We had no particular plans for the three days we were scheduled to be in Galway, which was fortunate due to Amalie's unexpected hospitalization.  Chris, Robin, and Lori got up early to head back to the hospital and be with Amalie.  The rest of us stayed at the house, working on laundry, catching up on sleep or work, etc.  Steven might have broken a chair.

Around 11am, the hospital group returned (sans Amalie) and we all had eggs and bacon at the house.  Although this house was huge, and had a wonderful spacious living room, it also was old.  With solid stone walls.  Which means the tiny room on the far side of the house (the one pictured above) with just one couch and the washing machine, was the only one that got a wifi signal.  So it was in this room that we spent most of our days, beginning with today, as we sat around trying to book Matt an earlier flight out to be with Amalie.

Trying to book a same-day international flight that doesn't cost a fortune and has reasonable layover times is a bit like what I picture being a stock trader on Wall Street is like.  There were four of us on laptops in a tiny room, all scouring the internet for flights.  As soon as someone found one that met airport, price, and timing criteria, they would hold up their hands and yell.  We'd all quickly discuss the details to make sure everything was correct, then the person would hit the "purchase" button on the website.

This worked about 0% of the time.  Usually within 30 seconds of finding a flight, it either a) filled up or b) went up in price by at least $1000.  So it was on to the next.  After about three hours of pretending we were all a part of the New York Stock Exchange, we finally secured Matt a flight.  In fact, the timing was so close that Matt actually had to leave for the airport before his flight was booked, and on the general faith that we were going to find him a flight out of that airport.

Robin and Lori took a nap, trying to recover from their late night/early morning, and Steven, Chris, Ryan, Nick and I took the train from Ankeny to Galway to visit Amalie in the hospital.

An interesting point about this hospital is that it's not set up for long term visitors.  Visiting hours are, technically, from 8am-10am and from 4pm-6pm, although as long as you aren't disruptive they are pretty lenient about visiting outside those hours.  But they absolutely won't let anyone - not even a spouse - stay overnight. The rooms themselves have one chair for visitors if you are lucky, and the space is tiny, so this means crowding around the bed either standing or sitting on the floor.  And there are no waiting rooms, just a small cafe and coffeshop at the main entrance with a handful of wooden tables and chairs.  There was some very poignant wall art, however.


Around 6:30, Robin and Lori arrived to see Amalie.  Robin stayed to sit with Amalie while the rest of us went to the Square in Galway for some dinner.  We wandered around until we found the King's Inn.  Dinner was wonderful, and afterwards we explored the square some more until we landed at the Front Door for drinks.  Amalie was there with us in spirit:

At the end of the night, Lori and I hailed a cabbie with a big enough van to fit our entire group.  Our cabbie's name was Anton, and he had a noticeable Eastern European accent.  This created a slight language barrier, and the following conversation occurred:

"Hello, I am Anton. Where are you going?"

"Ankeny."

"Yes, my name is Antony.  Where can I take you?"

"Ankeny."

"I am Anton.  What is the address you are going to please?"

Anyway, you get the picture, but finally Nick got out his phone and GPS'd some directions.  He navigated Anton the rest of the way home.