This day has felt so long! I woke up at 5 AM to catch an early 3 hour flight to Dublin. The check-in was simple because of the handy-dandy self check-in machines. We had to go through passport control to get to our gate, which confused our tired brains a bit, but eventually we managed to figure everything out!
After landing in Dublin, our luggage came pretty quickly. After that we had to find a way to get to Galway. We didn't find the buses at first, but after following some signs we found the right bus zones, specifically bus zone 13.
At first we weren't quite sure which bus to take. Then we saw a bus that was just leaving to Galway. It was really convenient because it only stopped at a couple of places in Dublin, and a couple of places in Galway.
We asked the bus driver if we could get on the bus. We weren't quite sure if you had to buy the tickets in advance or something, but after putting our luggage in the luggage compartment, we simply purchased a one-way ticket to Galway and got on the bus.
During the bus ride I spent most of the time just looking out the window and admiring the view. Sure, it's probably way prettier in the summer, but after an ugly fall/winter season in Finland, it was amazing. The bright green grass alone was enough to impress me. There were a bunch of animals on the fields we drove by.
After a 3 hour bus ride we were finally in Galway! Our check-in at the AirBnB wasn't until 4 PM and we had arrived just before 1 PM, so we had plenty of time. To spend this time, we went to a McDonald's (not the most healthiest, I know, but we could take our luggage in with us) and ate some lunch.
Afterwards we decided it would be a good idea to walk to Salthill. It was almost a 3 kilometer walk, dragging our heavy luggage behind us while the wind was blowing in the opposite direction. So... Not the best decision we've had. It wasn't too bad, honestly. We ended up finding the place quite easily, with the help of Google Maps.
Finally, at 4 PM, we settled ourselves into the AirBnB. We met up with the owner of the AirBnB, Pearse, and he gave us a quick rundown on how everything (the locks, the heaters...) works. After a bit of relaxation, we quickly went to the convenience store, that is really close to the apartment, to buy ourselves some dinner, breakfast, and snacks.
We also looked up the bus schedules for the 401 bus, which is the bus that passes through Salthill. We will be taking the bus (luckily there is a bus stop nearby) and then walk the rest of the way. In the end we decided to not do bus transfers, as they would only complicate things. Sure, the bus doesn't exactly near our workplace, but it's only a 900 meter walk. We might decide to change this up, but for now that's our plan.
This has been in for day 1. For the most part it has been just waiting. 3 hour plane ride, 3 bus ride, 3 hours until our check-in. But that's an OK problem to have, because it means you're in no hurry.