Then, the trek to our hotel started. Basically, it was a little outside of Castlebar (or so we thought). In my defense, as the person who booked the hotel, it seemed REALLY CLOSE on the map. But really close ended up being 3 miles...which doesn't sound like much when you say it but is, in reality, quite a hike. Being the poor college kids that we are, though, we thought we'd give it a shot.
(I should preface the rest of this by saying that there's been a lot of construction in Castlebar lately, and GoogleMaps hasn't been updated yet, so we were working off of this map I drew on Friday:
)We found a real map at some point, but mine ended up being more helpful I think...(new career plans! cartographer!)
Anyway, as we walked toward the hotel, we passed a sign welcoming visitors to the city...yup, our hotel was in another town. We kept walking and walking and walking and finally stopped to ask directions to make sure we were headed the right way. We saw a B&B and thought that would be a good place...so Court rang the bell and stepped right inside when a teenage girl answered the door....long story short, it was not a B&B, but we were headed in the right direction.
So, we kept walking and walking and walking, stopped for a snack, and kept walking. By the way, it was raining the ENTIRE TIME.
Towards the end of our trek, we found two donkeys in a pasture. They seemed alright at first...
....but then one of them ATE OUR MAP:
I could tell you how we all felt when we finally arrived at the hotel, but I think this video (one of many Courtney took) is way better:
Obviously, we took a cab to and from Riverdance (which was FANTASTIC). But really, I don't think that's what I'll remember about this weekend. I'll remember the ridiculous 3 mile walk to our hotel because it was SO MUCH FUN. We've been talking about what "craic" is in one of my classes--basically it's Irish for "a good time," but it's apparently very elusive. Really, though, I think we found the craic while walking down the road from Castlebar to Breaffy. We didn't spend any money, and we didn't actually do anything, but it was the best time I've had in a while--Even though it was raining for most of our walk, we laughed for the entire two hours. It was just so ridiculous and unbelievable and I kept dropping my bag and did I mention a donkey ate our map?
I couldn't make this stuff up, and I don't think I'd want to--it's much more fantastic when you actually live it.
Good craic in Mayo...just watch out for the donkeys.
The donkeys are great - they look like they are giving you directions! You’ve learned an important lesson about them too - they will attempt to eat ANYTHING!
ReplyDelete..the craic was grand in Castlebar..."
ReplyDeletePubs, Pints and Open Doors - Shileagh Law
i laughed out loud at the map-eating donkey sequence, then had to share it with my roomie
ReplyDelete