Again, more photos here.
I knew that the Spanish Arch car park would be the best located for strolling around town, and the receptionist at the Connemara Coast Hotel had told me to hug the coast as I drove there. When I finally got her attention - you know, it's a funny thing: I used to live here, and have noticed this effect before, but it was interesting to see Helen pick up on it unprompted. As she pointed out, everywhere else, people were only too delighted to help - but in and around Galway City, you do tend to get the feeling that, in asking them for help, you're imposing on their day. From my experience, I think I can put this down to their determination to have a good time; they're so busy trying to relax that mere customers get in the way. You'll see it everywhere - hotels, shops, restaurants..
Anyway, we made our way to the car park, and after a tight spiral upwards (typical of city car parks), parked and set out about town. Well, we strolled around quite a bit; not much shopping was done this time, although we did stop in to St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church, where I've been to the odd classical concert in my time. Finally, we decided it was lunchtime, and headed to Maxwell's.
In my day, the decor in here was dark, a maze of booths - and it was a pretty standard family restaurant, serving the old favourites, which would have done us fine. It's certainly changed! They've ripped out the entire interior, making it brighter and airier, for sure. And here we were to see Galway service culture at its finest; we did get seated quite quickly - beside a table where someone, with one of those voices you can't ignore, seemed to be conducting job interviews(!) - but it was ages before anyone bothered to furnish us with a lunch menu (lunch having literally just started). Well, Helen ordered an open sandwich, I decided I'd like a Tandoori butter chicken, which is apparently one of their specials.
Of course, we had nearly walked out by the time more than a jug of water arrived. I believe the sandwich was fine - the butter chicken was pretty awful, honestly tasting as though they'd used a butter substitute instead. I couldn't finish it. The boss seemed to be serving personally - he'd taken our order, but he must have had too much to occupy him, because he just completely forgot to give the barman our order for a jug of homemade lemonade. To be fair, when it finally did arrive, it was really excellent - definitely the highlight of the meal. We skipped on dessert, understandably - for one thing, we'd already been in here far too long, and wanted to be on our way.
We got a couple of ice creams from the newsagent's up the road - sadly, they only have a freezer now, having dispensed with the ice cream machine - and went to Eyre Square, just up the road, to eat them. Mind you, it was hard enough to find a spare patch of grass to sit on - most of the square was fenced off, for some unspecified reason! Anyway, we had a pleasant spell there until a near miss from a bird perched on an overhead branch persuaded us to move on.
We wound our way to the cathedral, which is always worth a look - no expense was spared in its construction and ornamentation, with roof, walls, pews, altar and floor all worth closer inspection:
From there to the university..
By now, the day was moving on swiftly, and I wanted to get to the Cliffs of Moher - which I figured were a must-see - and down to Kerry for the night, just because there was so much down there to see in our remaining days! So, reclaim the car, and out of town, following the signs for the Wild Atlantic Way, briefly - we had plenty of detours on our trip, but the signposts proved handy on occasion. Black Head proved as scenic as I knew it would be:
At the edge of the unique Burren landscape, of which Cromwell's troops, during their murderous rampage through Ireland, remarked: "Not a tree whereon to hang a man; no water in which to drown him; no soil in which to bury him." Unusual plants grow in the cracks in the rock, and the area is globally renowned. I'd have liked to stay longer in the area, but we needed to press on..
And so to the cliffs. Couldn't really miss these, another world-renowned feature. I see you buy your entrance ticket as you enter the car park, now - and they've improved the pedestrian access, the car park being across the road and up a bit. They do say it's better to visit in the evening, when the crowds are lesser - and we did get a great view:
Again, more photos at that link.
An excellent gift shop, and finally we were on our way to the ferry - the fastest way to Kerry. We did well to get there in an hour, but were too late for the 8 o' clock, and ended up on the last one, at 9.. a brief, but cold, crossing, and we were finally in Kerry.. with no accommodation sorted. We decided to head for Listowel as the best hope of a bed, arriving there at 9:40. Spotted the Listowel Arms in the town square, got about the last parking space, and went in. No problem, and we had a welcome bed. Sadly, we were 10 minutes too late for dinner, and the Indian across the road only did takeaways - with nothing else within walking distance, we ended up in Mama Mia's chipper. Which might have been recommended to us, but honestly I've had better. We did get to meet about half of the population of the town, though - this seems to be a real focal point! As for the town's most famous resident - the playwright John B. Keane was everywhere: a statue, a painting in a shop window - and when we returned for a drink in the hotel bar, he was gazing down on us again.
Hey-ho, we were in Kerry - and early to bed, for another long day ahead!
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