Westward Ho! But wait...my trunk's broken.

Yesterday, I boarded the bus for Galway, the major city of the west coast.  (and when I say major, you should know the population is about 72,000)  Finally!!  I was headed to the "real" Ireland; let's face it, we all have a movie inspired picture of Ireland and I had yet to see it.  So with much anticipation I got on the bus and settled in for a ride full of great scenery.  And...I was a little disappointed.  Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful but I always forget that major highways (motorways I should say) aren't usually surrounded by amazing scenery.  But at least I wasn't surrounded by city anymore.  We arrived in Galway where I lugged my pack and my suitcase to the rental car place.  After being persuaded to buy rental insurance (which I know is smart but it's SO expensive!), I wasn't feeling as great about my car rental as I had previously but no matter, I was headed toward the open road and the west coast and I was driving a VW, cool!  The only problem...I couldn't seem to get my trunk (or boot) open.  Hmmm...just imagine me in this strange parking garage trying every possible way to get that trunk open; I was inside trying to push it open, I was feeling all around the edge for an unseen latch or hook, I was pointing the key fob at it and trying several different button combinations.  Nothing.  I'm sure if someone was watching, they were laughing.  I shoved my stuff into the backseat and despite the temptation to avoid embarassment and just drive off into the sunset, I forced myself to be assertive and go back to the rental place to inquire if possibly my trunk or fob was dysfunctional.  To his credit, the guy didn't laugh too much before informing me that I was to push in on the rather large VW symbol on the back thus converting it into a handle which would then open my trunk.  :)  Lesson learned. 

I'm proud to say that on my way out of the city and on my drive to Westport, I only got honked at twice!  Once at a roundabout and once at a left hand turn where I think I was on the right side of the road...which isn't correct.  Oops.  I will say this, I'll never complain about any Canadian road again because I never have to wonder whether the width of two cars will actually fit on the road!  And it's amazing how 80km/hr can suddenly seem like race car speed when it's done on a twisty, narrow road where there's no shoulder except a friendly stone wall.  The one thing about driving is that you don't really get to enjoy the scenery (because you're gripping the steering wheel so tight) and the scenery was finally everything I had been hoping for, "movie Ireland" at its best!   But I decided the crazy driving and broken trunk were all worth it when I arrived at my little vacation house overlooking Clew Bay which opens up into the sea.  Bea and Matt live in the main house and they've converted one end of the house into an attached apartment.  They are everything you'd expect an Irish couple to be and they have been SO great since I arrived.  Matt brought over some scones tonight that Bea had made and asked if I had ever tried a "brown scone" before.  Not really sure what that meant and already having asked him to repeat it twice, I said I didn't think so and thanked him for bringing them over.  When I tried one, I quickly realized he was actually saying "bran scones"!  I laughed at myself and then enjoyed a delicious scone.