Galway was our last stop – our only 2 night stop and our only city stop. But between arriving very late on Sunday and leaving first thing on Tuesday – we basically had one day – and after all the walking and driving we were ready for a chill day. Successful mobilization into the AirBNB and we were quickly off to eat dinner at one of the many Irish pubs close to our AirBNB – but none of them served food after 9pm. So we went to a Turkish Kebob House – hit the spot and went to bed after another day of 20,000 steps. But similar to Cork, there was a weird sound coming from the streets that kept waking us. Like someone was breaking down staffolding. So as we are walking to breakfast – we hear the noise and discover the source – guys rolling empty kegs down the street from the pubs and loading them on to trucks.
Even Alexandra was ready to slow the pace – so we did a self-guided walking tour and basically hung out all day and even got a nap in. Galway is much different than Limerick or Cork – much less industrial and more pedestrian friendly. Sharon was able to get her shopping fix which had been missing with all outdoor activities thus far. Later in the day, Alexandra had to work and Sharon and I hit some of the older recommended pubs from our AirBNB host in the Spanish Quarter and in each place the local bartender or waitress said we needed to go to the “westend” – we had tried to find the “westend” on our walking tour but failed. So we tried again and ended up in another famous pub – the “Crane Bar” – not sure why it was famous – but they confirmed that they were in the westend.
Then at 6pm – they closed the streets and a lot of pubs and restaurants set up outside dining. The “westend” made much more sense and it was less than a 10 minute walk from the traditional pedestrian area of the Spanish Quarter. Had a proper dinner and relatively early to bed as we had to get up early to drive to Dublin and fly back to DC for Sharon and I and Alexandra was off to Scotland. The unbelievable weather was forecast to continue – see screenshot in the pictures.
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