Galway, Ireland Travel Blogs

Cliff of Moher
Oct 7, 2007 (10 photos)

... to experience the countryside and I picked Galway. Galway is a beautiful, little town with cobbled streets on the west coast of Ireland. While roaming through the city, I met Ken by luck who happened to be a tour guide for Galway. Friendly and helpful ...

Cheap sweaters - from China - no more?
Jul 1, 2008

... were used to identify lost fishermen. Before the use of dental record matching or DNA samples. Even though the west of Ireland has been producing sweaters and jerseys and woollen and woven things for centuries, China probably beats them when it comes to ...

Lost and Found Again -- European Escapades
May 14, 2005 (21 photos)

A silver car rolls by and approaches the two hikers deep in discussion at a pullover on the outskirts of Cardiff's Brecon Beacon National Park. Without hesitation the window rolls down and the man leans out. "Hey, are you two Canadian?" The question ...

Discouragement
Oct 12, 2004

... as far as I know). If I do go home early, I know I should travel around a bit, at least to the parts of Ireland everyone has recommended to me (Kerry, Donegal, Northern Ireland, the Blarney Stone, the Cliffs of Moher), to Norway via Jamie, maybe to one ...

Quiet weekend, Irish news, and banana eaters
Oct 16, 2004

... . There's one Gaelic TV station, which is subtitled in English. (I've also noticed that the Irish-language pages in the Galway Advertiser have a little glossary of hard words at the bottom...they assume that people reading those pages aren't fluent, or ...

Downs and Ups
Sep 16, 2004

Thursday did not begin auspiciously. I got the Galway Advertiser for the job classifieds and unhappily discovered that the options were pretty limited. Just like the paper at home--labourer jobs, sales assistant, here and there a secretarial position. ...

Dashed hopes, sunsets, and friends
Oct 13, 2004 (7 photos)

... is what matters, so he'll never get to do what he loves again). I know, I know, that has implications here: I'm in Ireland, so it shouldn't matter what job I get, right? Yet somehow it does. I wasn't really thinking about that though. A nice evening ...

Spiddal, Ireland
Mar 29, 2006 (5 photos)

... hotel. The taxi driver was very friendly and served as a great tour host, giving us great pointers for driving in Ireland and getting to Galway. We arrived at the airport and found our car rental desk (SixT). They served us an upgraded car (more of a ...

A quiet long weekend
Oct 23, 2004

... to be in Ireland isn't all it's cracked up to be. October 25 This was still the weekend...it's a bank holiday in Ireland, though I don't know why. Finally got photos on CD and uploaded them to my travelogue, up to Sept. 21 (Connemara). Actually I ...

On the Road Again
Nov 1, 2004 (4 photos)

... Listowel. Other observations: The mid-Kerry accent (e.g. Listowel) is quite heavy, though not stereotypically Irish. The bus system in Ireland isn't particularly friendly, in that you have to know what to do and where to go--not just when getting off ...

The Last Straw
Oct 27, 2004

... show up to our prearranged meeting (I thought). Seems like that's a bust. Annette from I.C.E. called after lunch. (Lunch in Ireland is from 1 to 2.) I didn't get the university job. The client had looked at 5 CV's, and done 2 interviews of which I ...

Freelance Digital Design Specialist
Oct 20, 2004

... on a contract basis, and he paid me €10 ($15) for the hour of work I'd done. The first money I've made in Ireland! This is stuff I don't really know how to do, but I know more than he does, and I realized that I actually love tinkering around on ...

Galway
Jul 29, 2007 (6 photos)

... were also like pogo sticks. They had weird goulish voice sound effects and were chasing people around with their flaming torches).  Galway certainly has quite the life. I managed to sneak away and find a mini birthday cake (meg's favourite - fruit ...

A Dissertation on the Irish Pub
Oct 2, 2004

... all the pubs on Shop Street are standing room only on a Saturday night. Pubs really are the life of the town in Ireland. There's no equivalent to a Boston Pizza or even Second Cup...there's the Eddie Rocket's diner and some cafes and coffee shops, but ...

Writers' Conference
Sep 19, 2004

... 's a hurricane in the Atlantic, it affects the weather and that's why it has been so windy lately. Good to know that Galway isn't always like this! I also bought a new wallet (€2) and a crinkly white shirt for work (€7!) from Penney's. Great ...

The Gift of Gab and the Fear of God
Oct 10, 2006 (20 photos)

... been shot. Instead all I hear is Adrian giggling his ass off and this time taking credit for his work. And now, back in Ireland, he was at his scramble-for-the-window, morning glory finest. But the real threat was behind the wheel. Since Adrian had done ...

Pubbing
Sep 11, 2004 (1 photos)

... . Definitely a plus for when I have a flat. That night our roommates returned from a bus tour of Connemara (wild area north of Galway). We went out to try and find last night's act, which was supposed to be playing at a different pub, but it wasn't. ...

Good Conversations with New Friends
Sep 14, 2004

... a writer friend in Dublin so would pump him and e-mail me. They both said to stick it out, both in writing and in Ireland. Katherine revealed that when she returns to Canada she is going to study to become a holistic animal doctor, as she feels she has a ...

Peace at Last
Oct 29, 2004 (3 photos)

... you. Cindy says she'll always be proud of me. Kim says that no matter what, I'll still have spent two months in Ireland. I talked to Arvin on MSN tonight, and came away feeling peaceful--something that's eluded me for a long time. I don't know what ...

Three Days in Brief
Oct 3, 2004

... also thought about my writing career. It occurred to me that I can write travel articles about Canada for papers/magazines in Ireland and the UK, and travel articles about Ireland for markets in Canada and the US. Playing both sides--a sweet position! I ...

Return to Galway
Sep 30, 2004 (2 photos)

... trying to decide what to do. One of the hostel desk guys happened by on his smoke break and said Killarney is nice but small; Galway is great. Eventually I heaved myself up and went to check in again. I'm back in the 6-bed room, but there are only 4 of ...

Midnight Laundry
Sep 15, 2004

... I felt like napping but successfully fought the desire. Instead I went job-hunting online. Lots of jobs, but none in Galway city...just Dublin and elsewhere in County Galway. Katherine had a trial shift at La Salsa in the afternoon. Looks like she' ...

Cliffs of Moher
Jun 5, 2006 (7 photos)

... driving all day) but I really appreciated his excellent service. A great guy. The highlight of today... and of all of Ireland... has been walking along the Cliffs at Moher. This sight rates up there with Tiger Leaping Gorge as being the best scenery ...

Poster Day
Aug 24, 2005 (1 photos)

I couldn't help but be vocal. I was inspired. Plus I had travelled a long way and was keen to participate. The conference was a mass of minds, all thinking about the concepts of health and biodiversity. It was the first meeting of its kind, and brought ...

Getting hit on...or Not
Oct 15, 2004

... Irishmen. Well, one of them started chatting up Helena so his friend talked to me. They're Dubliners who were in Galway to help build a nightclub by spreading liquid marble onto walls for decoration. Apparently this is a venerable art. Who knew? So ...

The Hunt Begins
Sep 10, 2004

... up side, we did get to see a lot of Galway, including the local branch of USIT (the office that administers the Work in Ireland program) and a peaceful canal. By the way, one of the banks here is in a very small castle. Also there are long lineups at ...

More Days in Brief
Oct 6, 2004

... the depth of the previous day's conversation. Then I went hunting for a room (henceforth referred to as "flat-hunting"). In Galway, this involves getting the classifieds and circling a lot of places, then phoning. Doing this made me shaky, and I couldn ...

Killing Time
Sep 13, 2004

... I'm not confirmed as a Lutheran, let alone a Catholic; plus I can't eat the wafer anyway.) So my first church experience in Ireland was distinctly un-spiritual. I returned to the hostel tired, and lay on my bunk for a while and read a book I had picked ...

all things Irish
Mar 19, 2004 (5 photos)

... soon changed though...by 11am the streets were getting filled with people wearing all things Irish. I broke down and bought an Ireland soccer shirt. The parade started at 12:30pm and was alright - most the bands were little kids with the exception of some ...

My Future
Oct 18, 2004

... , football, baseball). From my diary, some notes on my future: In 6 Months ...I will be leaving Galway. Maybe to work the tourist season in small-town Ireland, maybe to move to the U.K., maybe to be a nomad in Europe for a few weeks or months, ...