Galway - Shopping Mecca

We chose to spend time in Galway to visit the "Capital of the West" and get a little city time after spending our first few days in the countryside.

Here are a few of my Galway highlights:

1. St. Judes B&B in Lower Salthill.
I had no idea before we went what to expect out of the Irish B&Bs, but I never expected them to be this nice! St. Judes easily had 12 rooms, and was decorated in high fashion without making you think you couldn't sit on the furniture and relax. The foyer featured a colorfully tiled floor and a chandelier, and the dining room looked as if it was set with the best china and silverware. Our room had three beds and a heater (a luxury in Ireland B&Bs). I was also fascinated by the towel warmer in the bathroom.(I was cold a lot in the B&Bs) We also had a glorious view of a rose garden (how they bloom in that cold, wet environment I'll never know). We liked the B&B so much, that we decided to stay in and rest and watch a little Irish television and forgo walking back out into the cold for another smokey pub. And I don't feel like we missed out on anything.
2. Shopping on the pedestiran-friendly Quay Street and finding my perfect Irish Claddaugh ring
A Claddaugh ring is one with two hands holding aheart with a crown on top and symbolizes friendship, love and loyalty. As a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, I wanted a real Irish Claddaugh as my souvenir from the trip. (On the show, the ring is a big part of a Buffy romance.) I wanted one that was a little less "traditional" and saw a picture of the perfect ring, but couldn't find it. Galway was the place - being that the now-mostly-defunct town of Claddaugh was on the outskirts. When we arrived on Quay Street, we checked in one of the several jewelry shops and were directed to Fallers Jewelers. They said if we couldn't find what we were looking for there, we never would. And we found our rings and more -- even a Celtic cross necklace for my sister.
3. Eating at Kirby's at Cross Street
Great food, great atmosphere and great staff are the hallmarks of Kirby's, at least in my opinion. Probably my favorite part was drinking some magnificent hot chocolate to warm up after hours of shopping on Quay Street. To our surprise, the waiter offered us marshmallows for our hot chocolate, one pink and one white. It added a whole new sweetness to the brew. We had the place mostly to ourselves, since we arrived just after they opened, so we were pampered a bit. Fine by me.

Quick Tips:

May I suggest finding a B&B in Salthill or Lower Salthill. They are within walking distance to Quay Street shopping and lively pubs. Plus, you get to see a lot of the Irish neighborhoods in Galway.

Best Way To Get Around:

Galway had a lot of the big city features you'd expect -- traffic for one, but the wider roads and better signs made driving easier than I thought. (Nothing like driving in Dublin). However, note that the roundabouts are also bigger and monitored with stoplights. We also saw several parking garages in City Centre (where Quay Street and the shops and pubs are located) so I think you could find a space if you drove into the city. However, if you find a B&B close by (and there were a lot of them) you could hoof it and work up an apetite.

St. Judes is by far the best B&B experience we had while in Ireland. It looked like a miniature castle on its own, and inside was just as beautiful as the outside.

Ita Johnstown is the owner, and she was full of hospitality. When she took us to our room, I momentarily thought she had made a mistake. The room was huge, and had three beds (two twin, one double). The bathroom was also large, equipped with a heated towel warmer. And joy! There was a portable heater in the room. I'd be warm for one night in Ireland!

She also had a nice sitting room, equipped with a television, and we managed to catch a very odd European game show with 49 players that we never figured out. She also had plenty of tourism books to help us plan our next adventure.

As with all B&Bs we stayed in, breakfast was included in the stay, and it was a fine breakfast at that.

St. Judes

We were walking down the Quay looking for a good restaurant. We kept running into pubs and such that we considered too "American" for our Irish vacation. (A pub that serves nachos? Do they have Irish beef on them? geesh). We veered off a bit onto Cross Street, and came upon Kirby's. The menu was posted outside, and after reading it, we agreed that this was our spot. (It was the filet mignon that caught my eye and pulled me in.) I had grown quite fond of Irish beef at this point, so, as I mentioned, it was the filet for me -- which was served with boiled Irish potatoes. Mmm. Quite yummy. My travel buddy ordered a Salmon filet, and allowed me a taste. Also quite good. The bill for both of us came out to about 43 euros.

Kirby's serves dinner from 5pm-10pm, and lunch from 12:30-2pm, and we made it just in time to catch them opening for dinner. We pretty much had the place all to ourselves, and the full attention of our waiter. This may sound a little wacky, but the highlight of my meal there was my hot chocolate. I guess it was that he had no one else to wait on, but he even offered us special marshmallows for our hot chocolate - one pink and one white, which made them taste even more lovely.

The atmosphere in Kirby's is upscale, but not stuffy. There are beautiful paintings on the wall which show various parts of the Quay in Galway and scenes from within the restaurant. The bathrooms are very nice (not that I usually judge the bathrooms in restaurants, but these caught my attention) and make you feel like a queen!

On a scale of 1-10, I'd say Kirby's was a 7 or 8. The food was good, the service staff was very attentive (again, we were the only ones there), and the atmosphere was Irish - exactly what we wanted.

I'd searched the world over (well, ok, just Ireland) for the perfect Claddaugh ring.

The Claddaugh ring is a traditional Irish ring with a heart in the middle, held by two hands and a crown on top. Signifying love, friendship and loyalty, when worn on the right hand with the crown pointed in, the wearer's heart is not yet taken. When worn on the right hand with the crown pointed outwards, the wearer is considering love. When worn on the left hand, the wearer has found true love. The town of Claddaugh, of which there isn't much left, was originally just outside of Galway

Anyway, I wanted a ring that you could tell was a Claddaugh ring, but that didn't look the same as everyone elses. I'd seen a picture on the inflight magazine from a maker named Solvar, and it was a more modern-looking rendition of the ring. Sure enough, Fallers had the ring, but we had to ask for it, as it was so new they hadn't set it out on display yet.

Fallers is a duty-free shop, so the ring cost me around 59 euros without tax. A good buy - but then I wanted it badly, so it would've been a good buy anyway. :)

Aside from my ring, the shop had a grand selection of Irish jewelry. Fallers is known accross Ireland for its selection. There were Celtic cross necklaces - one of which I got for my sister (cost me about $25). There are also plenty of Celtic knot rings, which are often used for wedding rings (the knot has neither a beginning nor end.) There's more selection in silver than in gold, but that's the case most places.

If you can't find the jewelry you want at Fallers, you're not going to find it.

Fallers of Galway

When we asked our B&B host at St. Judes the easiest way to get to shopping in Galway, we were very pleased when she said that we were a mere 10-minute walk from Quay St., a cobblestone walkway lined with Irish shops and pubs. So we set off on our walk, and crossed over the River Corrib via the Wolfetone Bridge. People were lining the bank of the river to feed the beautiful white swan pair that were swimming along.

Quay Street is closed off to traffic to allow pedestrians full access to the hundreds of shops that line its cobblestone streets. You can find jewelry, clothing, watches, souvenirs, pubs, restaurants - whatever your heart desires. Just watch out for that credit card bill!

It's also important to note that most of the shops in the Quay are closed on Sundays, and many close after 6pm on weekdays. Take that into account when you're planning.

Here are some of the shops/restaurants we frequented while on Quay Street, and links to the full journals.

1. Faller's Jewelers: We had been looking for a specific claddaugh ring to take home as an Irish souvenir, and the first jewelry store we stopped in told us to go to the end of Quay Street and visit Faller's. Sure 'nuf, there it was -- along with any kind of jewelry (Irish or otherwise) that you could want. Full journal
2. Killkenny: This shop was full of beautiful Irish pottery, and I found some nice gifts to bring home to my cat-sitter. There were traditional designs and unique designs as well. Full journal
3. Kirby's of Cross Street: We looked around for a pub or restaurant for dinner that wasn't so commercial and so "American." We came upon Kirby's and took a look at the menu, and decided to eat there. It was great - good food, good service, the place all to ourselves. Full journal

Once you fall in love with Irish pottery, you see it everywhere. Nowhere, however, did I find the selection of pottery that Kilkenny had. I saw the same designs I had seen elsewhere, but also saw other designs that were new to me - and beautiful. The types of pieces you could buy were also expanded. In other areas, you could buy mugs and vases, here, you could buy whole serving sets with plates, mugs, trays, etc.

The Irish use very colorful glazes on their pottery. The favorite colors seem to be blues, maroons and browns. The glazes are almost iridescent, so if you have a blue glaze, you can see greens and purples in the color. Most of the pottery features some sort of Celtic symbol - Celtic knots for example.

The prices here were a bit pricier, but fair. They took great care in wrapping your purchases so you could take them safely on the plane back with you. Or, they offer to ship your purchases home (small fee.)

I bought my kind cat-sitter a wonderful coffee mug - big enough to hold three cups for sure, and it cost me around 15 euros. I could've bought out the shop, but I didn't. My credit card would've yelled at me. Phone 091-566110