Hill of Allen

Thanks to heritage week 2012, the tower on the top of the Hill of Allen is open this week. I was on a day's holidays so took the opportunity to take a wander up, it being a nice day and all. There's a car park at the base of the Hill which is usually blocked up, but it's open for the week at least.


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You can see in the satellite photo that most of the Hill has been removed at this stage, the quarry has fed many major road projects in the area as far as I know, but the tower is still in situ at the top. I remember going up here as a youngster with a friend who lived nearby, when the air was thick with the legend of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and the Fianna - the legend had it that this was their seat, and that Fionn himself was buried here.

So what's up there now? A walk uphill through a forest, with constant signage reminding walkers of the quarry to one side, leading up to a pretty impressive tower which was built as a folly between 1859 and 1863 - each of the 80-something stone steps has the name of a builder carved onto it.



As you get to the top, the tower is capped rather oddly (ignominiously?) by a squat conservatory type structure. Obviously this is to prevent damage to the castellations at the top, but it doesn't help you get a view of the surrounding flat countryside.



The tower is as yet untouched by the quarrying operations and is still impressive in its own right.

 

Unfortunately at the base of the tower the brambles are too high to get any sort of panorama, and at the top, well you're hemmed in a bit. That's the disappointing thing.

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.

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!