Failte (Saturday, April 12)

After 10 hours on a plane and 5 hours on a bus, we arrived in Galway. We spent most of the afternoon strolling the winding streets of this charming city. We crossed the River Corrib onto Nuns Island and into Claddagh, the village that was the original home of its namesake ring.

We also had a slight detour to the optician who retrieved an errant piece of contact lens that was floating in Claire's eye (the procedure was quick and painless and -- due to either Irish kindness or socialized medicine -- free of charge).

Upon arriving at our hotel, Bill was complemented on his Red Sox cap by the front desk attendant, a Natick native. After a tasty dinner of cod and chips at McDonough's Seafood House and an obligatory pint of Guinness at a local pub (water for Claire), we collapsed for the night.