The Key To Galway Is A Long Visit To The Quays

Despite the late pub crawl thru King’s Head, The Quays, MacNeill’s and a few other short stops, the group rallied to meet for breakfast and our last full day together.  We spent the day wandering through the Farmer’s Market, checking out the Galway Cathedral, walking down the river path.  The locals were out in droves enjoying the spectacular weather with picnics, biking, lounging and fishing.  We spent some time talking with one guy who was catching salmon. We tried to get him to invite us for dinner but no luck.

We ran into another round of weddings.  The cathedral was completely decorated for an afternoon wedding by a local husband and wife team who were working on several wedding events for the day.  Then we photo bombed a couple in Eyre Square and joined in briefly in a reception in our hotel.  Of course everyone was telling the classic Irish joke about weddings and funerals: “You know the difference between an Irish wedding and a funeral? One less drunk.”

We landed int The Oyster Bar at The Harriman to discuss dinner plans.  Their cocktail list was very impressive so Ida suggested we play The Birthday Cocktail Game.  It’s very simple, everyone orders a different drink then tastes them.  We managed to work our way through the entire list and a few not on the list. By that time, it was time for an early dinner and we decided Italian with pizza and pasta to absorb things was the best bet so we headed to Fat Freddy’s, an excellent place and geographically desirable as it was located next to The Quays.

Ed and I visited Ireland and Galway in particular many times.  Two of his favorite bars there were The Quays and MacNeills (in the Hardiman nee Great Southern).  We headed into The Quays again for music, dancing and to toast the trip.  Because we were earlier we managed to secure a table near the musicians and had a fantastic time.  When several in the group raised the white flag, we headed back towards the hotel.

Ida, Faye and I weren’t ready to call it quits yet so we headed into McNeills.  The custom in a hotel bar in Ireland is that they don’t close as long as the guest wants to keep going.  On one trip, we kept the accommodating man working until 5am. There was no real risk of that this time but we enjoyed the musician and a final round of toasting Ed & Roger.