Day 10: Galway via the Burren

So, I lied - sort of. We actually made it to the Burren, but more of the express tour. Having woken up on Easter Monday the vast majority of Ennis was completely closed down, including coffee shops. We had packed up and moved out of "the Coachhouse" (our AirBnB in Ennis) and spoken with our hosts for a few minutes before making our way back into town to visit the craft co-op shop again so I could purchase this awesome bowl they had. As we parked and started to wander through town we were saddened by the growing reality that the entire town was closed in a serious way. As we rounded the corner though...lights...and a sign. They were open! And! The shop keeper made us instant coffee to go with our purchase.

So, in the name of politeness we spoke with him for a while, met his wife who was a glass artist, and purchased the bowl I was debating over for the last 48 hours. During all of this we got to talking about our next destination, which was Galway, and he immediately pulled out a small map and circled about 6 places that we "absolutely had to see on our way." Armed with a new piece of art and a new map we jumped back in the rental and hit the road in search of Corofin - a town recommended to me by a coworker, as well as the shop keeper.

Over the course of about 3 hours we managed to go from Ennis to Corofin, where we ate a very traditional Irish pub lunch in a very traditional Irish pub named Bofey Quinns (1/2 pints included), saw Leamaneh Castle, as well as the Poulnabrone. The Poulnabrone is in the central part of the Burren, so we were able to see that geography for what it really was - insane and beautiful.

So, after a whirlwind tour of the Burren we started to make our way (quickly) towards Galway, as our AirBnB host was oddly specific about time. The drive to the main highway was a bit intense given the narrow roads - this was probably as stressful, if not more so, than the ride to Dingle - at one point we got stuck with another car coming from the other direction. After a little backing up and pulling in of side mirrors we both made it! ...Brendan is scarred for life at this point.

Along the way we ended up driving through Kinvara, which also looks amazing - when we return we'll definitely be going there!

So after a quick hour and 10 minutes we made it to Galway! The navigation took us right through the center of the city, past the Spanish Arch and up into a residential area about a mile away where our host was waiting for us. Car parked, checked in and refreshed we immediately headed back down the hill, on foot, towards the Spanish Arch to investigate. What we found floored us both - the Spanish Arch and the area surrounding it is an amazing set of streets dedicated to music, food and shopping. We spent the next several hours popping in and out of stores and reading menus so we could decide on our dinner destination. Along the way we stopped in at Tig Coili where we met a Swiss woman traveling on holiday as well - 2 hours of conversation, beer and a Trad session later we headed off in search of dinner.

We ended up at Quay Street Kitchen which was out of this world - one of the best meals we've had on this trip, and to be honest, that's saying something. The food in Ireland has been surprisingly out of this world, especially since we were told to expect less-than-stellar eats. Afterwards, we decided on one more drink at Garavan's - well worth it. Having eaten and drank far too much we made out way up the hill back to the apartment and crashed hard...again.

Until tomorrow!