Rick and Marie's Travels: Galway

April 22nd

I planned an easy day so we could figure out where we meet our busses for the Cliffs of Moher and Aran Island tour Tuesday and the Connemara and Kylemore Abbey tour Wednesday. We also needed to sort out the best times to depart Galway for Belfast Friday. The rest of our time was spent walking the Latin Quarter and along Corrib River up to Galway Cathedral (i.e. Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas) and then back to Griffin Lodge and Guesthouse for a rest even though we'd only walked 5 miles by 1:30PM.

Every Irish person we talked to told us we'd love Galway, but we're not sure why now that we're here. It seems grittier than we expected and its city center is smaller. There is, however, a really vibrant energy here because it's a college town. Our host insists we get out to the pubs, because there's live music everywhere. Her local is Crane's Bar. We checked it out last night and it was hopping and the overflow of university students were huddled around a fountain in a square outside it. We're going to O'Connell's for beer and pizza, because our train seat mates out of Dublin recommended Dough Brothers pizza as the best and their ad says they're the 14th best in the world. :-)

Eyre Square was renamed John F. Kennedy Square
after he gave a speech here in 1963. Locals still call
it Eyre Square because its history dates back to
the medieval ages when markets took place here.

Built in 1984, this sculpture commemorates
the 500th year of Galway's incorporation as
a city. The copper centerpiece represents
the sails of the Galway hooker, a type of fishing
vessel used in Galway Bay.

The Browne Doorway (1607)
is considered the gateway to
Eyre Square.

The Latin Quarter is packed with shops,
restaurants, and tourists, of course.

Lynch's Castle dates back to the 14th
century and is now a bank.

When you enter the bank, you're in the entrance
of the medieval castle with its giant fireplace.

More Latin Quarter street scenes.

I love the facade of this pub where
painted spines of books provide a bit
of scholarship while quaffing pints.

Note that Seattle is a sister city.

The above video of the
Corrib River and pics of
our walk along it.

These canals parallel the river and provided safe
passage for barges carrying goods to Galway
Harbor, because as you can see below, the river
is too dangerous to maneuver cargo-loaded barges.

This border collie caught our attention

when he dropped his stick at Marie's

feet and waited, looked up, and waited.

We visited with his owner and I threw
the stick for a good 10 minutes.

Galway Cathedral was completed in 1965 so its
modern but the design reflects many styles such
as Renaissance, Romanesque, and Gothic.

Note the actual name of the Galway Cathedral. Everybody
refers to it as the Cathedral.

On our walk back from the Cathedral we rounded

a corner to this. Didn't stop in but we were tempted.

To our disappointment Dough Brothers Pizza isn't open until Thursday, but we stayed for a beer and cider at O'Connell's anyway. This is a great bar with an outdoor beer garden that looks like a street out of the 1800's.

We stopped at 7 Bridgestreet for dinner on our way back from O'Connell's and boy-howdy did we have a meal! We ordered their two specials and they were spectacular, the best meal we've had on our trip. We followed up dinner with a cheesecake and salted caramel ice cream dessert with strawberry and caramel sauce.