Galway – Charming No Matter the Weather
As a traveler, it’s always wonderful when a destination comes highly recommended. Guidebooks, best-of lists, and crazy daydreams can take you to some incredible, off-beat, and unique places, but there’s something extremely comforting in knowing what you are getting yourself into before the plane even touches down on the tarmac. Galway, Ireland is one such place, coming highly recommended by a good friend who retraced her roots with a visit to Ireland the previous year.
“It reminded me of Tofino” was all I needed to hear to know that Galway was a city I would go out of my way to see during out time in the British Isles.
Colourful homes line the waterfront
Continuing our rainy tour of Ireland, our time in Galway was spent clambering under eaves, fighting a losing battle between our little umbrella and fierce gale-force winds, and sneaking in as many photos as possible during brief 20 minute periods of sunshine “not rain”. However there was little the weather could do to distract us from the charming pubs, brightly painted homes, and kitschy shops that make up Galway’s central core.
Bright little buildings still standout amid the rain
Green everything at the little Irish pub
While our time in Galway was short – just one full day to explore the city – we easily fit in some sightseeing, shopping, and delicious fish and chips lunch with time to spare. Cold, wet, and comfortably full from out delicious fish lunch, we made our way back to the B&B for a cozy evening spent relaxing in our room.
It doesn’t get much better than fresh caught fish and chips
A pub covered in Gaelic signage and Guiness posters
A red pub with detailed woodwork
Small as it may be, Galway is a wonderful base for exploring Western Ireland and nearby attractions including The Burren, Cliffs of Moher, and the Connemara region – all of which we were able to cover by joining a tour the following day. As we turned in for the night, with a full day ahead of us the following morning, only one question filled our minds – how much longer can this rain continue?
Empty kegs waiting to be replaced with full ones
Pouring rain and dangerously high water levels in Galway