DAY 119-121: Galway to Dublin to London

Me at the docks in Galway

When we arrived in Galway, we set about finding our hostel. As it turned out, it was less than a block from the main square and a stones throw from the bus station. When we brought our things to our room, we were surprised to find this to be one of the best hostels we had ever stayed in. There were outlets at each bed and even curtains around each bed to block the light in the morning! Oh, it's the little things these days that make us happy...

After we dropped off our things, we walked around and explored Galway city.

FUN FACT #74: Galway is the fourth largest city in Ireland with about 75,000 people and is pronounced as "Gaulleway"like Charles de Gaulle.

The city was so pretty! As Christmas was in only one week, there was a cute little Christmas market/festival in the center square. We walked around for quite a while and explored the city's side streets and bars. That night we picked up some pizza and ate at the hostel (we were pretty sick of Irish food at this point.)

We met some people at our hostel and decided to hit the bars! We went to a place called "The King's Head" and enjoyed a live band and danced the night away. Galway was truly a very fun city and we enjoyed every minute we were there.

The following morning, we took another 5 hour bus ride from Galway to Dublin. It was a long ride, but of course very beautiful. When we arrived in Dublin, we found our hostel and made our way to the local falafel restaurant. Never have I ever had a better falafel wrap than at "Umi" in Dublin. Like, holy crap amazing falafel.

The next morning was our flight to LONDON!!! Now I know what you are thinking- How can we go to London if we have been deported from Scotland previously? Well, the immigration officers at Edinburgh Airport told us that if we can provide proof that we were not going to be WWOOFing in England, we would "probably" be allowed entry. Now, "probably" didn't exactly inspire much confidence, but we knew we needed to try as my parents and brother were supposed to meet us in London for Christmas!

Lizzy and I arrived in London armed with the confirmation itinerary for our flights leaving London in one week, our hotel stay reserved by my parents, and our deportation papers detailing what happened. We were prepared to have a long sit down with immigration to discuss what we would be doing in London and possibly be escorted onto another plane to be deported. We were fully prepared.

When Lizzy and I got off the plane at Heathrow Airport, we followed the other people off the plane, through baggage claim, and out into the International Arrivals Terminal. That's right- we didn't go through Customs. We skipped Immigration. Not on purpose- It simply wasn't there! No one looked at our passports, no one asked for our names, we simply walked into the U.K. without so much as a glance.

We were so shocked we kept looking around to see if we accidentally went through a side door or something. Nope! We chalked it up to a Christmas Miracle. Thanks Santa!

We sat down and waited for a few hours and played cards until... MY FAMILY ARRIVED!!!

I was so excited to see them I think I attacked them with my hugs. Although I skype my family pretty regularly, it is something quite different to have them in your arms. It made me so happy.

My parents had bought us these things called "London Passes" which would get us free transportation on the London Tube, free entry into some museums, and discounts on certain restaurants. So we hopped on the tube for about an hour to get from Heathrow to the DoubleTree Hotel in Islington (which is a section of London). Once we arrived, we relaxed for a few minutes before going out and exploring the neighborhood. We ended up at this pretty cool bar for a few drinks before we went out for dinner.

Now, when I was a kid, I was a very picky eater. My mom and I used to play "food police" and we would barter and make deals about how much vegetables or other things I had to eat on my plate. Even in college, I never ate anything that I hadn't eaten before. My friend Kief really hates that about me.

But since I left in August, I decided that I needed to be more like my friend Kief. She always says that she refuses to limit herself in other countries. She tries everything once. Since August, this is what I have done.

So when my brother Joe said, "Let's get Indian for dinner." My mother replied, "Dee doesn't like Indian."

I responded with, "I can't really say that... I've actually never tried it. Let's get Indian." I think my mom's jaw dropped.

We walked about 15 minutes from our hotel and found an Indian place that was part of the London Pass deal. We designated Mom and Joe to pick out things from the menu- seeing as no one knew what it said anyways. The funniest part was when we all tried one particularly spicy dish. My dad started hiccuping, then Joe started hiccuping and then I started hiccuping. My mom and Lizzy were dying with laughter. All the Indian waiters were eyeing us a bit, but we enjoyed the hell out of our meal. Afterwards, we hit the hay early to get a head start the next day.