The trip to the west coast

It is so comfortable to be on a trip and to sit in someone's house, watch TV and blog.  Yay! 
Yesterday, we braved the pouring rain, and walked out to pick up our rental car.  Along the hour walk, we decided to stop in Dublinia, a very unique Dublin history museum.  It covers the Viking founding of the city through the 19th century.  Although I've been there before, I still found it interesting.
Afterwards, we stopped at Hertz, and picked up our Ford KA, to head out to the west coast.  Of course, we had to stop back by the hotel to pick up our luggage, which turned into an adventure, since it was Joern's first time driving in Ireland.  Aside from driving in a few bus only lanes, he did really well!
On our way to the motorway, we found a toy store, and decided to stop in- since Joern and his parents import toys, he is always interested in visiting toy stores in other countries.  The toy store was located near the Church, which is a restaurant, bar, and nightclub located in a former church. My friend Carol had given me the tip to go to the Church while we were in Dublin.  Wow, it was so cool! The building is so huge, and beautiful inside.  The way it has been converted is so cool, we really enjoyed our lunch there.
We left Dublin at 3:00, and the ride out to the west took about 2 hours. It was pretty windy and rainy, but the drive wasn't bad at all.  Now, we are staying in Athenry, with Joern's cousin Marc, and his wife, Elli.  Their house is lovely, and Athenry is an adorable town, about a 15 minute drive outside of Galway.  Dinner was great last night- Supermac's, a burger joint.  Yummy! 
So far, the trip has been great.  And like I said at the beginning, it is so comfy to stay with friends when you're on a trip.  It totally changes your experience!   I'm excited to see what the next few days bring with them.