by Chris Kratschmer
Galway Getaway
Since we're still pretty new here, and most of us have a knowledge of Irish geography wavering somewhere between "slim" and "none", se've been relying on guide books and our Irish roommates to fill us in on places to go. When we first heard about Galway, our Irish fellows informed us it was "good craic" and "brilliant". When we asked what there was to see in the town they looked slightly confused; they thought their answer was self-explanatory.
"Pubs" they said. "Lots of pubs."
A query for more infor brought more puzzled looks and shaking heads. "You Americans... You just want to ride around and look at [stuff]..."
But regardless, everyone we talked to gave Galway good reviews (I'm not quite sure which is a more rousing endorsement: good craic, or 3 triangles ...
All our sources turned out to be well-informed, and Galway had the makings of a great first weekend away. Plenty of scenery, plenty of pubs, and a 20 Euro round trip train made it pretty ideal.
The first 7 of our group of 11 took the early train on Friday, arriving on what our street-performing co-passenger informed us was "a cold day" Indeed, he wasnt lying through his tooth; it may actually have been "the coldest day in 60 years" as he suggested.
Our small pack checked into our hostel (run by a man that looked like an odd take on a modern-day Jesus... that is, if Jesus were overweight and a probable DeadHead.) Next we took a lap of the city to get the lay of the land, and stopped at McDonnagh's for some fish and chips; it was my first of the trip, and as good as advertised. After stuffing ourselves we quickly realized why pubs are so popular in Ireland; it's the perfect way to take refuge from thet weather...
The rest of the day was pretty low key, and once the rest of our crew arrived, included a little shopping and some traditional Irish music at another pub.
The next day we hopped on a tour bus to take us down the coast; we stopped at a few castles, ancient burial sites (you know, the usual), a tourist trap "pub" and a cave that most likely would have left Mark Twain uninspired. Most importantly, though, we made it to the cliffs of Moher.
Everyone talks about the cliffs, and I always took it with a grain of salt, assuming it was blown way out of proportion. Turns out I've been acquiring too much sodium, because the cliffs were as unblievably proportioned as people said.
After some photo sessions, we loaded up and headed home. The night included some fish and chips (fileted, breaded, fried right in front of us.. and may have surpassed McDonnaghs... whoops... sorry, Eimear), stops at a few more pubs, one of which (The Kingshead) has been around since the 1600s. An 80s rock cover band had us rocking out, and an encounter with a young ND alum got us free drinks [Thank you to my Notre Dame sweatshirt].
The next morning we wasted a little time before loading the trains back home to Dublin.
All in all it was a [thankfully] uneventful weekend, the cold weather and a large hostel-roommate with much-too-small- underwear couldn't dampen our trip, even if much of it only involved riding around and looking at stuff...
"Pubs" they said. "Lots of pubs."
A query for more infor brought more puzzled looks and shaking heads. "You Americans... You just want to ride around and look at [stuff]..."
But regardless, everyone we talked to gave Galway good reviews (I'm not quite sure which is a more rousing endorsement: good craic, or 3 triangles ...
All our sources turned out to be well-informed, and Galway had the makings of a great first weekend away. Plenty of scenery, plenty of pubs, and a 20 Euro round trip train made it pretty ideal.
The first 7 of our group of 11 took the early train on Friday, arriving on what our street-performing co-passenger informed us was "a cold day" Indeed, he wasnt lying through his tooth; it may actually have been "the coldest day in 60 years" as he suggested.
Our small pack checked into our hostel (run by a man that looked like an odd take on a modern-day Jesus... that is, if Jesus were overweight and a probable DeadHead.) Next we took a lap of the city to get the lay of the land, and stopped at McDonnagh's for some fish and chips; it was my first of the trip, and as good as advertised. After stuffing ourselves we quickly realized why pubs are so popular in Ireland; it's the perfect way to take refuge from thet weather...
The rest of the day was pretty low key, and once the rest of our crew arrived, included a little shopping and some traditional Irish music at another pub.
The next day we hopped on a tour bus to take us down the coast; we stopped at a few castles, ancient burial sites (you know, the usual), a tourist trap "pub" and a cave that most likely would have left Mark Twain uninspired. Most importantly, though, we made it to the cliffs of Moher.
Everyone talks about the cliffs, and I always took it with a grain of salt, assuming it was blown way out of proportion. Turns out I've been acquiring too much sodium, because the cliffs were as unblievably proportioned as people said.
After some photo sessions, we loaded up and headed home. The night included some fish and chips (fileted, breaded, fried right in front of us.. and may have surpassed McDonnaghs... whoops... sorry, Eimear), stops at a few more pubs, one of which (The Kingshead) has been around since the 1600s. An 80s rock cover band had us rocking out, and an encounter with a young ND alum got us free drinks [Thank you to my Notre Dame sweatshirt].
The next morning we wasted a little time before loading the trains back home to Dublin.
All in all it was a [thankfully] uneventful weekend, the cold weather and a large hostel-roommate with much-too-small- underwear couldn't dampen our trip, even if much of it only involved riding around and looking at stuff...
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