who spilled out of the too-full pubs. It was strenuous work trying to finagle our way through the crowds, squirming uncomfortably through the masses until we felt the wet wood of the bar counter beneath our fingertips. Pints were on offer for a mere 2.50 euros and even though everyone was shoving to get one in time for the toast, the bar tenders would not sacrifice the perfect pour. Finally, we managed to get our drinks and then it was time to squirm our way back out onto the streets to join the mayhem. Well, we could barely make it past the door frame, and Arthur took it upon himself to drizzle rain on our upturned faces, but everyone managed to raise their glasses high and toast to Arthur Guinness (several times actually).

So began a very wonderful weekend.

We returned to my place to have dinner, more drinks, and some cake to celebrate our friend Jaci's birthday. Then it was back out on the town. We tried out a new pub where a guy was playing that I met in my Irish language class (that's right, I signed up for one! more on this another time). A few more places were visited throughout the night, all of them packed and everyone in them absolutely crazy. The Irish definitely know how to celebrate...

The following day, as Beth and I nursed our hangovers, we prepared for Amber's arrival! Our third roommate finally joined us on Friday and I couldn't be happier to have her here! We had a lazy day just getting her settled into our place, then spent Saturday showing her around Galway. We went to the market where I partook of some delicious falafel, then we watched the opening parade for the Galway Oyster Festival as it made its way through the streets, and then we wandered along the water and went to see a ship from Pirates of the Caribbean that is in town. Later that evening, as we anticipated the arrival of our friend Whitney (who is visiting from her study abroad in Angers, France), the three of us went to the Dail Bar for dinner and some FREE oysters. Now, as much as I love seafood, and raw sushi even more, I've never tried a raw oyster. Something about the look of it just worried me all these years. But it's the Oyster Festival, I'm in Galway, and I figured there was no better time than the present to have my first one...

...and it was good! I might not order them again myself, but I'd definitely eat another in the future.

Now Whitney is here and we have some fun tours and adventures planned, so wait to hear about all that soon!