Another day in Galway. Amalie is still in the hospital as they are treating her for an infection, and we are told she will likely need to spend at least another night, if not two. Krista drove Lori and Robin to the hospital to visit Amalie, and then the three of us walked to a cafe across the street from the hospital for some breakfast. The cafe was called Mr. Waffle and midway through our breakfast I heard Teenage Dirtbag over the radio. Since this was the third time in three days that I had heard this obscure song from the early 2000's, I finally used Mr. Waffle's free wifi to learn that the song made a comeback in 2013 in the UK, and since then has enjoyed frequent radio play. As it turns out, my outdated iTunes playlist has suddenly become relevant again.
Matt's flight was due to arrive in Dublin, so Chris and Ryan left early in the morning to pick him up. Nick and Steven stayed back at the house. Because I don't have many pictures from today, here's one of a really pretty cathedral in The Square that we visited yesterday.
It's either that, or a picture of my coffee cup from Mr. Waffle, you take your pick.
Today was a spa day, everyone had an appointment for either pedicures, massages, or both. To give them credit, the spa tried valiantly to accommodate our entire group. However they possessed only two pedicure chairs (and I use this term loosely). "Pedicure chair" is code for a regular wooden chair, with a throw pillow for padding. The spa employee sits on a stool in front of your chair, and to have your toes painted, you set your foot on their knee at an awkwardly high angle. Some of the men may have been given robes to wear and these robes may have been a little short and when they were required to place their foot at this awkwardly high angle the spa employee may have gotten more of a view than they intended when they arrived at work that day.
Anyway, after our massages and pedicures, we all headed to An Pucan in the square, and had dinner in their outdoor patio (later featured in our airline magazine as one of the "best outdoor patios in the UK!"). We ordered some food to go for Matt and Amalie, and Lori, Ryan, and Robin delivered it while the rest of us headed back to the house to start cleaning and packing up.
Due to the strict no-visitors-overnight rule at the hospital, it was later that night when Matt was kicked out and had to head back to our house in Ankeny. Only in Europe do you give directions that go something like: "Do you see the castle? Head to the castle, turn right, go 100 feet and make a left..."
CONVERSATION