Galway City

The Long Walk

So, my jaunt a few days after my walk up on the Howgills was to Galway.

As my daughter tells me, I’m not very good at being retired and have a part time post in Manchester. I also agreed to take on a role at Galway University. It doesn’t involve a lot of work – reviewing exam papers and course content mainly, but, and this was the clincher, there’s also an annual review meeting that I have to attend on campus. Now, I’ve been to Galway and the University a few times, but up until now it’s always been during February and March, not a great time for sightseeing. But this meeting is in May when the days are long, so I was able to tag on a couple of days for exploring a little further afield from the city itself, which I know quite well by now.

Galway shawls

However, I still love wandering around the city and as the weather wasn’t so bad during my stay, there was plenty of opportunity to do just that.

Galway has a very large student population during term time, swells with tourists during the summer (but there’s still plenty of theme around – particularly elderly Americans – at other times of the year). They’re good at festivals -there are several during the year – and it has a popular race meeting. It also has a very dynamic, to say the least, night life.

Shop Street

Shop Street at night

Well, I don’t drink and I was there on my own, so hanging around the bars is not my scene. But I do enjoy walking around the city and had plenty of opportunity to do that in the evenings.

The Spanish Arch

Lynch’s Castle

The city centre streets get very busy, but it’s easy to get away from the crowds. A favourite walk takes me along the quayside, along the the bay and on to the causeway to Mutton Island.

A wrecked boat in the harbour

Another favourite is to stroll along the path beside the River Corrib fwhich lows from Lough Corrib through the centre of Galway to the Bay. At only six kilometres long it’s one of the shortest rivers in Europe but is also one of the fastest flowing.

During this visit I also took a quiet and peaceful walk along the canals to the west of the river, an area I hadn’t explored previously.

On my final evening, I met up with a friend who lives in Salthill, the seaside suburb of the city, for a meal. But before eating, on a very pleasant evening, we had a walk along the promenade.

If you’ve watched the film The Guard, you should recognise the diving board in this photo.

It’s a cultural city and there are plaques with poems and other quotes from Irish literature and there’s street art all around it’s streets.

But during this visit I didn’t restrict myself to the city. I had a couple of days to explore a little further afield. More to write up, then!