Velda and Joe: A(nother) Grand Adventure

Sleep was tough last night.

We headed to breakfast around 11. It was raining, but we were dressed appropriately for the ten minute walk to 56 Central Cafe on Shop Street, Galway. I had a mini-Irish, Velda had brioche french toast with compote. Tasty. Would go again. The portion sizes were not overwhelming.

In the afternoon we drove to Ross Errily Friary, about 30 minutes away. It was like Chaco Canyon: small doors, ruined walls, and lots of interesting angles. Plus we could walk and climb just about anywhere. The difficulty is trying to make something new out of an old motif.

Inside the Friary I met a couple of Irish lads in their 20s. They wanted to talk about lots of stuff, including the petrol protests, the fires last year, and American politics. I don’t know where people get the idea that all American politicians are corrupt like Trump. They also don’t get the idea of co-equal branches and federalism, but I’m pretty sure that most Americans don’t get it either.

The lads recommended we go to Cong Abbey, about 15 minutes further up the road. We did. It’s probably a nice forest to walk through, but the rain was falling pretty hard so we didn’t. The original Abbey is about 100 years older than Chaco (7th vs 8th Century), but there’s nothing of it left. Multiple iterations of structures on the same spot. It’s like a house that’s been remodeled over the decades in whatever style is popular at the time of the construction.

We stopped at Tesco in Headford on the way home to get road food for tomorrow. It was a small parking lot for our small car, at a very busy street corner at rush hour. It took some maneuvering just to get in line to turn. Then we headed back to Galway.

A word about the Harbour Hotel. We like it. The people are nice, the room (skylight room) is big enough if loud, it is convenient to the main streets without being in the middle of them, and the restaurant is good. Parking is interesting. Behind the hotel is a triangular courtyard with very narrow parking spaces. I had to park there three times during this stay, and it’s always an adventure in a rental car (Audi Q2). No dings or scratches, so that’s nice, but I get nervous.

We had dinner at the hotel. They have an excellent seafood chowder, and we were falling asleep in our seats. Got to bed about 9pm.

Tomorrow/Today we drive to Waterford, with a stop at the Coole Park Nature Reserve. Looking forward to seeing everyone there. Sunday is our flight to Amsterdam. I still need to secure a rental car. – Joe