A Sunday Spin to Galway and a Mini Pub Crawl

When our plans went a little sideways, we needed to come up with a new plan to reconnect. There were a couple options on the table: I drive down to Cobh and we spend a few days down there or John takes the bus somewhere for me to collect him. Either John was spending about 3 1/2 hours on a bus or I'd be spending the same amount of time in the car. John was very gracious about the time I've spent driving and he offered to take the bus to me. We compromised and I offered to collect him in Galway. So Sunday morning, I took off giving myself plenty of time to pull over and take photos anytime I felt inspired. While John is also very gracious about letting me do this when we're together, I recognize that it can get to be a bit much. Here's what inspired me on the two-hour drive to Galway:

I gave myself a couple of hours in Galway so I could walk around, shop and get a latte while writing in my journal before John got in. Unfortunately, the bus driver got lost at a detour and that added about an hour onto John's already long journey. I felt bad, but put the extra time in Galway to good use. Even though the weather wasn't the best — misty and rainy the whole time — I enjoyed walking around without any time pressure.

I've spent a lot of time in Galway during my many trips to Ireland and being there made me happy as I thought back on the wonderful memories I have, especially with my friend Robin. We grew up together in Connecticut, stayed in touch after my family moved to northern New Hampshire, lost touch for several years, and then reconnected after college when Robin tracked me down after reading an article Kara wrote in Real Simple about the hike we did to scatter our father's ashes on top of Mount Lafayette. 

Robin's grandmother was born in Ireland and she secured her Irish citizenship with the plan of moving to Italy. She went on a trip to scope it out, stopped in Ireland, and came back to New York City with plans of relocation to Ireland instead. Any time I came to Ireland, Robin and I met up and had adventures that took us to Donegal, Derry, Gene's and tons of other places in between. 

This was my first time back in Galway since she moved and my God did I feel her absence and her presence. It's funny how a place can do that. I missed being in Galway with Robin but I was comforted by all the time we did spend together. 

My first stop after parking the car was to check out The Dough Bros, a pizza place that's so good, I've heard about it in the states. I got in line shortly after it opened and watched the line continue to grow as I sat and enjoyed my pizza. It was really good; I could see why it's been voted the 15th best place to get pizza in the world.

From there I wandered around, popping into shops, walking through the outdoor markets, and writing in my journal for a bit. 

When John finally got in, about an hour after he was supposed to, the plan was to go to Cong for a little adventure. It's where Ashford Castle is and where parts of The Quiet Man were filmed. It'd been many years since I'd been there and I had a nice little itinerary planned so we could explore both the castle and the town a bit. I left the choice up to John who upon seeing the weather in Galway said: "It's a c*nt of a day." So we pivoted and made other plans.

More than 15 years ago, Robin gifted me this book

Here's the description: Ireland is synonymous with pubs, traditionally the focal point of community life. Yet in 21st-century Ireland the traditional pub is rapidly disappearing.

This nostalgic tour presents pubs from all four provinces that epitomize the charm of old Ireland. They range from the richly decorated Victorian bars of Belfast and Dublin to country shop pubs that double as grocery stores. James Fennell's atmospheric photographs and Turtle Bunbury's engaging descriptions capture the essence of each pub and provide a rich chronicle of this unique facet of community life.

Here is a tribute to the way things were, a representative record of what survives and a reminder of the charm of the Irish pub.

More than 50 pubs are featured and every time I come home to Ireland, I visit ones that are in my path in my quest to try and see all that are still around. So when we cut Cong from the afternoon plans, I pointed us in the direction of Coyle & Sons. It was a beautiful pub to pop into where I enjoyed a glass of Guinness and John had a couple of pints while watching the end of the Limerick vs. Clare hurling match. 

From there I took John into Strokestown where we visited one of my favorite pubs, Anthony Beirne's. It wasn't my first visit on this trip, but it was John's. You can get petrol/diesel out front before walking into the hardware/grocery store and continue through the unassuming door which brings you into the pub. We had a chat with the current owner, Francis — who I had met the week prior — and just enjoyed being back in one another's company. 

Our third and final stop of the day was back to Cathal's (The Central Bar) where we met up with Mary & Alo and chatted with Slim (Shady) — real name Kevin — Noel, Adrian and some of the other locals. It's such a fun, low-key pub (most of the time!) and at one point, I just sat back and smiled at how my worlds were colliding.

I don't take for granted how easy it is for John to fit into my life here and how easily he gets on with my friends and vice versa. For so long, I've had this life over here that was exclusively mine and I have this life over in Santa Monica that most of my friends from here know very little about. The two didn't mix for a whole host of reasons. So it truly makes me so happy that these two parts of my life have intersected harmoniously. It's small and simple, but it's a very big and important thing for me.

After our three stop pub crawl, the night ended at the chipper. Which is always a great sign!