Our Irish Adventure – Galway

Our second stop in Ireland was Galway, and we decided to take the train there. It was only 2.5 hours and very comfortable.

On a side note, getting a taxi from our hotel in Dublin to the train station was quite stressful – I wasn’t sure we were going to make it! The hotel had called and arranged a taxi at our request the night before, but that morning the taxi cancelled for a more profitable fare. I guess that is normal in Dublin, and there were several parties from our hotel and the hotel across the street that had the same thing happen. Luckily Tim, Susan, and I got a cab, and then Dave, Laura, and Julie were right behind us. Let’s just say there was a lot of sprinting, cussing, and confusion 😂!

On previous trips to Ireland we have driven ourselves or taken escorted bus tours, and both have their advantages and disadvantages. I love the freedom of driving yourself, but hate the actual driving (I personally have never driven, but have been a terrified passenger) in a foreign country on the opposite side of the road, not to mention the expense of renting a car. And I love having somebody drive, as in an escorted tour, but hate getting up early every day and having a set schedule. So, on this trip, we decided to take trains when it was a direct route and would not take all day, and hire a private driver otherwise. There are also other options to get from Place A to Place B, such as taking a bus, but we decided that we would rather pay more to spend less time actually traveling. There is no wrong way to do it, and it is always an adventure!

Once we arrived in Galway, our hotels were literally right around the corner from the train station, on Eyre Square. This is a perfect location! Tim and I stayed at the Hardiman Hotel, and Dave, Laura, Susan, and Julie stayed at the Eyre Square Hotel.

After checking in, we contacted our friends Greg and Carol who just happened to be in Galway the same time we were. A very happy coincidence! We met Greg and Carol in 2019 at John Prine’s “All The Best Festival” in the Dominican Republic. They are music lovers just like us (probably more so), and in 2022 Tim and I traveled to Canada to attend the Mariposa Folk Festival with them and their friends. It was so much fun, and you can read more about it here if you want to 😊

Greg and Carol are also avid travelers, and he writes about their adventures in his blog “Yikes! I’m Retired … Now What?”. You should check it out! When we saw them in Galway, they were in the middle of a month-long trip to Ireland and Scotland.

Anyway, we ended up at McGettigan’s for lunch, and it was fantastic!

After saying goodbye to Greg and Carol, we headed to our scheduled private Irish Whiskey and Galway Spirits Tour. We met our guide Gina from Galway Food Tours at McCambridge’s of Galway, a purveyor of fine food, wine, and spirits. This was such a fun tour and I highly recommend! While at McCambridge’s we tasted Irish whiskeys, poitin, and apple brandy made by local Irish craft distilleries. We also sampled locally made meats and cheeses – I still think about the goat cheese we had!

Gina then took us to some pubs that would be considered good Irish pubs – the kind that the locals would go to. We tasted more Irish whiskeys and had our first sampling of oysters.

One of my favorite places we visited was the Galway City Distillery, where we had a short tour and then a delicious Gin & Tonic. The really cool thing about the experience was that we were able to add some aromatics or botanicals to our drink to “customize” it to our liking. In some cases the drink was better, in others it would have been better to leave the drink “as is”. Even those in our group who did not like gin ended up liking this gin!

When our tour finished, we headed out to the best place we were told to get fish & chips in Galway, McDonagh’s. It was very tasty!

The next day Tim unfortunately wasn’t feeling good – I hate it when somebody gets sick on vacation, but it happens. He stayed at the hotel while the rest of us went exploring. We headed out of our hotel and through Eyre Square, where there was a little craft market set up.

At some point that morning Susan was approached by a little old lady, who was very friendly and wanted Susan to go to a matchmaking festival in Lisdoonvarna the next day to listen to music with her. Hmmmmm … sounds like this could be a movie! And that lady could be Susan’s fairy Godmother! We will never know though since Susan did not end up going to Lisdonnvarna … next trip for sure.

Once we left Eyre Square we headed down William Street, which turns into Shop Street, and eventually the Latin Quarter – less than a 10 minute walk from our hotel. Here you will find tons of cute shops, jewelry stores, book stores, pubs, and restaurants. Most of us started with an Irish Coffee at Garavan’s, except for Susan, who got THE BEST hot chocolate from Butler’s Chocolate Cafe next door. And then we started shopping 😊

When we had been in Galway about 13 years ago, I purchased a hand-knit cap from O’Maille that I absolutely loved. I wore it so much that over time it became really stretched out, and I wanted to buy a new one. A little trivia about O’Maille – they tailored many of the costumes worn in The Quite Man! Anyway, I found the store, found the hand-knit cap, but as I was browsing I was drawn to another hat that will be referred to as “The Hat” for the rest of the story.

The Hat is a made from 100% waxed cotton, with tweed trim. And it is water-proof! And adorable! So I bought one, and I ended up wearing it almost every day for the rest of the trip. Susan and Laura liked it so much that they bought themselves The Hat the next day, and we also got The Hat for a couple of our friends back home. Pretty much every where we went during the rest of the trip somebody would ask one of us where we bought The Hat – we should start charging commission! 😂

We ate lunch at Dough Bros Pizza, which had been recommended the previous day by our food and whiskey tour guide Gina. It was fantastic! Some of the best pizza we have ever had anywhere!

That evening was the start of the whole reason we were in Ireland – the Galway Oyster Festival. The festival was held on Nimmo’s Pier, within walking distance of our hotel. With a ticket you got a glass of Prosecco and a plate of oysters, with other food and drink available to purchase. Irish dancers and music filled the tent, and it was a fantastic time!

Susan does not like oysters, but luckily it was also the Galway Night of Culture where there were free events offered throughout the city. Susan found a church (❗️) that was hosting a concert that evening, and also roamed around the town.

We started off the next day, which was Saturday, walking down to the Farmer’s Market. They had the usual stands of fruits and vegetables, but in addition there was a stand just for cheese, and another one where you could get a freshly shucked oyster to eat. To quote Susan, “The only thing worse than eating an oyster is having one for breakfast”. 😂

That afternoon we attended the Oyster Festival to watch the shucking championship. We had heard there was going to be a parade somewhere around Eyre Square for the festival, so Susan and I headed out to see what we could see. A drum line made up of children escorted the shucking contestants, who each held their country’s flag, from Eyre Square to Nimmo’s Pier. Susan and I joined right in and became part of the parade. It was so much fun!

That day at the Oyster Festival a glass of Prosecco, a plate of oysters, and two seafood dishes were included in the price of the ticket. Plus we got to see the shuckers do their thing! Not only do you need to have speed, you are also judged on presentation and the presence of grit or blood. The shucker from the United Kingdom was the winner, while our USA shucker from Superior Seafood in New Orleans came in 9th place.

That night we had dinner at Thirteen on the Green, close to our hotels. We were lucky that we got the last table since Ireland was playing South Africa in the Rugby World Cup that night, something we knew nothing about but subsequently became obsessed with 😂. Ireland won, and the whole country erupted in cheers!

The next day was very rainy, and we had scheduled a bus tour to take us to Kylemore Abbey and Leenane, northwest of Galway. Unfortunately, Tim was still under the weather, and I decided to stay back in Galway with him. Susan, Julie, Dave, and Laura all went on the tour.

Kylemore Abbey was built in 1868 as a private home (really a castle), and in 1920 Irish Benedictine nuns purchase the abbey and lands. They established a monastery there, and continue to farm the land and raise livestock. In 1923 the nuns started a school for girls – Anjelica Houston even attended – but this closed in 2010. It is still a self-sustaining farm, and the nuns make a lot of the stuff available in the gift shop. Also, the University of Notre Dame has a partnership with the Abbey, sending students over to study.

From all accounts, Kylemore Abbey was beautiful, but since it was raining so much everybody was soaked, and then cold on the bus ride home. Definitely something to do when the weather is better!

That night we went back to the Skeffington Arms and had dinner. After such a rainy day the food tasted really delicious!

Goodbye Galway – until we meet again! The next day we were headed to Killarney – the adventure continues …