Day 11: Exploring Galway
Galway! With our last full day ahead of us we took it slow - our AirBnB, while clean and lovely, was a tad too warm....and the bed a tad too small. After getting ready and indulging in a bit of the host's brown bread she had left us we walked down the hill in search of an early lunch. Deciding to trust in the Lonely Planet book once more we went into Griffin's Bakery (a local institution for over 130 years) and sat down in the back tearoom for a bite and caffeine. Once again, not disappointed in even the most standard food the country had to offer. The temptation to dive into a piece of pie was strong, but we resisted and figured we'd move on and try to find a cafe to rest at afterwards.
Lunch was proceeded by visiting the Galway City Museum, which is situated right along one of the water ways - it's a combination of history, art, hands on exhibits, and other cultural/local references. Definitely worth popping into, even if just for the panoramic view of the city from the third floor windows. Afterwards we walked under and through the Spanish Arch (not as exciting as one would hope) and made our way to the Salthill Promenade, which is a long walking path that follows the waterway from the Spanish Arch, past the National Aquarium, all the way to Salthill. After walking and talking we ended up getting ourselves 2-3 miles out from the City Centre, did an about face and made our way back so we could recharge at a cafe.
Let's just say it was a whole lot of walking - we actually beat the Cliffs of Moher trek!
Having burnt all the calories we could, it was decided that dessert was in order - two brownies and a pot of tea later at Deely's Cafe (spotty wifi and ok brownies) we were happy, sugar high and ready to do some more site seeing. We headed towards Galway Cathedral first, followed by Saint Nicholas' Collegiate Church. Both were drastically different and insanely beautiful in their own ways. I'll let the photos below do the talking when it comes to these two stops. For the next two hours we wandered from shop to shop hunting for Irish sweaters, magnets and a few other take homes that we thought we could manage to cram in our bags. Success on all fronts!
Spoiler - we managed to only need one of the extra bags we had packed flat in our suitcases!
Dinner became a bit of a toss up, as we read each menu that we came by, but we ended up taking a chance on a small Italian restaurant right across from where we had eaten the night before. Trattoria Magnetti was fantastic - between the wine, bread & olive basket, and our main courses (and my carrot cake/Brendan's port) we were ready for bed. Attempting to stay in the spirit and push through our exhaustion we walked back to the pub from the night before and had one last 1/2 pint of Smithwicks each - then walked ourselves back up the hill, along the waterways.
We packed...and crashed.
