Ireland Part 2

05/02/2010

Earlyish the next day, we ate scones and drank tea in the room, and checked out of the Travelodge to make our way to Galway.

Hotel Review: It really wasn't bad for 19 euro per night. It wasn't fancy and gets very mixed reviews, but for the price, I have zero complaints. The trick was booking early when Travelodge ran their specials. Someone checking in ahead of me paid 75.00 euro for the night. There's no way it was worth that, but if all you need is sleep, you could do worse.

Galway was even more fantastic than I remember. We made our way from the east side to the west side of Ireland via the new motorway. The M6 stretch from Dublin to Galway had recently opened ahead of schedule. This in combination with the fact that our GPS had not been updated in a while resulted in "Jane" thinking we were driving through a field and repeatedly saying "Turn around when possible." We just had to turn it off but not before Laura did her best vintage SNL "Jane, you ignorant slut." We couldn't stop laughing.

After a quick stop at the tourist info center for directions, we made our way to the Cliffs of Moher.

The Cliffs of Moher have long been a must-see attraction, but there had been some changes since I had been there years ago, and I wasn't a fan of the changes. A "mall" built into the side of the hill with Irish souvenirs and some kind of "experience" on offer for 5.00 Euro per person. Parking seemed further away and free parking was no longer available. Instead we got to pay 8.00 euro for the privilege. Still, it's a gorgeous view, even in the cold misty rain:

Laura and I checked into a twin room with pink walls at the Sunrise B&B early, and our hosts were so nice and maybe even overly attentive. They helped me to pay the toll for driving on the motorway (There are few indications of the toll and no booths in places. Signs exist, but I nearly missed one which left me wondering just how many tolls I drove right through. Tolls are paid online, but the website makes you tell it how much you owe, and I wasn't sure how many I'd driven past since most signage is just painted on the highway. Our hosts knew just how many and how much between Dublin & Galway and let me use their computer to take care of business.)

The Sunrise was only about 10 minutes walk from city centre and Galway is a fantastic town to spend an evening in. We found a great pub (Tig Coili) with live music and the moment our American accents were heard, people just started talking to us. One whistle player from London talked our ears off, then I met an American fiddle player who told me she lives in Galway part time. Every time I turned around to talk to someone else, I lost Laura to some old man trying to pull her on to his lap or give her a hug. We met two young men who were "in a band" at the pub. Their set at another bar didn't start til 10:00pm so we decided to see them play after a late dinner.

We stayed at Monroe's for a set from Steven and the-guy-we-call-Brett-because-we-can't-remember-his-name-and-he-looked-like-that-guy-from-Flight of the Conchords and band before making our way back to the B&B, which turned out to be a 30 minute walk home since we got lost and found ourselves strolling along Galway Bay at midnight. Eventually, we found our way back for a great night's sleep and woke to a huge breakfast and best of hospitality.