We arrived in Ireland nearly one week ago, about 6:00 am Saturday morning. We were immediately struck by the atmosphere in the Shannon airport: no blaring announcements over the loudspeakers, no reminders about the level orange threat level, no warnings about unwatched luggage being confisgated. We decided to have breakfast even though it was only 1:00 am Eastern time as a first step in dealing with the jet lag. We soon rediscovered what is meant by a full Irish breakast...fried egg, toast, ham, bangers (sausage), mushrooms, black pudding, baked beans, and half a tomato. We probably could have eased into it a bit but decided on the full gastro-intestinal assault. No sissies on this side of the Atlantic.

We took a bus from Shannon to Galway, about a 90 minute ride passing through Ennis one of the most memorable cities of our previous trip. The bus station in Galway is just south of the Eyre Square and it wasn't difficult to get a taxi to our Bed and Breakfast just to the northwest of City Centre. (There is a difference between a "taxi" and a "cab" in Ireland which we have not yet been able to divine, except that one costs more and offers more reliable service. We can't remember which.)

We were welcomed at the B&B even though we were a couple hours early. In contrast to the B&B's in the US, the accomodations were quite compact: a room with a bed, a chair, an end table on one side of the bed, a two small closets, and a bathroom. There was free WIFI, but not much of a place to work on your computer except sitting in bed. But the owner, a young man named Ray, and the woman who greated us, Migla, were very helpful in orienting us to the city and finding an apartment.

So we have an apartment in Salthill, a small community about a mile from City Centre. We are about half a block from Galway Bay. More later.