Because our decision to go on a
6-day trip to Ireland was extremely impromptu, the only things that were fixed before we took off were the flight and hotel bookings. After browsing through several travel blogs for tips, we decided on spending two days in Galway on the west coast of Ireland, and four days in Dublin on the east. Fortunately, we found Ireland to be very traveler-friendly and it was very easy to plan a trip there. In fact we just made up our itinerary on the go, checking for suggestions in tourist information centres after we arrived and booking a couple of day-trips offered by local tour operators.
To make things simple, we booked a hotel in Galway that was within walking distance from the coach station. So, on reaching Galway by CityLink coach from Dublin Airport, it was a fairly short walk to the hotel. After settling down, we spent the rest of the day exploring Galway city centre.
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| Galway Cathedral |
Following a map of Galway that we picked up at the hotel reception desk, we headed south in the direction of the quay, first passing through Eyre Square, one of the main squares of the city, on the way.
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| Eyre Square, Galway |
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| Shops on one side of Eyre Square, Galway |
Some shopping streets adjoin Eyre Square, including the High Street. The streets were quite busy that early weekday afternoon.
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High Street, Galway
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| High Street, Galway |
Branching off from High Street is a small street on which stands a beautiful church. We took a look inside and learnt that it is the medieval St Nicholas' Collegiate Church. St Nicholas of Myra is in fact the patron saint of seafarers and of also Galway.
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| St Nicholas' Collegiate Church, by Galway High Street |
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| St Nicholas' Collegiate Church |
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| Stained glass in St Nicholas' Collegiate Church |
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| Stained glass in St Nicholas' Collegiate Church |
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| Houses along The Long Walk near the mouth of River Corrib, Galway |
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| St Mary's Catholic Church |
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Rainbow over Galway
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We tried to look for one of the most famous historical sites of the city, The Spanish Arch, which is the remnant of the 16th century city wall. Though its location was quite clearly indicated on the tourist map, we took some time to find it, as the area was partially fenced off due to some road work.
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| The Spanish Arch, Galway |
As it was starting to drizzle and feeling very chilly, we sought for a place for lunch. The Galway City Museum is right by the Spanish Arch, and we went there for a late lunch in their cafe, The Kitchen.
After lunch, we made our way to the
Galway Cathedral, walking through the pleasant narrow alleys in the city. The Cathedral is located on Nuns Island, connected to the city centre by a couple of bridges. The grand Cathedral has every signature of a Renaissance masterpiece, both in the exterior and interior --- a sturdy stone structure with a prominent large green dome, twin towers that flank the main entrance, large rose windows with colourful stained glass, and tall arches along the sides of the nave. Surprisingly, rather than dating back to the 15th century, the construction of Galway Cathedral was actually completed only in the second half of the 20th century, with the consecration in 1965! The Cathedral is located on Gaol Street, which bears as a reminder that the site used to be the grounds of the former city jail.
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| Galway Cathedral |
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| Galway Cathedral |
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| Galway Cathedral |
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| Galway Cathedral |
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| Galway Cathedral |
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| Rose window above the organ loft, Galway Cathedral |
On the way back to the hotel, we passed by a small but beautiful building in neoclassical style. It turned out to be the Galway Franciscan Abbey.
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| The Franciscan Abbey, Galway |
As it was much more chilly than we had expected, we stopped by the shopping centre by Eyre Square to buy a woolly hat, which would prove very useful for the rest of the trip.
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