We got on the road and out of Dublin around noon, which was a little later than we'd been hoping for. We'd been planning to stop at a distillery, then head down to the Cliffs of Moher before checking in at our B&B in Galway. But it took so long to rent the car that we decided to scrap the Cliffs of Moher. It was about an hour out of our way, which would put us in Galway way too late.
It was nice to finally get on the road and away from the headaches of travel. Now that we finally had the car, we were much more on our own schedule. No more security nightmares or waiting around at a station. At least, no more of that until we headed home in a week. In the meantime driving through the Irish countryside was really nice. The clouds were a lot lower to the ground than I'm used to, something I've only experienced before at 10,000 feet, so it reminded me of home. It was also incredibly green, and there were cows and sheep and stone fences everywhere.
We got a bit lost while looking for the distillery - the road we needed had two exits, and we took the wrong one. But we did get there eventually. It was much lower-key than the Jameson tour. We got a packet of information that guided us through the distillery and provided fun facts. For example: originally, one of the perks of working there was a hot bath in the mash tubs at the end of the day. Also fish tended to be knocked unconscious by the alcohol in the water when they swam past the distillery, but they were always alright once they'd floated downstream to fresh water.
Kilbeggan had both the historic equipment, run by the water wheel, and newer equipment that was being actively used. We got to see a few barrels in various stages of fermentation, which was neat. Then we had lunch in the attached restaurant. I ordered the salmon and mushroom pasta off the healthy menu, which must have been written by someone who doesn't really understand what it means. It was swimming in a heavy cream sauce. Very tasty, though.
Then it was back on the road and looking at the scenery. Seeing all the different road signs was one of my favorite things, especially since so many of them were different. There was one series of signs that I couldn't figure out and finally had to look up when I got home. There were three signs that always had the pattern: \\\, \\, \. Apparently the number of slashes indicates the number of meters to the next exit.
We pulled into Galway around 4 and got a bit lost looking for our B&B. The check-in process there blew my mind in how much it basically did not exist. Kevin gave his name and the man just took us to our room. No IDs, no verification, nothing. When we went into town, they even let us borrow their umbrella in case of rain. I became very protective of it and got worried anytime Kevin started using it as a cane or a sword.
Even though we were staying outside of town in a small suburb, it only took us about 10 minutes to walk to City Center. Galway is really small, barely a city at all. There are several blocks of pedestrian mall between the Spanish Arch and Eyre Square which have pubs, restaurants, and shops all along them. We wandered over to Eyre Square to book a tour to the Aran Islands the following day, but we arrived about 15 minutes after they'd closed. So we headed back to see what else there was to do.
We found a tourist office that seemed to be unaffiliated with anything in particular. They had an Aran Island package, though it was a bit more expensive than Kevin had been anticipating. But we decided it was worth it. We were even able to arrange for pickup at the B&B the next morning, since the 8:30 breakfast meant we'd have trouble getting to Eyre Square for the 9:20 bus departure. The man at the tourist office also gave us suggestions for restaurants and pubs with live music. But when we noted that it was supposed to rain all day Monday and asked him for suggestions, his only response was "Do you like drinking beer?" Galway doesn't have a ton of indoors tourist attractions.
We went to a good seafood restaurant where I got fish and chips for the third night in a row. This place at least served cod, but I finally decided that my palate had just been ruined by the deep-fried, double-battered, American version. Kevin, meanwhile, ate a stingray fin for dinner. Then we picked a pub at random so get some more drinks at and were pleasantly surprised when a band started playing not long after we got there. Their music was more contemporary than traditional, but it was still fun. On the way back to the room we stopped at a supermarket to pick up a bottle of cider and some chips, but we didn't end up drinking much of it.
The next morning we got up bright and early to eat breakfast and head out to the Aran Islands. This involved an hour-long bus ride and a 45 minute ferry ride across really choppy water. Once on the island, we boarded a bus and set out along the narrow roads listening to our awesome tour guide tell us about the island. He pointed out the island's bank, which is the smallest in the country and only opens for 4 hours a week. When you only serve 800 people, there's not much need to be open more than that.
We stopped near the base of a medieval fort called Dun Aonghasa (pronounced Angus) for a couple of hours. That gave us time to walk up and explore the fort, grab some lunch, and peruse the shops. The fort was really cool, and in surprisingly good shape considering it was basically constructed of rocks piled up together. There was some restoration work done a century or so ago, but I was still impressed. The fort was on some cliffs, so we spent some time exploring those before heading back to the cafe, where I discovered that soda bread may not taste very good, but it is excellent for sopping up soup.
A storm had taken out the coastal road on the island in February, so we did a bit of a modified tour that skipped the seals. But we still got to see a bunch of cool things, and learn about the economy of the island. Basically, if you were playing Settlers of Catan there, all you would have was sheep and stone and you'd have to trade for everything else. It's definitely not an easy life.
After seeing a few more sites, we got some time at another set of gift shops and the local pub before it was time to head back to the mainland. The ferry ride was a bit easier this time, whether it's because I was braced for it or because we sat closer to the middle of the boat, I'm not sure, but the sea definitely wasn't any calmer. At least I remembered to wait until we'd reached the relatively calm bay before attempting to use the bathroom on the ride back. It kept me from bouncing all over the room while I was pulling up my pants and washing my hands.
We got back, found a small place for dinner, and decided to check out one of the pubs that was reported to have good music. But the music didn't start until ten and, as previously noted, we are old beyond our years (or I am, at least). Instead we enjoyed our beers for a bit, played more cribbage, and I played fetch with an old dog who was wandering around the bar. Then it was back to the B&B to finish the cider and read.
The next day it was supposed to be really rainy, so we decided to go for a drive to stay out of it. We figured the Cliffs of Moher would be cool, even if the weather was crappy, and headed off in that direction. The drive was most along narrow, windy country roads that inexplicably had speed limits of 100 km/hour. Kevin was only going 80, and I was still fearing for my life. Even after I made him slow down, I felt like we were going to crash into the hedge every time we passed another car. To be fair to Kevin, we only did once, and it was mostly the other car's fault.
We were surprised that the weather remained sunny and perfect for the entire drive and our visit to the cliffs. It was a bit windy, but it could have been way worse. We walked along the cliffs for a while until I lost my nerve and we had to go back. The cliffs were beautiful, but they were also completely terrifying. And Kevin's carefree attitude did nothing to help my own anxiety. We stopped for lunch in a small town on the way back to Galway and toyed with the idea of visiting some caves but ultimately decided not to. Back at the B&B Kevin took a nap, and I finished my book.
A fellow traveler staying at the B&B had mentioned a microbrewery in Galway that sounded cool, so we decided to check it out that afternoon. These same travelers were rather condescending about the fact that we only got two weeks of vacation time a year. But I don't understand how Australia ever produces anything if their employees are allowed to take an eight-month leave of absence to sail halfway around the world.
Anyway, we went to Galway Bay Brewery, and I'm really glad we did. It was one of the highlights of the trip. They had seven beers on tap, and provided flights of 3 1/3 pints for the same price as a pint. We tried everything except the chocolate milk stout, and it was all really good. Their peanut butter porter was definitely different, and their double IPA was the smoothest double IPA I have ever tasted. It was actually less hoppy than their regular IPA, which was also very good.
Since there weren't very many people there (and probably because we stayed and drank for a while and were generally interested in beer) they offered to give us a tour of the brewery. This was really cool, particularly because it was still such a small operation. We got to handle and smell the different flavored malts. And the guys were actively bottling when we went back. I'd never been able to tour a brewery that was actively working before, and it was a really cool experience.
For dinner that night we decided to take a break from the local cuisine and found a cute Italian restaurant. I had a fantastic lamb ravioli, Kevin has a pizza covered in meat, and we even took a break from the beer to have a bottle of wine. Afterwards we went back to the bar where we'd found the live music on the first night, but no one was playing that night. So we eventually decided to head back to the B&B and get some sleep before heading north the next morning.
It was nice to finally get on the road and away from the headaches of travel. Now that we finally had the car, we were much more on our own schedule. No more security nightmares or waiting around at a station. At least, no more of that until we headed home in a week. In the meantime driving through the Irish countryside was really nice. The clouds were a lot lower to the ground than I'm used to, something I've only experienced before at 10,000 feet, so it reminded me of home. It was also incredibly green, and there were cows and sheep and stone fences everywhere.
We got a bit lost while looking for the distillery - the road we needed had two exits, and we took the wrong one. But we did get there eventually. It was much lower-key than the Jameson tour. We got a packet of information that guided us through the distillery and provided fun facts. For example: originally, one of the perks of working there was a hot bath in the mash tubs at the end of the day. Also fish tended to be knocked unconscious by the alcohol in the water when they swam past the distillery, but they were always alright once they'd floated downstream to fresh water.
Kilbeggan had both the historic equipment, run by the water wheel, and newer equipment that was being actively used. We got to see a few barrels in various stages of fermentation, which was neat. Then we had lunch in the attached restaurant. I ordered the salmon and mushroom pasta off the healthy menu, which must have been written by someone who doesn't really understand what it means. It was swimming in a heavy cream sauce. Very tasty, though.
Then it was back on the road and looking at the scenery. Seeing all the different road signs was one of my favorite things, especially since so many of them were different. There was one series of signs that I couldn't figure out and finally had to look up when I got home. There were three signs that always had the pattern: \\\, \\, \. Apparently the number of slashes indicates the number of meters to the next exit.
We pulled into Galway around 4 and got a bit lost looking for our B&B. The check-in process there blew my mind in how much it basically did not exist. Kevin gave his name and the man just took us to our room. No IDs, no verification, nothing. When we went into town, they even let us borrow their umbrella in case of rain. I became very protective of it and got worried anytime Kevin started using it as a cane or a sword.
Even though we were staying outside of town in a small suburb, it only took us about 10 minutes to walk to City Center. Galway is really small, barely a city at all. There are several blocks of pedestrian mall between the Spanish Arch and Eyre Square which have pubs, restaurants, and shops all along them. We wandered over to Eyre Square to book a tour to the Aran Islands the following day, but we arrived about 15 minutes after they'd closed. So we headed back to see what else there was to do.
We found a tourist office that seemed to be unaffiliated with anything in particular. They had an Aran Island package, though it was a bit more expensive than Kevin had been anticipating. But we decided it was worth it. We were even able to arrange for pickup at the B&B the next morning, since the 8:30 breakfast meant we'd have trouble getting to Eyre Square for the 9:20 bus departure. The man at the tourist office also gave us suggestions for restaurants and pubs with live music. But when we noted that it was supposed to rain all day Monday and asked him for suggestions, his only response was "Do you like drinking beer?" Galway doesn't have a ton of indoors tourist attractions.
We went to a good seafood restaurant where I got fish and chips for the third night in a row. This place at least served cod, but I finally decided that my palate had just been ruined by the deep-fried, double-battered, American version. Kevin, meanwhile, ate a stingray fin for dinner. Then we picked a pub at random so get some more drinks at and were pleasantly surprised when a band started playing not long after we got there. Their music was more contemporary than traditional, but it was still fun. On the way back to the room we stopped at a supermarket to pick up a bottle of cider and some chips, but we didn't end up drinking much of it.
The next morning we got up bright and early to eat breakfast and head out to the Aran Islands. This involved an hour-long bus ride and a 45 minute ferry ride across really choppy water. Once on the island, we boarded a bus and set out along the narrow roads listening to our awesome tour guide tell us about the island. He pointed out the island's bank, which is the smallest in the country and only opens for 4 hours a week. When you only serve 800 people, there's not much need to be open more than that.
We stopped near the base of a medieval fort called Dun Aonghasa (pronounced Angus) for a couple of hours. That gave us time to walk up and explore the fort, grab some lunch, and peruse the shops. The fort was really cool, and in surprisingly good shape considering it was basically constructed of rocks piled up together. There was some restoration work done a century or so ago, but I was still impressed. The fort was on some cliffs, so we spent some time exploring those before heading back to the cafe, where I discovered that soda bread may not taste very good, but it is excellent for sopping up soup.
A storm had taken out the coastal road on the island in February, so we did a bit of a modified tour that skipped the seals. But we still got to see a bunch of cool things, and learn about the economy of the island. Basically, if you were playing Settlers of Catan there, all you would have was sheep and stone and you'd have to trade for everything else. It's definitely not an easy life.
After seeing a few more sites, we got some time at another set of gift shops and the local pub before it was time to head back to the mainland. The ferry ride was a bit easier this time, whether it's because I was braced for it or because we sat closer to the middle of the boat, I'm not sure, but the sea definitely wasn't any calmer. At least I remembered to wait until we'd reached the relatively calm bay before attempting to use the bathroom on the ride back. It kept me from bouncing all over the room while I was pulling up my pants and washing my hands.
We got back, found a small place for dinner, and decided to check out one of the pubs that was reported to have good music. But the music didn't start until ten and, as previously noted, we are old beyond our years (or I am, at least). Instead we enjoyed our beers for a bit, played more cribbage, and I played fetch with an old dog who was wandering around the bar. Then it was back to the B&B to finish the cider and read.
The next day it was supposed to be really rainy, so we decided to go for a drive to stay out of it. We figured the Cliffs of Moher would be cool, even if the weather was crappy, and headed off in that direction. The drive was most along narrow, windy country roads that inexplicably had speed limits of 100 km/hour. Kevin was only going 80, and I was still fearing for my life. Even after I made him slow down, I felt like we were going to crash into the hedge every time we passed another car. To be fair to Kevin, we only did once, and it was mostly the other car's fault.
We were surprised that the weather remained sunny and perfect for the entire drive and our visit to the cliffs. It was a bit windy, but it could have been way worse. We walked along the cliffs for a while until I lost my nerve and we had to go back. The cliffs were beautiful, but they were also completely terrifying. And Kevin's carefree attitude did nothing to help my own anxiety. We stopped for lunch in a small town on the way back to Galway and toyed with the idea of visiting some caves but ultimately decided not to. Back at the B&B Kevin took a nap, and I finished my book.
A fellow traveler staying at the B&B had mentioned a microbrewery in Galway that sounded cool, so we decided to check it out that afternoon. These same travelers were rather condescending about the fact that we only got two weeks of vacation time a year. But I don't understand how Australia ever produces anything if their employees are allowed to take an eight-month leave of absence to sail halfway around the world.
Anyway, we went to Galway Bay Brewery, and I'm really glad we did. It was one of the highlights of the trip. They had seven beers on tap, and provided flights of 3 1/3 pints for the same price as a pint. We tried everything except the chocolate milk stout, and it was all really good. Their peanut butter porter was definitely different, and their double IPA was the smoothest double IPA I have ever tasted. It was actually less hoppy than their regular IPA, which was also very good.
Since there weren't very many people there (and probably because we stayed and drank for a while and were generally interested in beer) they offered to give us a tour of the brewery. This was really cool, particularly because it was still such a small operation. We got to handle and smell the different flavored malts. And the guys were actively bottling when we went back. I'd never been able to tour a brewery that was actively working before, and it was a really cool experience.
For dinner that night we decided to take a break from the local cuisine and found a cute Italian restaurant. I had a fantastic lamb ravioli, Kevin has a pizza covered in meat, and we even took a break from the beer to have a bottle of wine. Afterwards we went back to the bar where we'd found the live music on the first night, but no one was playing that night. So we eventually decided to head back to the B&B and get some sleep before heading north the next morning.
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