URI to Galway: Scavenger Hunt

I spent this morning baking five dozen sugar cookies after I went to Tesco's, the grocery store, to get all of the ingredients. I really didn't mean to make that many, but the dent in the dough never got any bigger until a million were already made! I haven't really used any of those raw ingredients yet, so it was interesting picking out sugar because the labels are different. I actually missed the baking soda my first time through the store because they have it labeled "bicarbonate soda" or something really bland. I also got frosting mix and sprinkles to put on the cookies. Now I have lots of pink-frosted deliciousness for the party tomorrow. We're going to get together in the afternoon and order some pizza--three weeks overdue--and eat lots of candy and desserts for Valentine's Day.

So after doing that today and catching up on the Olympics (we're kind of a day behind here because by the time the stuff comes on in Canada, we're already asleep), I was bored. Alice and I started to brainstorm things we could do around town on a scavenger hunt to pass the time. This is my final list below:

It's a bit hard to read, so here's what they are:

Photo with a bouncer
Pic of license plate with 3 digits from your phone number (this one is also not from Galway, which is a later number)
Pic of smallest car you can find
Pic with 3 people with red hair in it
Oyster shell
Pic with a hobo (later we decided this was inappropriate...for obvious reasons)
Recipe from a local
Fake tattoo from someone you don't know
Pic of graffiti in a bathroom
Guy's number on your hand
Coin from before 2005 (we had said 1990, but that wouldn't work with euros here...)
Pic of you on a playground
Picture of someone 85 or older
Pic with an attractive guy
Bus schedule
Pic of non-Galway license
Pic of someone in the team drinking
Pic with a swan in the background (we tried! but the swans kept swimming away)
Pic lying in the middle of the road
Pic lying in the middle of Shop Street
Leave a love note on someone's car
Abbey Road pic
Pic with someone with a mullet
Get a stranger to draw a pic of Ireland
Video of a stranger telling you a story
Coin found on the ground
Get stamped for a club (It's a sticker, but counts the same...means we could get free entry and shots at this club.)
Drink coaster from a pub
Pic of you imitating a statue
Pic with the bronze statues on Shop Street
Pic pretending to be a hobo
Video of you serenading someone
Video of you running down the street singing the Fresh Prince of Bel Air
Propose to someone
Talk to people from at least five different countries
Pic of you meditating in Eyre Square
Pretend to smoke a cigarette
Pic of everyone with blue tongues (this got vetoed)
Make a condom balloon (also scratched off)
Interpretive dance to a street sign
Get 5 autographs
Trail of breadcrumbs down Shop Street (crossed off)
Get 2 sheets of toilet paper
Do a handstand in front of the cathedral (Didn't work too well...and the cathedral was really busy too.)
Pic in front of each grocery store (crossed off)
Pic of front of the coolest door (...just 'cause the doorknob is in the center)
Pic of the other team (sneaky-like)
Pic of shop with all the letters in your name ("Alice" is in there)
Pic of team in a bathroom stall
Pic of someone in costume (usually there are a bunch on Shop Street)
Mimic the mannequins at the maternity shop (Right before we went across the street and asked the bouncer to help us out...I think he agreed because he saw us being silly here. It's always seemed ironic that there's a shop for pregnant people across from a club...)

We got Jackie and Miriam to be the other team, and we had about 1.5 hours to go around and find as many as possible. We were supposed to have longer, but ended up going to a pub early. Alice and I thought we were kicking butt with the 17 we got...but they got 25. Darn. It was awesome, though, and hopefully we'll try again sometime in the daytime when it's warmer and there's more time to find everything.

While we were searching, we finally found the ruins that I discovered a couple weeks ago in the middle of the city. It's the oldest site in Galway (13th century) and is a keep, I believe? I'll have to go back sometime when the exhibit is open.