Luke and I flew from London to Shannon Airport, arriving around 12:30pm. We were a bit worried about arriving because there were severely high winds in Ireland that day. All went just fine landing, but we decided to change up the first few days of our itinerary due to the weather. We grabbed the rental car, which included the Irishman giving us a very hard time for not getting full insurance coverage even though Luke has a British driving license proving that he/we know how to drive, then set off toward Galway City where we would spend the day.
It took about 2 hours to reach Galway from the airport, then we got lucky with a parking place right in front of our apartment. The unfortunate thing about renting a car while traveling is having to pay for parking everywhere we go. We usually do pretty well getting away with finding free spots, but it doesn't always happen. Anyway, we dropped our bags at the apartment and set off to explore the city. We went to the Galway Cathedral first which was just around the corner from our apartment.
The we wandered along one of the rivers that run through the city. Everything was beautifully green. The tide was in, so the water was very close to the bottom of the bridges and moving very fast!
Down at the harbor, we looked out at the sea and could see across to where we would be driving the next day. It was still very windy, and it started to rain. We put up our jacket hoods, but the wind wasn't helping, so we ducked under an overhang until it let up shortly after. That was on the ONLY big rain we had the entire week - I still can't believe that!
Nearby the harbor, we walked to one of the tourist attractions - the Spanish Arch, part of the old city wall. Then we headed into the main area of the city to wander around. All of the pubs were very colorful and inviting, but we chose to stop at Tig Cóilí first.
For dinner, we decided to eat at one of the pubs we chose to stop at for a pint, The Quays, where the seafood was really good. As it was just days away from the summer solstice, the sun didn't set until 10pm. So we did a bit more exploring after dinner.
We eventually decided to make our way back to the apartment, stopping at one last pub, then we picked up some supplies at the grocery store for our first day on the road. Our early night turned out to be 11pm - oops!
Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day! We spent the day walking the Cliffs of Moher, and then driving in the Burren on the way back to Galway. More to come...
On Monday, we hopped back in the car and headed to Connemara. I overplanned a bit on this day, so we cut our driving route short, but because of this, Luke found his most favorite spot in all of Ireland! Read more in another post...
Tuesday morning, we gathered our stuff to leave Galway around 10:30am. Our next destination was Kilkenny for two nights, but along the way we stopped in Limerick as Luke heard it was a nice city. Again... more coming soon....
So far, our time in Ireland was going really well! We were unbelievably lucky with the weather at the Cliffs of Moher and were blessed with perfect temperatures and lots of sun in Connemara. Could it get any better?
More from our Ireland Road trip: Introduction, Galway City, Cliffs of Moher & the Burren, Connemara, Limerick, Kilkenny, Cashel & Cahir, Connor Pass & Dingle Town, Ring of Kerry, Slea Head Drive all to come...
RANDOM FACT:
Eyre Square in Galway City was renamed John F Kennedy Park in 1965, after the president had given a speech in 1963.
More from our Ireland Road trip: Introduction, Galway City, Cliffs of Moher & the Burren, Connemara, Limerick, Kilkenny, Cashel & Cahir, Connor Pass & Dingle Town, Ring of Kerry, Slea Head Drive all to come...
RANDOM FACT:
Eyre Square in Galway City was renamed John F Kennedy Park in 1965, after the president had given a speech in 1963.
