Well it was another fantastically fabulous day in Ireland. Comparatively warm and sunny from the moment I woke up until the sun set. Simply perfect. Today was rather restful.
I took a leasurly walk into town this morning and took a few more pictu
res of build
ing details including the stained glass windows at St. Ignatius church on Sea Road. The church is right next door to the budding cafe where I met Ellen for breakfast around 10:00am. I had some of Ellen's incredible apple crumble and lemon ginger tea with honey. My cold is really starting to wind itself down but lemon ginger tea was sure to be good for me in any case.Frank was working at a weekly outdoor market near the center of town so I walked over t
o meet him and bring him coffee and a snack from his wife. I found him busy selling bouquets and chatting with the locals. His spot in the market is right near St. Nicholas' church. According to Frank, and Ellen
corroborates this fact, Columbus stopped in Galway on his way to discovering America and went to mass at this church. It's a lovely building but I couldn't go in because a service was taking place. I'll have to make an effort to go back next week to take a look around.
I then continued my walk for a few blocks before making it back to Frank’s stand where I found him talking to his brother Joe. Frank Heneghan is the youngest of 10 brothers and sisters. Yes, 10, but from what I've gathered that wasn't strange at all for Irish families. I don't think people do that much anymore because it's just not economically viable.
Jean Marie met me at the market and we heading to the gym for some water fu
n. Jean Marie actually went and worked out on the machines something I tend never to do and trust me my weight loss progress suffers for it. I do love t
he pool though and especially the Jacuzzi and steam room. As you can see from these pictures our gym is pretty luxurious. The leisure center as they call them here is in a hotel so it's
a bit more glamorous than a usual facility. But in the 5 times I've been there this week I've only come across locals who have memberships using it. I haven't spoken to one hotel guest yet. For such a beautiful, clean place it is so reasonably priced that I can see why there are so many members.
After the gym we went to Spiddal a beautiful Oceanside town not too far from Galway center. They have a lovely crafts and design studio village, Ceardlann, where different artist have opened tiny shops and d
o their work and sell their creations. It's a great location since it's directly across the street from the beach. We also ate there in an incredible restaurant, Builin Blasta Cafe. The food was phenom
enal. I had a fish stew with a warm bacon and onion sandwic
h on their homemade bread and Jean Marie had one of their pizza creations. Everything is fantastic and well worth a visit to Spiddal just to eat there.
We then took a drive down through Connemara where you would pick up the ferry to the Aran Islands if you were planning a drip over there. I do recommend a trip to the Islands but since I did that on a visit to Ireland about 4 years ago I'll wait a bit before doing it again. Although today the water was not choppy at all, unlike when we went and when our ferry felt lik
e it was going to nearly tip over. The Islands are a must to visit when in this area but if you do go be sure to pick a smooth sailing day or be prepared for a queasy stomach at the least.
We stopped off in this itty bitty little fishing town so I could take a few pictures. It's a very quiet area, Connemara but exquisite. I can see why people would live here and if you wanted a peaceful place to think and walk and contemplate life this would be a great spot. Also if you wanted to immerse yourself in the Irish language (Gaelic) this is an ideal place. According to my sister many of the town’s folk in th
e Connemara region only speak Gaelic and they plan on keeping it that way. All the street signs were written out in Gaelic as well as all signs on public buildings.
We got back into town around 6:00pm and made a quick stop at Dunnes, a supermarket/department store to pick up some essentials for the upcoming week. Now it's off to bed early as all the incredible sea air has made me sleepy. Although, at the moment I can hear Irish music coming cheerily from the pub across the street. No, it's 10:00pm and this weary student has a full day at school tomorrow so it's off to bed.
o meet him and bring him coffee and a snack from his wife. I found him busy selling bouquets and chatting with the locals. His spot in the market is right near St. Nicholas' church. According to Frank, and Ellen
corroborates this fact, Columbus stopped in Galway on his way to discovering America and went to mass at this church. It's a lovely building but I couldn't go in because a service was taking place. I'll have to make an effort to go back next week to take a look around.I then continued my walk for a few blocks before making it back to Frank’s stand where I found him talking to his brother Joe. Frank Heneghan is the youngest of 10 brothers and sisters. Yes, 10, but from what I've gathered that wasn't strange at all for Irish families. I don't think people do that much anymore because it's just not economically viable.
Jean Marie met me at the market and we heading to the gym for some water fu
n. Jean Marie actually went and worked out on the machines something I tend never to do and trust me my weight loss progress suffers for it. I do love t
he pool though and especially the Jacuzzi and steam room. As you can see from these pictures our gym is pretty luxurious. The leisure center as they call them here is in a hotel so it's
a bit more glamorous than a usual facility. But in the 5 times I've been there this week I've only come across locals who have memberships using it. I haven't spoken to one hotel guest yet. For such a beautiful, clean place it is so reasonably priced that I can see why there are so many members.After the gym we went to Spiddal a beautiful Oceanside town not too far from Galway center. They have a lovely crafts and design studio village, Ceardlann, where different artist have opened tiny shops and d
o their work and sell their creations. It's a great location since it's directly across the street from the beach. We also ate there in an incredible restaurant, Builin Blasta Cafe. The food was phenom
enal. I had a fish stew with a warm bacon and onion sandwic
h on their homemade bread and Jean Marie had one of their pizza creations. Everything is fantastic and well worth a visit to Spiddal just to eat there.We then took a drive down through Connemara where you would pick up the ferry to the Aran Islands if you were planning a drip over there. I do recommend a trip to the Islands but since I did that on a visit to Ireland about 4 years ago I'll wait a bit before doing it again. Although today the water was not choppy at all, unlike when we went and when our ferry felt lik
e it was going to nearly tip over. The Islands are a must to visit when in this area but if you do go be sure to pick a smooth sailing day or be prepared for a queasy stomach at the least.We stopped off in this itty bitty little fishing town so I could take a few pictures. It's a very quiet area, Connemara but exquisite. I can see why people would live here and if you wanted a peaceful place to think and walk and contemplate life this would be a great spot. Also if you wanted to immerse yourself in the Irish language (Gaelic) this is an ideal place. According to my sister many of the town’s folk in th
e Connemara region only speak Gaelic and they plan on keeping it that way. All the street signs were written out in Gaelic as well as all signs on public buildings.We got back into town around 6:00pm and made a quick stop at Dunnes, a supermarket/department store to pick up some essentials for the upcoming week. Now it's off to bed early as all the incredible sea air has made me sleepy. Although, at the moment I can hear Irish music coming cheerily from the pub across the street. No, it's 10:00pm and this weary student has a full day at school tomorrow so it's off to bed.
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