UK & Ireland Trip Part Four: Galway

Galway, Ireland is a vibrant city of around 70,000 people and the third largest in the Republic. We chose to visit because of its reputation as a city with a great pub and street music scene and a place that generally embraces the arts. Besides, it was midway through our vacation and we needed a visit to a place where we could do some laundry, relax and wander aimlessly. So that's what we did.

Bangers & Mash: Do Not Attempt if Counting Calories

Upon checking into the Balcony House B&B and meeting our hostess, Teresa, we took the 10 minute walk into town. We were hungry and ate at the first pub we saw, called Murty Rabbitt's. I had the hearty bangers and mash dish while BowlingWidow went with the traditional Cottage Pie. It was there that I also had my first Beamish Stout of the trip. To walk off the dinner we headed to the central part of town and Eyre Square.

Strolling Through Downtown Galway

The next morning we snuck into a small table at the B&B dining room. The room was full of Americans. Socializing with Americans: not high on our list of things to do in the UK and Ireland. It was a drizzly morning with the kind of weather that must have inspired Graham Nash to write "Cold Rain". The perfect weather to take a load of laundry to the Laundromat.

Because we're not night owls we went looking for an afternoon session of traditional music at a downtown pub, and found one at Tig Coili. Very crowded but most enjoyable. One thing to like about these sessions is that you can still have a conversation with the music going on. They don't play particularly loud, as is the case in a lot of American bars.

One of Many Bookstores in Galway

After a day and night of kicking around town, we got up and took a short drive to the village of Cong, around 25 miles north of Galway. We visited the grounds of Ashford Castle, which dates back to the 12th century and is now a very, very, very pricey hotel. Looking like the riff-raff that nobody wants in their palace, we didn't go inside. Instead we headed to the heart of the town and walked through the ruins of the Cong Abbey (which dates back to the 7th century) and its cemetery.

Back at Galway, we took in a bit of sports culture, watching a football (soccer) match at Monroe's Pub with a house full of crazed young fans who scream every bit as loud as we do for our football and then some. Going back and forth between the bar and our table, I was very cautious to insure that I didn't irritate the masses by blocking their view of the big screen TV. By the way it was Manchester United 3 and Liverpool 2, much to the delight of the partisan Manchester U crowd.

What's left of the Cong Abbey: 1,300 Years Old

After the game we wandered to a Spanish (yes, Spanish) restaurant called Cava to catch an American (yes, American) folk music show. Oddly and coincidentally our friend Dave Nachmanoff's sometimes bass player Mike Lindauer was performing with Buddy Mondlock. We had never met him but after the show said hello, made a connection and snapped a photo to send to Dave.

This was our last night in Galway and poor BowlingWidow was still battling a cold and elected to get some rest. I found a pub that had some live NFL Football that started at 6:00pm local time (10:00am Pacific Coast time). I ended up sitting at the bar next to a jolly, but quite inebriated, local man who chatted me up. When I told him I was from the Seattle area he said that he hasn't been there but has been to "Saffrasisco".

Watching soccer at Monroe's Pub With "The Lads"

After that stellar moment, it was time to go to bed. We had a 6:15am alarm to respond to, and many miles to cover that day, on our way to Belfast.

Next: Belfast, Northern Ireland