Thursday, July 16, 2009

Stage 3 – Sligo to Galway

What can I say about Sligo? Well, it’s got a very interesting history as one of the ports of departure from the Irish fleeing from famine. Other than that, we really only slept here in an effort to stay on schedule and be closer to Galway. It turns out that the hostel we stayed in was on the main dock where everyone boarded the ships. The wall of the hostel contained many accounts of the passages and quite a few stories showed the level of poverty these people suffered. Most children didn't have shoes and all only had the thread bear clothes they wore. No one had luggage. Some arrived naked as they ate their clothes during the passage.



Right, so (Irish expression that means, that really sucks, but...) onto the famous seaport of Galway we went, pulling into the city around 10 am. It was a typical looking European seaside landscape. Charming, with a center square, skinny one-way streets, sidewalk cafes and pedestrian only walkways. So, we stop for a latte, of course!

After securing a hostel for the night, bunk beds again - what a drag! - We take in the sites. First up, Lynch Castle, then Eyre Square, Browne’s Doorway, the Salmon Weir, St. Nicholas Cathedral , and the Spanish Arch & Medieval Walls. This was all before lunch. The castle in the center of town had been converted into a bank and being Sunday, was closed. Oh well, no big deal onto the square where Brian grabbed a map from the tourist booth and went, ah ha, ah ha, and left. Oh we snapped a few pictures for your pleasure.

The Salmon Weir (an amazing fish ladder) was really cool and fun to walk around. We stopped in to St. Nicholas’s to say a quick pray to the patron saint of sailors! Yeah, you heard right, it couldn’t hurt and if it was good enough for Christopher Columbus who went there in 1477, then it was good enough for us! As we strolled down the river walk back towards the center of town, we watched the ducks and the wee ones fight the current and the locals fish for steelhead and Salmon. The Boys caught one while we were there. At the end of the walk, we came to the Spanish Arch and Medieval Wall. Really not much there and we had to re-read the Lonely Planet book again to understand the significance, which eluded us and still does. However, our understanding is these were gates that the Spanish used to bring goods in to the city. The Spanish armada fleed north, away from the Britsh fleet after their defeat and many damaged vessels came ashore in Ireland. The Spainsh and Irish quickly formed a bond as both hated England.

Anyhow, we were hungry so we stopped into a pub for, you guessed it soup and soda bread. Being in a seaside-fishing town, we also had to have the salmon special. Still, they have nothing on Brian’s cedar plank salmon. While we were there, it started to rain, but up until this point, the weather in Ireland had been brilliant! Anyhow, we meet this nice young couple that explained the game of Gaelic football to us so we hung out and watch 2 matches. Brutal sport with a soccer ball and football tackles.

That night we went for a drive along the coast, out to Salthill. This is a promenade starting by the Spanish Arches in Galway, going out about 7.5 miles west. Since it was raining, we drove it. Pretty. We constantly forget it is the middle of summer here as the high temp is right around 70 but seeing kids swimming in 58 degree water always brings us back.

Being hungry again, it happens frequently, we consult the good book for a dinner spot. We pick out an inexpensive fish and chips place, locally world famous for specializing in salmon chips. I peeled off the deep fry to reveal tender fillets. It was soooooooooo good. Fishy, fishy, fishy, kitty likes. It was so good Brian bought the t-shirt. Then it was off to the pub to watch the US vs. Brazil in the Confederate Cup soccer finals. US up by 2 goals in the first 15 minutes only to lose in the second half. We were the only ones cheering for USA. Thanks Bush. Back to the hostel, we’ve got a busy day tomorrow.
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