City Post: Galway

Jason (from Dublin) was ecstatic when we told him we were headed to Galway. He couldn't recommend it enough. We had been warned earlier in the trip that it would be raining a lot while we were there, but that's what rain jackets are for, right?

As per usual, we got in late. Luckily it wasn't raining...yet. We made our way to a pub near the train station where we'd heard there was live music to have a few pints of Guinness. We're quite certain we were the only tourists there, because it was such a laid back atmosphere. A couple of girls showed up all decked out to party at one point, but they took off when they realised this place wasn't a party vibe. We enjoyed the live music (and the Rugby match (the Rugby World Cup was on-going at this point)) until it was over before taking off for the night.

The next day, different story when it came to weather. It rained ALL DAY. Normally we'd stay in on a rainy day, but we only had two days in Galway, with one of them being dedicated to the Cliffs of Moher, so we drug ourselves out into the rain to see the city. The city center is a densely packed area filled with pubs and shops. We stepped into Claddagh Jewellers to learn the myth behind the Claddagh ring, a traditional Irish ring symbolising love, loyalty, and friendship. This shop makes them all of their Claddagh rings by hand, and we got to watch one of their craftsmen at work in the shop.

After lunch, we headed off to the Galway City Museum. It was an amalgamation of different exhibits, including fishing history, The Troubles, and some general history of the city. It was quite full given the rain outside and the fact that it was free. We also could see the Long Walk and Claddagh from the museum, but didn't venture out to see them with the sky falling. We then headed off to Charlie Byrne's Bookshop. It's just a bookshop at the end of the day, but it is huge. It has lots of subjects dispersed throughout, and it had entire walls dedicated to Ireland's history. If you're looking for a book on Ireland, this is the place to go.

After that we headed back to the hostel to watch a corrida (go figure). It was El Juli's retirement night, and there was no way we were going to miss that, even if we were in another country.

The next day, we went to the Cliffs of Moher with Michaela, a girl from our hostel. Jo found these cliff son Instagram, and they were our main reason for going to Galway. And they were BEAUTIFUL. The two hour bus ride was absolutely worth it to hike along the cliffs. For the first stretch, there are a lot of tourists, but once you get a little further on, there aren't many people. Luckily the rain had cleared up, so we got to see them in all their glory (well, the South cliffs anyways; we didn't hike up the North ones to Doolin). Words cannot do them justice. Neither can pictures, really, but we gave them our best shot (check them out below!).

Leaving the cliffs, though, turned out to be a massive headache. We had timed tickets to leave, but the bus system doesn't take those into account. They fill the bus up to capacity, then they leave everyone who didn't get on behind. Whether you have a ticket or not doesn't factor in. Luckily Michaela managed to get on the bus, as she had a train to catch. We weren't leaving until the next day, so we waited for the next bus. We ended up meeting a girl from Belfast named Jenny while waiting (who Jack may have developed a crush on), so we had some drinks while we waited.

When we finally made it back to Galway, the three of us went to grab food and drinks before heading off to watch some music performances. We found this really small pub that had a Kentucky bluegrass-style band playing everything under the sun (including Green Day, of all things), and had a blast there. Afterwards, we all (including the band) headed over to the Roisin Dubh. After a short time there, Jack headed back to the hostel (his crush had left him for a guy in the band (talk about a romcom stereotype!)) and Jo stayed out with some Aussies we'd met earlier.

We had a long travel day the next day. We had to take a train back to Dublin, take the tram all the way across the city to another train station, and then get on a train to Belfast. We were pretty shocked that there were no border controls at all crossing between Ireland and Northern Ireland (which belongs to the United Kingdom). But that's the story of the partition (a story for another time).

Where We Stayed: Sleepzone Galway City Hostel

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