Galway pubs and restaurants part 1

After unpacking a bit, we got in Text contact the my niece Sarah who lived in Galway for a semester of college and took her with us virtually on our first night in the old town Galway area, AKA, the Latin Quarter. Not sure if it was good nostalgia for her or just made her sad not to be there. 

Our first restaurant and we loved it! Wonderful meat pies with mash and peas and the best cabbage I've ever had. And the decor! Pictures do not do it justice. Only holds 14 people, we were lucky to walk in when one table was open.

 

Sarah's comment "that place is awesome"

 

So we followed the advice of James Joyce

 

 

 

So off out into the now misty (ok, it was raining a bit) night. Not late because we were a little tired. Such a cute area, we loved just walking all around.

 

 

 Started working on deserving this tshirt 

 

By visiting Quays Bar 

 

Sarah's comment - "I spent so much time at that bar". 

So back to our lovely little 3 bedroom apartment - quick, hop on a plane and join us!

The first stop!

Landed in Dublin, drove an hour maybe, stopped in a town to use restroom and get a snack and look what was the first thing we found!  

 

It was too early for them to be open and we still had driving to do so we settled for a picture.

Bill, who wanted to prove he wasn't a food snob got his first Irish food here. Cookies and a mocha from a machine.

 

What it's like off the toll road.

 

Finally arrived at our home in Galway.

 

 

Next up - our first night out in Galway

Airplane food and landed in Ireland

I like to think I'm a little bit of a foodie - we don't eat fast food (unless Bill is near a Carl's Junior) and actively look for places highly rated on Yelp, try to eat only fresh foods at home, not prepared (mostly do).

But I actually like airline food for the most part. Maybe it's the novelty of eating on the plane and having all those little containers. It also has gotten better than years ago. So first food pictures - dinner - a shrimp and veggie salad, pretzel bread, fruit, brownie and breakfast "snack" - croissant, yogurt, cheese.   

      

After the long flight to Paris - I love Paris - we got on a City Jet flight to Dublin. We were hoping our set of three seats would have one empty but the plane was completely full. And by full I mean packed in like sardines. Shoulder to shoulder and knees (even my short leg) just fit in. But I was so tired, I slept most of the way. 

   

 

      

The pilot had a great Irish brogue and as we left Paris said "sure and it's a beautiful sunny day in Dublin". Ok, he didn't say "sure, and". But on getting close to landing I was wondering about the Irish definition of "sunny". 

 But it turned out to be lovely. Picking up the car was a riot - all these Americans, including us, slowly edging out of the parking lot, trying to get used to driving on the right side of the car, left side of the road!

 

Traffic circles everywhere and traffic. 

Packing dilemmas and travel thoughts

We went to Italy six years ago for 3 weeks and each carried everything in a (large) backpack suitcase. Kept it down to 20 lbs. So what's up with needing a very big suitcase and two small ones this time?? Little different climate, more sweaters, sturdier shoes, not sure that explains it all even. Maybe its all the electronics and chargers? That does add up.  Four magazines and a book for Bill. How many umbrellas do we really need - yes, it rains frequently, that's why its so green there. Oh, and freezer packs for my knee...a collapsible cane, a collapsible walking stick just in case.  Actually the cane is my ticket to getting a ride out to the gate in the airport.

So how would I design planes better? Well obviously I'd like first class seats for everyone. Or at least Delta comfort as we got this time. But my main small change would be to figure out a way to make seats more comfortable for short people. I can hear the disagreement that short people have it good, it's the tall and bigger people who deserve more consideration. But my main problem is my legs dangle and it cuts off circulation in my legs, worse now with my bad knee. I can hear now how whiney that sounds...I could bring something to put my feet on - but somehow carry- ons never work well and I have too much already (see first paragraph). One more whine, seat is too deep for my short legs, so hard to sit comfortably even with a footrest.  Ok, I admit I'm writing this after almost six hours in my seat and a ½ hour of sleep while my six foot husband has slept for about four hours. I'll be fine in 90 minutes when I can say I'm in Paris. Then off to Dublin an hour or two later for a much shorter flight.

Oh and there was a big bathroom on this plane, along with some pretty normal ones. What a luxury! Last year on the way to Costa Rica I almost couldn't sit in the tiny bathroom when my knee was only bending 50 degrees.

Last planning and packing

This stage - about 2 weeks until our trip - is always full of excitement and worry. Did I make all the reservations correctly? We one time got to the airport in Helsinki, Finland only to find out our tickets were for the next day.  Luckily they had room on the plane and we left that day but since then I double and triple check. But still sometimes dates get turned around on paper or in my mind. Did I rent the right size car, from the right company? Will the Airbnb's all be as nice as they look? Will those accompanying us be happy with the plans and decisions? Will I bring the right clothes, too many or too few? Guess you can always buy stuff. We have bought hats and mittens in Switzerland, a bathing suit when I thought I didn't need one while packing (and it was cheap but a horrible one bought in a sort of truck stop), sweatshirts in San Diego when it turned cool (years ago, all five of us got matching ones).  I'm down to recording some recommendations for restaurants and pubs and local activities in each place. I find it helps to have them written down so I can refer to it later, but don't use it as a concrete plan on trips like this one with multiple days in each place. On the can't wait side - my cousin, Nick Lethert, has given us a list of things to do/see in Galway that makes me want to spend a month, not 3-4 days. He told me the little town near Galway where John Prine owns a house and the pub where he sometimes plays!  And I found out the man who runs a tour business in Ballybunion and says he is a local historian will look up things about our family and take us on a specially tailored tour - plus he's a renowned bagpiper! So bought his albums and some other Irish music and using it to inspire me on my exercise bike. Walking over a mile/day now so hoping the leg/knee will cooperate with some hiking.    The only thing that could make me more excited is if someone else was coming along!