Mar 03 2009
Our trip to Galway…
Going to Galway was one of the trips that I imagined would be one way but actually turns out 100 times better than you thought. I had spent a few days in Dublin and from there we took a train to Galway, which with our student travel cards cost us about 50 euros for a return ticket. If you book your hotel earlier enough you can get some great places really cheaply. Our hotel was in the centre of Galway about a few minutes walk from the train station.
After checking in we headed out to go and see the sights. Galway is a pretty small city and everything is within walking distance so you don’t have to take any public transport which means you save money on taxis etc. It doesn’t take long to see all the sights. If you head to the centre of Galway there are plenty of places to eat for a reasonable price and there are a lot of pubs and nightclubs for your evening entertainment.
Eyre square in Galway is the main focal point of the town and the square is still the place to hang however it was also where JFK gave a speech a few months before his assassination in Dallas. In 1965 the square was actually re-named the Kennedy memorial Park, but we have never heard anyone calling it that. In 2004 when they were renovating the area some skeletons were found and they were carbon tested and they were medieval which was quite interesting
Galway has a very pretty little Cathedral which was opened in 1965, and is named the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and Saint Nicholas and is situated on the site of the former county jail which was closed in 1939 and was renowned for its cruel treatment of prisoners. The Cathedral is definitely the largest and possibly the most impressive building in the city of Galway. You can see the copper domed roof for miles around and the massive site on where the cathedral stands is one of the largest in the city centre. Nearly all of the materials used in the building of the cathedral were supplied from the local area and is a great example of Irish workmanship. Inside the cathedral are great cut stone and wood carvings as well as some beautiful wall paintings. The style of the building is Hiberno Romanesque which is unique eleventh century native Irish and pre-dates the Norman invasion.
The Galway Bay is a very nice place for a walk and if you just head for the Cathedral, you will soon come across the River Corrib and the small canal that runs along the side of it. The Corrib itself is a Salmon river and was originally called the Galway river, meaning “short stony river”. It is also the shortest river in Europe at only 2 miles long and apparently the most powerful. If you head to the Salmon Weir bridge you should try and spot the small wooden sculpture of a leaping Salmon.
If you head to the far end of tow buy the river then you will stumble across the Spanish arch stands at the far end of town by the river. The arch was built as an extension to the city walls in 1584 where it provided safe shelter to unload the boats and keep it safe from thieves. You can see the architectural remains which include a matrimonial fireplace stored in one of the arches.
The next day very early in the morning we decided to take a bus and go and visit a place called Doolin. It took us about 3 hours to get there after the driver navigated us through the twists and turns of the roads and the constant going up and down but seeing some of the amazing sights of the country side we reached our destination.
Doolin is a very small village and is very tourist orientated. There are plenty of hostels, restaurants, pizza places and lots of pubs. pubs serve food. There is also a small food shop where you can stop for supplies before heading to the Cliffs of Moher.The people there were really nice and we asked a local for directions to the Cliffs of Moher and not only did he give us directions he told us the best route to take to get the best views etc etc.
So we started walking at about midday. Just one small suggestion for all those who are going the same route we did. Make sure you bring waterproof shoes, preferably high boots and that you are not scared of heights and electric fences.
We started walking from sea level and the walk to the Cliffs took us about three hours. It was a long walk but it was definitely worth it. On the way we saw an ancient abandoned village, a waterfall were the water didn’t go down into the sea but went up and back into the river. We had to climb over lots of fences and a few electric fences which was not fun because the walk along the edge of the cliff is getting pretty dangerous and in some places farmers have even been pulling their fences back because there is virtually nothing to step on there may be 30cm of space and then cliff and then you hit the ocean. The tourists are all directed to a certain point and once we had almost reached this place the wind picked up and was getting stronger. A person there insisted that we went into a nearby field instead continuing to walk along the edge of the cliff luckily we did because the minute we stepped into the field the wind got so strong that we fell onto our backs by this time we were pretty scared.
After there despite the wind we continued to another place to see the remains of a tower. This was a fair trek away and luckily the walk was a little easier. Once we reached the tower the views were amazing however we realised that if we didn’t hurry we would miss the last bus back to Doolin from the Cliffs of Moher view point by this time is was getting pretty dark so we decided to go back a different since going along the edge of the Cliff in the dark didn’t sound like such a good idea.. We came across a road and decided to go and walk on it.
So after climbing a couple more fences and running away from some cows we finally reached something that looked like a road. The only problem was that neither of us had any idea where we were and there were no sign posts luckily we saw a local women and she directed us towards the road which lead us back to the Cliffs of Moher view point. We tried to hitch hike to get there quickly but only three cars wet past and none of them stopped. We just about made it to get the bus ad the driver stopped when he saw us running and waving. Thank god he did otherwise we would have been stuck out there all night !!
Finally we got back to our hotel and decided to go to a local pub for a dinner. There is always live music bee played in every pub in Doolin so if you want to hear some good Irish folk music then just head for the pub.. The food was pretty good and we also met lots of people from different countries who were exploring Ireland.
In the morning we headed back to Galway. We wandered around the city centre for the afternoon and did some shopping before heading back to Dublin.
If anyone is thinking of going to Ireland you really should go and see the West of Ireland. The West Coast of Ireland is absolutely beautiful and there is plenty to do and see.
Book your Galway hotel online and get the best rates for your Galway accommodation