Down on Galway Bay

When last we left our intrepid explorers, we were leaving the stony wastes of the Burren and heading to Galway City - famous for the bay of the same name. Galway is a university town, home to a major branch of the National University of Ireland and a large part of its population are students making it a young and lively town - even though it was founded in the Middle Ages.

Navigating the crowded streets of Galway in a car was something of a horror show since apparently the streets haven't been widened since the aforementioned Middle Ages (on one, so-called two-way street, I predictably sprung the left side mirror) but once we found a rare parking space, we set out on foot and found the charming city (the fourth largest in Ireland) well worth the trouble of threading our way through its traffic.

Galway Cathedral - built 1965. We parked near here.

After parking, we crossed the Salmon Weir Bridge back across the River Corrib and followed the lovely river walk for a time.

The River Corrib seen from the bridge near the cathedral. The structure upstream is the Salmon Weir which helps control the swift-flowing river. Note the brave soul fly fishing in the rapid current

Another, perhaps more prudent fisherman just across the river from the fellow in the last photo.

Michelle and Roz on the Corrib River Walk. We were afraid they were going to break into a River Dance.

One of these houses was the home of Nora Barnacle better known as Mrs. James Joyce.


A spillway on the River Corrib

After we walked along the river, we turned left into Galway proper. What should we come upon but a pizza parlor, "Pacino's" by name. Since it was about that time (i.e. lunch) we gave it a try. The individual pizzas they served were not bad at all. Of course the best pizza in the world can only be had in New Jersey, but this pie was quite acceptable. After lunch, we wandered throught the town a bit, but time was ticking on and we had to get going as we had to drive back across County Clare to our B&B reservation in Bunratty and the Bunratty Castle banquet. So back to the car park and off we went again.

Pacino's on the Bridge - Galway

A bistro we passed while walking through Galway City. "Potata" is an approximation of "potato" pronounced in an Irish brogue. The Irish do have a sense of humor

Our drive took us south, back toward Limerick City on the N18 to the town of Bunratty located between Shannon Airport and Limerick. This was our first B&B of the trip. It was owned by a nice young couple who were very welcoming and friendly and who were the parents of two of the cutest toddlers this side of Little Mark. The B&B was a fairly new house which had been modified with a whole separate wing added to accomodate the guest rooms.

After putting our bags in the room and relaxing for a while, it was time to head to Ye Olde Medieval Banquet at Bunratty Castle about ten minutes down the road.

Bunratty Castle - The castle was built in 1425 on the site of a number of previous fortifications. It was restored in 1958 to the appearance it had in 1619

We arrived at the castle along with numerous other tourists and were ushered into the castle's great hall where we were greeted with music and cups of mead. The great hall was decorated with tapestries and other authentic accoutrements of the 1500's.

A fiddler and harpist greet us in the great hall.



Our intrepid travelers quaff ye stronge drinke in front of a stained-glass window

There was a master of ceremonies who was supposed to be some sort of major-domo of the castle who greeted us in the "name of the lord of the castle" and generally carried on with a lot of amusing Irish malarky. The overall effect was that of a Renaissance fair but with better actors. It was actually a lot of fun for what it was.

Some of the "singing wenches" who entertained us. The head varlet or whatever is the guy on the far left.

After a while we were led down one level to the banquet hall where we were all seated at a series of long trestle tables. More malarky followed with one tourist couple being designated the "lord and lady" for the evening. There was also a schtick where four Australian guys were sent to the "dungeon" for five minutes. And so on.

The food consisted of ribs and chicken eaten "medieval style" i.e. with a knife and the fingers. It was, in contrast to most of our Irish dinners, only mediocre. But one does not attend a thing like this for the gourmet dining. Actually, our fellow diners at our trestle table were four very interesting young people from Texas. They were three young women and a young man who worked for NASA. Three of them were engineers and the fourth was a financial programs analyst. They gave us a valuable tip concerning Waterford, where we were planning to visit the famous Waterford glass works later in the week. They told us that they had been to Wateford and the factory was closed. This saved us a trip to Waterford and freed up time for other sightseeing.

The entertainment continued during the banquet. The two people in the front center of the picture are two of the group who worked at NASA.

Michelle and I at the banquet. The people behind us were a group of Irish women who were having a bachelorette dinner for one of their girlfriends.

Eventually, the banquet wound down and it was back to our B&B.

Next: B&B breakfasts and onward to the Ring of Kerry.