Galway- Next stop, New York!

One of Galway's biggest assets is its buzzing night life. Galway is a very 'young' city and the night life mirrors this. The choice of bars and clubs is endless. For the more cultural visitor Galway has alot to offer. Relatively near by are the National Parks of Connemara and the Burren (both about one and a half hours drive) and Coole Park (45 minutes). The late home of Lady Gregory and the holiday place of such writers/ poets and artists as George Bernard Shaw and W.B Yeats. In Galway itself there is much to do. A walk along the Prom to Salthill in the evening (on the rare sunny days!) can produce the most spectacular sunsets; and further along the coast road is the lovely sandy beach of Silver strand.

Quick Tips:

Unless you are coming to Galway specifically for the Arts festival, Galway Race Week or the Oyster Festival (the first two weeks of August and a week in September) then its best to avoid the city at these times. This is because the city becomes so overcrowded, bars and restaurants become a joke to try and relax in and accommodation prices go through the roof...and that's if you can find somewhere to stay.

Best Way To Get Around:

Galway is a small city and the centre where everything happens is easily walked across in ten to fifteen minutes. Salthill and the prom are only a fifteen to twenty minute walk from the centre also. Buses are very cheap and regular, and taxis aren't too badly priced either, about four to five euro from the centre to Salthill. If you feel the need to visit the Aran Islands then there are daily ferries and flights if you want a little more comfort. Galway is easily to get to, with hourly buses to and from Dublin for 15 euro for a return. The trains are more expensive (about 25 euro for a return) and run three to four times a day. Flights to and from Dublin to Galway cost around 69 euro for a single. There are also regular buses to and from Galway to every other major town and city in Ireland.

We've lived in Galway for years now and always wanted to go to the Thai Garden, but never did, so for my boyfriend’s birthday, I bit the bullet and booked a table. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of booking a table for the night before Valentine’s Day. We were going out on the town after the meal, so I booked a table for 6:30pm, even though the usual sittings are 7 and 9pm. We arrived on time and straight away were taken to our tiny table in a room full of tiny tables for two. That was why it was a mistake to go around Valentine’s Day - they'd emptied the room of the larger tables and restocked it with as many small tables as they could. This would have been horrible if we'd come any later, as the tables were only about 40cm apart, so you would literally have been eating your meal with perfect strangers! It was hardly a romantic setting! I've talked with friends that eat there a lot, however, and they reassured me that it’s not normally set up like that.

The restaurant was clean and tidy and well decorated in a traditional Thai style. The menu was extensive, to say the least, with loads of choice and many vegetarian options. We both had tiger prawns to start (€5.20 - all the starters were around this price), and although the portion was tiny, they were exquisite and worth the price. For the main course, we both had duck meals with noodles. They were gorgeous too, and this time the portions were huge! The main meals ranged from around €12 to €18, so they were pricey too, but as the portions were so big and the food so tasty, we felt that it was well worth it.

The staff were very friendly and the service was very good and extremely efficient. We got our starter within 5 minutes of ordering and the main meal pretty much straight after the starter, so we were in and out of the restaurant in just under an hour. At the same time, though, we didn’t feel rushed at all. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone that likes Thai and Chinese food.

Monroe's is a lovely pub just on the outskirts of the city centre. They do the best pizza in Galway. You order pizza, then get your drinks, and enjoy! The pizzas cost from about 5Euro for a small to 17.95Euro for an extra large, and come with a wide range of extra toppings as well. This is the best way to start a night out on the town and it won't break the bank either. The only drawback is that you have to wait until 4pm to get a pizza. From 12pm-3pm, Monroe's also serves bar food of good quality, ranging from soup and sandwiches to the biggest Irish breakfast in Galway to stews and stir fries. This menu ranges from around 3 Euros for soup to 14 Euros for the bigger meals. Monroes is a very laid-back pub with a live act every evening, whether it be a traditional Irish band or dance music. They also have a large screen so the pub is ideal for watching sporting events. One point though . . . although the pub is quiet enough in the daytime, it fills up quickly by night after about 8pm, especially on the weekends. So if you do want to order pizza, go early or you'll be eating it standing up!

McSwiggans is a huge pub/restaurant, in the centre of Galway City, with masses of character. It is one of those pubs with loads of private nooks and crannies for sitting in and antique furniture and knick-knacks everywhere. The pub has a very diverse food situation, in that they have a sandwiche bar/cafe which serves food from 12-3pm(ish) every day, as well as a restaurant which serves hot lunches and also opens in the evening as a posher venue for evening meals (see separate journal entry). Apparently a new thing that they do as well is to open earlier in the daytime to serve breakfasts, as well. I haven't been in at this time, though, so I can't comment on them.

The sandwich bar is where I normally get food, as I'm normally in there during lunch hour. The menu is varied and ranges from soup to jacket potatos to wraps, normal sandwiches, and pitas. The fillings range from the standard ones (chicken, egg, cheese, tuna, etc.) to the more exotic (spicy chicken, couscous, and mango chutney-- absolutely gorgeous), and the prices vary from around €2.50-€7.25. They also do a lovely open steak sandwich with loads of fried onion and a side salad, which I highly recommend, should you be really hungry! On the drinks front, the bar is open, so the choice is vast, but they also do a selection of specialty teas/coffees and hot chocolates for the connoisseurs. The place is very busy during the period between 1 and 2pm, so try and head there either before or after this time, as sometimes it can be tricky to find a table; however, the service is very fast, so there is hardly any delay once you have ordered.

Coole Park is the residence of the late Lady Gregory, famous in her own right as a playright, but more so as being the mentor and friend of several famous writers and artists such as WB Yeats and George Bernard Shaw. These artists and many more used to to stay with Lady Gregory at Coole and write or paint or just relax. In the gardens of Coole is the signature tree, funnily enough called so due to all the carvings of initials dotting its trunk. Easily recognisable are those of some of the greatest of the literary world who visited Coole Park.Unfortunately Coole House itself was burnt down during the uprisings of the early 20th century but the foundations still remain, and photos of how the house used to look.

As well as its rich cultural history, Coole is a natural beauty spot as well. Not only are the gardens of the late Coole Estate well maintained and open to the public, but the hundreds of acres of surrounding woodlands are as well. Also accessible are Coole Lake and a turlough at the back of the Coole Woodland where hundreds of Wildfowl flock during the winter months.

I have visited Coole many times over the past two years and in all seasons. I love the woods the most, the peace there is unreal. even in the middle of the tourist season it is possible to wander the woods for hours due to their size and not see another soul.

There is a strange elegant beauty surrounding Coole Park, the woods and the gardens. This is definitely a place to visit while in the west of Ireland.

There is no entrance fee to Coole Park and there is a visitors centre which is open throughout the summer months (from easter to late september). In the visitors centre there is a tearoom, serving some lovely snacky meals and books and info on Coole and the local area can be purchased. Guided tours are available and there is also a very interesting and informative video show to watch. This is split into two parts: the first on the cultural history of Coole, and the second on the Natural History of the Park and local area. Coole park is a day out that would be suited to pretty much anyone. Families would love to bring picnics and the kids will love the huge grassy areas and woods to play in; people interested in either or both the cultural and natural history would find it a worthwhile visit, and finally the people like me who just want to wander the woods and relax and feel at peace will love it!

Evermore are a group that play most types of popular music including Guns 'n Roses, Stereophnics, U2, Thin Lizzy, etc and play in many of the pubs around Galway. They are a talented band and there is always a good atmosphere wherever they play. Pubs where they might be playing include the King's Head, Cullinan's, and Fibber Magees. They are well worth listening too. The Galway Advertiser is useful as it has a weekly gig guide for all the local pubs and clubs.

Connemara National Park is situated in the heart of the West of Ireland in Galway and covers over 2000 hectares of majestic mountains, vast grasslands and peatlands and patches of woodland. The park is open all year round, but the visitor’s centre and tearoom are only open in the summer.

I have been out to the park in every season and it is just and beautiful in all of them, but only the really hardy or insane should visit in winter because it can become a very harsh environment then.

The park is very well maintained and tidy and many picnic areas and public toilets are provided. There is even a rudimentary kitchen for campers to use. The tearoom serves simple but tasty sandwiches and soup, as well as gallons of tea and coffee and slices of tasty cakes . . . all at reasonable prices (around 3 euro for a toasted sandwich and less than 1.50 euro for tea or coffee).

The Visitors’ Centre has an informative education centre outlining the history of the usage of peat in Irish life. I found this all fascinating, as being foreign (if only from Wales) the whole concept of using what is essentially mud as a fuel was alien to me. There is also a section on the flora and fauna to be found in the park.

Outside of the Visitors’ Centre, the Park is more for the energetic than the lazy, although you don’t have to be an expert rambler. There are two trails in the Park Centre itself; the Ellis Wood Nature Trail and the Sruffaunboy Trail. The Ellis Wood Trail takes about 30 mins to walk and is not difficult, although there are some steps. The Sruffaunboy route is much more challenging and there are some very steep sections of the path; although, after talking to a Park employee, it turns out that once a little 90-year-old lady walked the trail, zimmerframe and all with hardly any trouble! This trail takes about an hour to walk.

There is also a trail that leads right to the top of Diamond Hill, the mountain that towers over the Park Centre. However, at the moment and for the near future its shut to the public due to erosion damage on the paths. Away from the Park Centre there are plenty of challenging mountains to climb; although the challenge may come more from the irate landowners than the steepness of the slopes!

Connemara National Park has to be visited while in the west of Ireland. The views are spectacular, especially from the slopes of Diamond Hill. This part of the country is so wild and untamed, and although it rains a lot, this is sometimes no bad thing as the rainbows bouncing off the mountains is a site to see.

County Galway is the second largest county after Cork and is a must-see for any visit to Ireland. The scenery is the wildest and most striking due to its West Coast position and although the culture is vastly modern, there are still small areas where you can be transported back in time.

The county extends west from Ballinasloe; a provincial market town on the very eastern border of the county. There isn’t really much to see or do in Ballinasloe but at the beginning of October there is an 8-day horse show and fair which takes over the whole town. I've never been to the show though and haven’t really heard anything positive about it so I don’t know whether it would be worth a visit.

Heading west, the scenery changes dramatically. Gone are the flat, green and fertile farmlands of the midlands and increasingly present are the craggy fields and wilds of the west. I think Galway gets more strikingly beautiful the further west you go. The mountains of Connemara are awe-inspiring and the whole area comes across as being wild and untamed. See Connemara entry.

Galway city is definitely worth visiting too, (see Galway city entry) as are the towns of Gort, Oughterard and Clifden and the Aran Islands off Galway Bay.

County Galway has a great natural and cultural history too. The National Parks in Connemara and the Burren (in neighbouring County Clare) make for interesting days out, as does Coole Park near Gort. (See related entries.)

Galway isn’t all good though; there are a few negatives to living out on the West Coast. Firstly, the weather is much more changeable and unpredictable than the Midlands and the East Coast. There is a saying here: "If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes . . . " and I have to say, it's true!

Secondly, the sheep. I come from Wales originally and have to say that the sheep in Connemara are twice (if not more) as stupid and suicidal as those in Wales. This means that much care should be taken when travelling by road, especially by car, as the sheep tend to try and cross just as you approach them.

Basically, minus the two bad points, there is something for everyone in County Galway. However for me, the most enjoyable aspects are the wild and untamed beauty of Connemara and the hustle and bustle of Galway City.