Hanover's trip to Ireland is off to a smooth start. We left Logan Airport on time Sunday night at 9:30 and Are Lingus delivered us surely and safely to Dublin for an 8:00 landing Monday morning. We stumbled through customs and baggage claim without incident, and met Eric, our bus driver. He has driven for Tom Johnson for the three most recent trips to Ireland. Tom has a number of friendships he has cultivated with locals, many of who will have a direct hand in our amazing experience. Eric guided us onto the M50 in the direction of Galway, 200 km away, with a stop after 20 minutes to get some breakfast at a roadside rest area with four different restaurants. After another 30 minuets of driving, the last 10 on a narrow, narrow country road bracketed by hedges, we arrived at Clonmacnoise, the site of an ancient monastery on the banks of the majestic Shannon River, the longest in Ireland. The monastery was founded in 548 AD by St. Ciaran. The area was the crossroads of Ireland. at the time, at the confluence of the Shannon and the major East-West road, at the time no more than a path across the tip of a glacial esker. There are a number of ruins of churches dating back from the 10th to the 17th century, a classic Irish round tower, the ruins of a castle, and three huge stone Celtic crosses, in the midst of a churchyard strewn with ancient burial slabs. We watched man introductory movie and then had a guided tour by the loquacious Patrick, we kept even our sleep-deprived boys entertained.
We got back on the coach to finish the trip to Galway, just as the rain began pelting down. Were so lucky with the good weather this morning. We drove into Galway, the fifth-largest city in Ireland. (roughly 80.000), and onto the ground of the huge University. We are staying in a university-operated dormitory, which has more the feel of a large youth hostel. We are in Goldcrest Village, the newest building here, and it's pretty nice. Each of us has a single room with a private bathroom. There are 5-6 rooms on an entry hall, with its own common room. We could get used to this. We moved in, jumped back on the bus, and drove downtown in the rain to have supper at GBC - The Galway Baking Company. Eating at GBC is like having our own private room upstairs from Lou's. They serve all sorts of high-end comfort food. Many of the boys had steak, which was passable. I had the cod, which was fresh and flaky and amazing, fresh off the boat. Two of our most significant friends stopped by to chat. We said hello to Phil Trill, the young Irish coach who will be training us for the next week. He has a full Irish FA badge, and already has a reputation as a fast-rising coach. We will be scrimmaging one of his Galway teams Tuesday night. We also were greeted by Pete Kelly, one of the go-to guys in Galway, a major supporter of the Salthill Devon Club, and a one-man Chamber of Commerce. He greeted us warmly, and remembered a few names. So did Phil! That was impressive. We walked through the rain to a town square and were just in time to catch the shuttle bus back to University housing. Some of us will try to stay awake for a while, but the urge to sleep is now overpowering. Resistance is futile. Goodnight!
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