Galway, again

Now that it is once again pouring rain, I can return to my description of my weekend in Galway. Of course, it rained there too, but that didn't interrupt the quaint beauty of the place. Case in point:
This is Galway Harbor (or should I write 'Harbour'?), complete with an old man in an Arran sweater and a wooden sailboat. This was taken during one of the moments WITHOUT rain, so the visibility over Galway Bay was pretty good.








It is always this shade of grey and green in Ireland. I found that Wales last summer was actually much greener than Ireland, which surprised me, given this island's reputation. That is not to say that Ireland isn't green, of course; perhaps I am just more struck by the skies here, as I am constantly watching them in case it starts to rain. Again.

Galway is a college town, but it feels very small and close. For example, their main street, where all the shops are, is called: Shop Street. No kidding. This is a picture of Shop Street (or Siopa Sraid, in Irish), after/during a bit of rain. You can see the low overall height of the city, and the way that the buildings are all constructed using stone. Some of these are left with their stone facades, but some are stuccoed and painted, like the yellow one. They even have this:









I don't know what a cheesemonger is, exactly, but it is good to know that someone in Galway can get any kind of cheese they could possibly desire from this shop.

The average temperature for August in Galway, according to the friendly (if mumbling) man at the bus station, is 20 degrees Celsius, which equates to about 68 degrees Fahrenheit. This was something I didn't need to be told, as it was quite chilly, especially when the wind blew. However, these temperatures did not stop the bella figura of Galway (if that term can really be used in this context) from venturing out at night in little skirts and t-shirts. I went out in jeans and two sweaters, and of course, my very handy rain jacket. There was a bar that used to be an Anglican church (only in Ireland) that I visited both nights I was in Galway. It was probably the coolest bar I have ever seen; it was made of a light colored wood, and was complete with Norman arches and stained glass windows on the inside. I still can't bring myself to drink Guinness, so I had Irish cider, which thankfully warms a body right up. The bar was on two levels, and the barmen and women kept traveling between the two of them using the stairs of what must have been the pulpit in the previous incarnation of the building. I tried to take some pictures, but they didn't turn out, so I just sat with my cider listening to the Irish band play everything from the Clash to Irish Rover. They were great craic, as they say here.