July 18th, Galway

We woke up a bit early today, packed up, had breakfast and got on the road. We were a wee bit (as they say in Ireland) glad to leave Belfast behind. It was a very interesting place and we learned so much there, but neither one of us were sad to leave for a new adventure. 

We got on the road for about a 4 hour drive to Galway. We didn't want to take the major highway the whole way so we got off on a smaller road to explore a bit of the countryside. Surprise!  The road we were on closed suddenly and we had to take a major detour through some seriously back country roads of Ireland.  It was fun to see, but we often wondered if we would ever make it to Galway!

We stopped along the way at a little pub in Delvin to get a quick drink. It was such a cute little place. The bartender was really nice and talked to us for quite a while. He told us that he had 2 brothers that were going to visit next week from Chicago...they moved there years ago!  

The weather was beautiful today. Our car doesn't have air conditioning so we cruised along with the windows open and the air blowing like crazy. The bartender in Delvin told us it was the first nice day they've had! It was hot!  We were worried about what clothes to bring and whether we would be warm enough. Thankfully, Jennifer who owns Magoos in Frederick told us we should bring shorts because we may get a warm day.  She was right!

We continued on and made it to Galway... A very busy, lively city. We got settled into our hotel and we quickly realized that our hotel room has no air conditioning!  Only we could come to Galway on the hottest day ever and have a hotel with no air conditioning!  

We went out to explore the city. There is a huge shopping and dining area with tons of people, street entertainment and touristy shops. We stopped in The Kings Head pub for a quick drink and set out to find a dinner spot.  We settled on Kirwans seafood restaurant, made reservations and continued to explore the city. 

After dinner (Tom had fish and chips and I had a cold seafood platter) we were determined to find a pub with Irish music. We settled in back at  Kings Head Pub to wait for the band that was coming at half nine (as they say in Ireland!).  Both of us thought the band was great but after they sang the Beatles, James Taylor and Eric Clapton, we decided that this was not how we planned the evening and we set out to find some Irish music!  We popped into a few pubs and we did finally find our Irish music. 

We made our way back to our hotel, which didn't cool off at all in the evening. Our room and our window is facing a busy road.  Hot and noisy.... it's going to be an awful night!

Tomorrow we head to Kerry and to see the Cliffs of Moher on our way!  We can't wait to see those cliffs!!!