A Quick Trip to Galway, Ireland - Part 2
For a quick business trip to Ireland, this ended up being a long post, so I’ve split into two. The first post is more of a photo blog. This second part is more about my thoughts on food, lodging, and other things you might want to know if you visit Galway.
As always, click or tap photos to enlarge them.
It is commonplace to see and hear performers on the streets of Galway. The group of 4 on the right in front of the red wall, were particularly good and gathered a large crowd. It was also common to see single performers, including teens and pre-teens.
One of the things I really loved about Galway was its walkability. During my business trip, it was a 2-to-3-minute walk from my hotel to the office and a 5-to-7-minute walk from the office to lunch or dinner. If shopping is your thing, there is plenty of that too. You wouldn’t know it from street level but there is a large underground multi-level shopping area off of Eyer Square. At street level there a ton of pubs, bars, restaurants, bakeries, delis, and shops of various kinds.
It was an easy 2-to-3-minute walk from my hotel to the office, and I passed these old buildings on the way. Galway is an interesting mix of new and old buildings with renovations and construction occurring throughout the city.
Lodging
It was recommended to me to stay in the Galmont. Among other reason, I was told there are lots of Americans that stay there so I wouldn’t feel out of place. Unfortunately for me, the Galmont was full, so instead I stayed at the Victoria Hotel, on Queen Street. The Victoria is an older hotel, with nice rooms and friendly staff.
A room with a double bed at the Victory Hotel in Galway, Ireland. The window overlooks Queen Streat.
One “warning” I received from a native Irish coworker was that everything is smaller in Ireland when compared to America, especially Texas. And I found this to be true in the Victoria as well, narrow hallways and doors, an elevator that could hold about 4 people without luggage, and bathroom counters that only came up to the middle of my thigh. However, none of that mattered. I was very comfortable, and for me, a hotel room is a place to keep my stuff and sleep. When visiting another country why would you spend all your time in a hotel room?
My hotel room window looked onto Queen Street, not an exciting part of town. On the left, the building with the red door is a United Methodist Church, a Protestant denomination which some of the locals interestingly called the Church of England.
For those used to American hotels, a few differences that I experienced are:
No A/C, only a radiator for heat
No Microwave
No mini refrigerator
Room key card is required for the lights to turn on
Breakfast was not included with the cost of the room
Food
Like many tourist locations, the food options in Galway were as adventurous or as mundane as you wanted. Choices varied from traditional Irish fare, plenty of pubs and bars, imported American favorites like McDonald’s, local favorites like Supermac’s (the Irish version of McDonald’s), or authentic ethnic restaurants from across Europe and Asia. When visiting any new place, I always seek out the local fare first and avoid American franchises.
Breakfast
Even though the price was not included with my room, I always ate breakfast at the hotel. Why? Because it was one, convenient, and two, they had several excellent options:
Continental breakfast for 9 € (self-service buffet)
Butter croissant, raisins/current danish, pan chocolate croissant, and sliced bread
Muesli and other cold cereals
Fruit
assorted meat and cheese
coffee, tea, water, and an assortment of juices
Hot Breakfast for around 15 € (which included the Continental breakfast, plus one of the following)
Full Irish breakfast
Mini Irish breakfast
Vegetarian breakfast (pictured below)
Vegan breakfast
à la carte
The vegetarian hot breakfast consisted of roasted potatoes and mushrooms, grilled tomato half, avocado half, beans, and an egg (choice of scrambled, fried, or poached [pictured above]).
The choice of Full Irish breakfast, Mini Irish breakfast, Vegetarian breakfast, and Vegan breakfast were common breakfast options in many Irish restaurants, including a Starbucks-like coffee bar at Shannon airport. The full and mini Irish breakfasts came with black and white pudding, and for those unfamiliar with these, black pudding is blood sausage of the English tradition while white pudding is a pork fat/suet sausage of the Irish tradition.
Lunch
On my first day in Galway, I arrived at my hotel at 8 am. After an early check-in, I went for a walk around Galway to try and get my bearings and to keep my jetlag at bay. After wandering around for several hours, I happened by the BakeBox. I’m a sucker for a good bakery so when I saw they had a selection of savory pastries, I walked in and ordered my first meal in Ireland: a cup of tea, and two pasties, the Spinach, Garlic, and Feta cheese pastry, and a mushroom-something (I’m suddenly drawing a blank) pastry from the BakeBox. Both pastries were fantastic and I enjoyed sitting in the corner soaking in the local culture while listening to Irish-accented conversations.
The entrance to the BakeBox is in an alley between streets. I found it completely by accident, which is how I “navigated” most of Galway. For both of the above photos, my back was pressed against the far wall while trying to use a 50mm lens to get the shot.
Lunch for the rest of my trip came from either An Púcán or McCambridges. An Púcán has a varied menu consisting of traditional Irish and English fare, seafood, and even a Cajun dish or two. My choices? On my second day in Galway, I had traditional Irish stew made with Galway lamb, and later in the week, the Cajun Chicken Pene. Unlike An Púcán, Mc Cambridges is a grocery and winery, in addition to being a deli, making it a fun place to shop while grabbing lunch. I had two excellent hot sandwiches from Mc Cambridges, a chicken and red pesto (photo from my hotel room below), and a goat cheese sandwich. Both were toasted and served on wonderful fresh bread. I was also happy to find Bundaberg Ginger Beer, a personal favorite I only occasionally find in the US.
Dinner
While breakfast and lunch, especially on a work trip, tend to be a matter of convenience, dinner is where one can be more adventurous. However, going back to my desire to try local fare first, I stopped at McDonagh's (no, not McDonalds) for fish and chips. There were many different fish choices on the menu, but not really knowing what I was doing, I ordered the familiar cod, and it was great.
One my second night, and only feeling slightly more comfortable with Galway, I decided to look for a place where I could get dinner with a pint of Guinness, the world-famous Irish stout beer. If you ever find yourself in Galway, my advice would be to get dinner early because once it gets past 8 pm, it does not matter that there are 20+ pubs in Galway (that’s a made-up number, but it does not feel exaggerated), they will all be full and you may not find an open table. I went to 5 different establishments before a kind waitress helped a lost old man (me) to the last table at Sonny Molly’s where I ordered a bacon cheeseburger (which was very good) and a pint.
Incidentally, according to Galway Daily, there are 475 pubs in Galway County, one for every 506 people!
On the third night, it was time to eat dinner with some mates from the office at Umbrella Asian Tapas where we ordered a round of tapas to share and then entrees afterward. Being able to share good food and laughs with friends was much more enjoyable than eating alone in a foreign country, so I really appreciated the night out! Oh, and regardless of what is printed on the labels affixed to the blue bottles, they only contained water.
Next on the dinner list is Pizza & Pasta Napoli, an authentic Italian Pizzeria in the heart of Galway. I had passed the restaurant a few times during my evening wanderings, and after spending 3 hours walking along the coast in the cold Irish rain that evening (more on that later), I wanted something warm, and this particular pizza place was the only thing on my mind! When I finally found it (I am directionally challenged after all), I ordered their Marinara pizza which was only topped with anchovies, oregano, garlic, and black olives, and it was utterly fantastic! If you look closely, you can see the steam coming off the pizza. The difference between this pizza and what you get in the US is night and day. All the major pizza chains in the US add notable amounts of sugar to their dough and sauce so it was like a breath of fresh air to get pizza that wasn’t sweet!
The tables inside were full so I sat outside under the awning, which honestly I didn’t mind. I was dripping wet from my walk and didn’t want to leave puddles all over their floor and I also enjoyed watching people walk by and even stop in for a quick slice. According to one local, this is one of the only places in Galway where you can get pizza by the slice.
On my final night in Galway, I had no specific place in mind for dinner, and in fact, I wasn’t even looking for dinner when I was drawn to Eastern Tandoori by my nose like a cartoon character. I had only been on my evening walk for about 30 minutes to an hour and was next to the museum when a beautiful smell filled the air all around me. Entranced by the smell, I put away my camera and followed my nose to the entrance of Eastern Tandoori, a restaurant serving authentic Indian cuisine. Once inside, the atmosphere drew me further in, surrounding me with beautiful ornate tables and chairs, and rich colors. I arrived before much of the dinner crowd, but as I was enjoying my meal, more and more patrons began pouring.
Everything in the restaurant is served a la carte, and I ordered Lamb Boti Kebab (made from Galway lamb), Pilau Rice, a side of Tikka Massala sauce, and Punjab (Naan). While waiting for my dinner, the waiter brought chips and two dipping sauces to the table. Being familiar with Mexican restaurants at home where you are always served chips and salsa, I was pleasantly surprised by these very tasty chips which put tortilla chips to shame!
The food was everything I was hoping for and I couldn’t be happier to end my trip with such a great meal. (If you haven’t gathered by now, food is important to me).
Galway is a popular tourist spot, and for good reason. There is plenty of shopping, plenty of good food, plenty of pubs and bars, and if your looking for night life, there seemed to be plenty of that too, especially on Friday night. Even though it was raining all evening, it is often raining in Galway, there was no shortage of young people looking for a place to party, including young ladies in heals, short dresses, hair and makeup done, holding raincoats over their heads. I guess when you live in a place where it rains constantly, you just get used to it.
In addition to all the restaurants, there are lots of places to get gelato, and other sweets.
Galway also has a small camera store that sells Canon and Nikon gear, binoculars, tripods, film, and related items. While inside looking around, I overheard a discussion between the owner and a customer where the owner was apologizing for no longer selling Sony gear but he said Sony no longer will license small shops to sell their brand so both he and the customer where out of luck.
With the majority of this blog post dedicated to food, I do want to take some time to discuss homelessness and hunger in Galway. Being an outsider only visiting the city for a week, I don’t have an accurate picture of the situation in Galway, but there were several homeless people and panhandlers whom I saw daily, rain or shine, asking for money and food.
I bring this topic up because on the day I spent 3 hours walking on the coast in the rain, I walked a few miles out of town to the Celia Griffin Memorial Park and Black ‘47 memorial which keep the memory of the Irish famine and hunger around the world. The memorial, as you can see in the photos below, lists 17 sustainable development goals, the first two being no poverty and zero hunger.
Those are hard goals to achieve but Galway certainly has made a concerted effort to attract tourism and global businesses, both of which provide lots of local jobs. For those who are homeless, it did appear as if a group of some kind was attempting to provide food and offer support, help which did not always seem welcome.
Celia Griffin Memorial Park
On my return walk from the Celia Griffin Memorial Park, I stopped to get a quick snapshot of local rugby and football (soccer) fields with Galway in the distance.
5 Quick Travel Tips
I never exchanged money on this trip. Having a credit card that can be used internationally makes life easier.
When using a credit card, most shops will ask if you want to pay in USD or the local currency. Avoid local conversion fees and pay in the local currency. Let your bank take care of the currency conversion.
Temporarily upgrading your smartphone plan for international service may be expensive or not possible. International hotspots like those sold by Solis*, are fantastic options!
It rains daily in Galway, so you’ll want to bring the appropriate gear:
hat
raincoat
a warm layer to wear under your raincoat
wool socks
water-resistant shoes
Leave your hotel room and experience the city and local food and culture!
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