Colourful Galway Shopfronts

Let's face it - by now, if you read this 'ere blog, you probably realise I like Galway - and for good reason. Good restaurants and pubs, nice walkable city centre, and a certain atmosphere that is unique to itself. Perhaps some of its charm is down to the colourful shopfronts that advertise the shops and cafés along the streets.

I hope these photographs do them some justice!



A very colourful (if not entirely open) shop on Shop St.



McCambridges shop - maybe emporium is the better word. This photo was taken on a Sunday morning when the shop was closed, but when it's open, you'll get the best of food, wine and beer in here. There's a lovely coffee counter in the centre for your caffeine hit (and a yummy coffee here too), and a fantastic deli counter for a delicious. They have a wonderful selection of drinks to wash it down with too, and it's the only place in Ireland I've seen marzipan from Niederegger in Lubeck (Germany).



The Dew Drop - I didn't drop in here, but loved this Guinness signage. There's a lot of the Irish language around Galway, it being so close to the Gaeltacht, which is great!



Wooden Heart is a lovely toyshop, selling all sorts of traditional style toys.



Tigh Neachtain - a strikingly painted pub and landmark in the heart of the city.

More photographs from Salthill, Galway

As promised, I've uploaded a few more photos from the walk along the prom in Salthill, Galway, last weekend (like a month ago now!) Hope you like em as much as I liked being there, and being able to take them.


It really is a refreshing place for a walk and the weather was just right - a little cold maybe, but some sunshine and no rain, but enough cloud for drama!



These small waves still made a big splash off the breakwater - I think this is a swimming pool or something, maybe someone can correct me?

This next shot is of an interesting sign - I've never seen another like it in my time!



Always good advice - it is situated on the diving board at the far end of the promenade.

No ice-cream today.



And the bucket shop was unfortunately closed, but has a fantastic window display!



I wonder how it goes in Black and White....



Great walk, thoroughly enjoyable. After Salthill we went back into town. Galway, and that long street running from Eyre Square down towards Spanish Arch in particular has some of the most beautiful shopfronts in the country. I took some snaps of those and will get cracking on them over the next few days.

Nice of you to visit, see you again!

Galway Bay - or, the Atlantic Ocean...

A view from Salthill. Further to my previous post, I have been hacking through the images I took from Salthill on Saturday. There was a nice wintry sun, and a pretty impressive breeze, but the sea was quite well behaved and calm! So here's a few I took and am reasonably happy with...









I thought I'd add the last one to Etsy for kicks...

More to come from Salthill, and a few in and around Galway city. It really is a very picturesque place, and you don't have to go far out of the lovely city to find the wilds of Connemara and the Atlantic Ocean.

Galway, instructions for a pleasing weekend.

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I've just spent a lovely weekend in Galway, courtesy of some living social deals. We had a stay in the Forster Court hotel, which was most impressive - a very welcoming hotel, with comfortable rooms and pleasant and attentive staff. The hotel's just off Eyre Square so is merely minutes' walk from the main heart of Galway city.

Arriving on Friday night after work we had a tasty meal in the hotel. Saturday then we made our way to Kenny's Bookshop in the Liosbaun retail park, where the famous bookshop has moved to. In all the times I've been to Galway since they moved from the city centre I've never been to the new location so I had it in mind this time. It's in an almost industrial unit - but there's a lovely almost untidy (no offence!) clutter to the seats, couches and stacks of books in amongst the tall shelves that makes it very conducive to browse. 

So that was an enjoyable hour or so - my wallet escaped almost unscathed, though I did purchase a book on a practice Martian landing in the Arctic which will I'm sure warrant a mention at a later time. 

Out to Salthill then for a walk along the prom - we parked by the diving boards and walked back down towards the centre of Salthill. Stopped for a "Strange Brew" in the Oslo bar before heading back up to kick the wall. Oslo is a great bar, with a fantastic selection of beers (some brewed themselves) and a beer hall towards the back - well worth a visit if you're out that direction.

Back to town then for a freshen up before a tasty pizza in Fat Freddy's (pizza bianco - pesto, pepperoni, potatoes and cheese on a yummy base) - oh, and if they have a crostini with pear, honey and goats cheese when you're there, do order and enjoy. After that a couple more beers in the Salt House.  This is a real cosy little place with an even better selection of beer (We went for the Bay Ale and a Metalman Alternator, both tasty) but perhaps not such a great selection of board games (as advertised on the website). Get in there early as it's quite small, not so many seats, and has a fantastic selection of beers and whiskeys. 

After another tasty breakfast and checkout (with gift of cookies and bread!) from the hotel, we wandered along the canal which sort of parallels the river Corrib. This was a part we've never seen and is a lovely route for a walk. 

Another lunch in the Front Door pub - a deceptively large pub, but with loads of nooks and crannies so it feels really snug. Great food in here too, and this place will be on our "must go again" list. I had a vegetarian quesadilla which was really tasty. I didn't miss the meat and there was lovely salsa on the nachos that came with it. M had a chicken caesar salad that had plenty of chicken and bacon and lots of flavour. 

There will be photographs, once I get a chance to download them and upload them! 

  

A great day out!

Just back from Galway, had a fantastic day there at the Volvo Ocean Race festival. Unfortunately we arrived too late for the Red Arrows (who knows anything about protests?) who were rescheduled - in the wrong direction, but this was made up for by the Coast Guard who happily flew their Sikorsky beast over me whilst I was spectating. We saw some of the display from the road between Loughrea and Oranmore....

We bit the bullet and paid to take the Aran Islands' Ferry out to watch the racing, and that was absolutely worth it. I was afraid I'd regret it but we saw so much of these magnificently graceful yachts (70 feet long, no less) racing each other, jostling for position before the start and tacking against each other against the wind - superb.

Much praise is due to Galway City Council, the car parking company (Euro Parks I think) and the bus company for a great park and ride facility at the racecourse. It moved smoothly and efficiently, and (oddly for Ireland) systematically, and we parked all day there for 2 euro each without having to worry about traffic in Galway city. Kudos!

The village is great, centred around Galway harbour - plenty of food stalls (sausage inna bun, it's always good) and that kind of thing. And they even organised the weather!

If you're thinking about it Sunday or Monday, or even later on in the week, I'd highly recommend a visit to Galway - we may never see these boats here again!

Da booker prize again and the appreciation of important things

I heard on the news that John Banville was nominated again for Booker Prize winning possibilityness this year. So, if you like to read with a dictionary beside you, then cross your fingers now. I refer to my previous review of his almost impenetrable writings (the Sea, a previous winner, was found to this reviewer to be difficult to read and overwordy)

I was also wondering, with the water situation the way it is in Galway, will people finally learn to appreciate engineers and the work they do for them? Obviously something went wrong in Galway, and I'm not suggesting that it's a Good Thing, but people might realise how much they rely on the stretched staff in local authorities for the provision of clean water, sewage treatment facilities, roads and a clean environment.

And no, before you start, I'm not suggesting that it's all perfect all over the country either.