Galway east

From Achill Island it was a 2 hour drive to Galway City (hence Galway) on N84. It was forgettable, all inland, without coastal diversions. In Galway I stopped at Matt's Sandwiches to buy a ham and salad sandwich to eat at the student cafe later. It was tasty. Meat and dairy products are local and good in Ireland.

This 2 night stay in student quarters at the National University of Ireland Galway was planned. It was cheaper and I had access to a laundrette. It was far too early for check-in, that was at 1600, but I had planned to do my wash and eat my sandwich while waiting. Instructions for the managed machines were confusing. It boiled down to that I needed to download the app, or buy and top-up a stored value card. But I discovered you couldn't register on the app, only on the website. Fortunately the accommodation office gave me a card. I could use it later in other university laundries.

There were also instructions in Ukrainian, presumably for the refugees staying short-term here.

Later that afternoon I checked in, worked out which of my clothes I wanted to recycle. Then I made a circular drive to drop the clothes into a bin, and get Indian takeaway. They operated out of a suburban shopfront. It was quite good, one of the few foreign cuisines that are decent in Ireland. After that I had a quiet evening. The room was spartan, being student accommodation, but at least the shower water was hot and the room heating warm.

The next morning, Saturday, I considered catching the bus into the city, but decided to park at an all-day council car park, as buses were less frequent on the weekend. The weekend was another reason I wanted to be in a city. This and the previous picture are of Eyre Square.

The southwestern flank of Eyre Square.

The pedestrian mall High Street and Shop Street starts at the western corner of Eyre Square and runs all the way to the River Corrib. An interesting fact I didn't know before is it's one of the shortest rivers in Europe at 6 km but because it drains Lough Corrib which has a large catchment area, it has a high flow volume.

Just outside St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church was this Saturday market. It's not a large market, only occupying the short length of Churchyard Street to Bridge Street. However it had a good cross-section of local produce.

This was one of the reasons to be in a city like Galway on a weekend, as Saturday is often market day.

Herbs and spices.

Fruits of the sea, oysters in the foreground, I believe.

I couldn't use any fresh produce but I did buy a spelt muffin from a bakery stall. I like the nutty taste of this ancient grain.

Claddagh rings are a popular expression of love and friendship for people of Irish heritage it seems. The shop is at one end of the market.

Yellow and blue are popular bright colours for building facades.

As is red.

Here too.

And sometimes black, to match the stout.

I like the idea of a cheesemonger. Even more so if cheese is paired with wine.

 

Lots of people out.

Soon I reached the river where this mural stands.

And this statue of Galway Girl outside The Quays Bar. She's actually a very recent installation by the bar in March of this year. Punters were a bit puzzled. One joked she was taking up valuable space on the bench and should be moved on.

Down by the river is the Spanish Arch. It doesn't seem to have anything to do with Spain.

The river facing side.

And the other side of the arch.

A Banksy-esque mural. Searching shows that the Great Resist is an reaction to the orthodox proposals for reform due to the pandemic, called the Great Reset.

I had an unmemorable lunch of Irish stew at an eatery. I had expected some Irish dishes to be oversalted, but in fact they tended to be bland. Perhaps they didn't want to raise blood pressures. The best part of the lunch was the soft drink of MiWadi you see in the background. I wanted the blackcurrant, but I got the orange. Maybe that's why they didn't charge for it.

But no matter, coffee with coffee cake was a suitable end to the day's touring.

To be continued in the evening, when I'll explore Galway west.

Some panoramas of places mentioned above follow.