Sooooo….Dublin was great primarily because I was there with Miss Laura Becker. But I dropped her at the airport and found my way across Ireland to Galway. As I may have stated in my prior entry on “Driving In Ireland”, Irish highways (other than being in the wrong direction) seem very nice, wide, well paved and with reasonable signage. So it was not that hard to leave the airport, head south and then find the highway across ireland to Galway. It is a 2 ½ hour drive (God himself knows how many kilometers that is) and I wanted to try and get there before dark to try and find my hotel.
I of course did not ask for a car with Bluetooth (nor do I know if that even exists in Ireland or Europe because I am a sheltered American or “Merican” if you will) but in any case I did not bring any CD’s for (what I am now thinking of as the “archaic”) CD player and was sentenced to Irish Radio. A couple of things I found out:
1. Southern Ireland and Southern England while I was there were suffering from disastrous “Katrina” level flooding with a low pressure system sitting out in the Atlantic and dumping rain on the southern portion of both countries. This is and was totally unreported in US Media as far as I could tell even though it threatened both governments because people were so upset and there was such widespread suffering. On my trip home this reminded me what a silo we live in news wise.
2. Irelands Police (the Guardia) watchdog group had found that they were being bugged by someone and no one knew who it was but heads were going to roll.
These were the only two stories on the news but I was saved because there was a football game on with Manchester United playing Fulham. Unbeknownst to me the Premier League is in tumult with perennial contender Manchester United having another horrible season and being at risk for being dropped from the Premier League. Naturally there is much hand wringing going on about what (based on the BBC feed I was listening to is a NATIONAL tragedy. While you might find as an American that watching soccer is boring (like watching farming as one of my friends says) I assure you that it is only “more so” on the radio but with limited choices… I tuned in. And it was a boring game, with Fulgham leading 1-0 late in the game but miraculously Manchester scores 2 goals late in the game before regulation expires SAVING THEIR SEASON and perhaps their coaches job. I learned the next day that Manchester had set the record for “crosses” whatever those are and it was considered a very poor effort but even poorer because they had to play the extra time for the time lost for penalties and...Fulham scored salvaging a tie and you would have thought the world had ended.
So it was a pretty interesting trip across Ireland. Not much to see from the highway. A few towns, a lot of fields.
I believe we have previously discussed the fact that I am genius. And a planner. A GENIUS PLANNER! In that regard I had my hotel reservation that morning on “the internets” reading several reviews and then booking and receiving confirmation on line at “The Western”. I also had an address but I had no map and no directions because it is in “City Center” in Galway. Dublin also has a “City Center” as I would imagine Belfast does as well. It is what they mean by downtown and I figured I would find it. Well… it was getting dusky (dark) by the time I got there but the plan worked reasonably well until I got to the City Center and could not find the hotel. Streets are not clearly marked for the 53 year old traveler trying to navigate the wrong side of the road while looking for 100 year old street signs which are not on posts on the corner but instead are on the sides of the buildings nearest to the corners. After several (4) trips around downtown I finally did the girlish thing and asked and was pointed to the top of the hill and a one way street I had not yet explored and there I found my hotel, pulled into the alley behind and pulled down into another tiny, perilous garage at The Western!
Now, being an American I of course thought of the wild west! It was “The Western”. Maybe a cowboy theme! I did not think any of this consciously but it was definitely there and then i realized it is “The Western” because it is on the west coast of Ireland. Evidently they have a west coast too. It is just on the Atlantic and California is not there. Who knew?
So I got online and did a little research about where I could get a top notch gluten free meal and all reviews pointed towards a place called Ard Bia. It was down by what was referred to as the Spanish Arch:
They date from the 1500’s and were at the bottom of the hill on the bay where the river Corrib runs into the bay.
It was pitch black and I was solo as i worked my way down into the pedestrian mall and through it asking questions and you walk way out on the quay and underneath the arches and there was a little house. It was packed and they seated me and my newspaper and served me some hot gluten free bread and fresh butter and then a nice seafood salad and very good steak. Looking around the food looked good on every plate and they had an adequate, reasonably priced wine list. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone but especially to the gluten impaired.
It was pitch black and I was solo as i worked my way down into the pedestrian mall and through it asking questions and you walk way out on the quay and underneath the arches and there was a little house. It was packed and they seated me and my newspaper and served me some hot gluten free bread and fresh butter and then a nice seafood salad and very good steak. Looking around the food looked good on every plate and they had an adequate, reasonably priced wine list. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone but especially to the gluten impaired.
I spent a little time exploring the pedestrian mall which is a nice bunch of shops. No Cigar stores but a good cheese monger and a plethora of drug stores and gift shops and specialty stores, several of which had some Cuban cigars for me. This mall or near it is where you want to stay in Galway. There were at least a dozen bars, all with music every night and there was plenty to do.
Part of the energy comes because it is a college town. I was unfamiliar with the National University of Ireland Galway but they store 17,000 students there in what looks to be an excellent liberal arts and research university. Perhaps I should go there for the Masters in Writing? Or perhaps I should learn to write a sentence first without… In any case, it seems like it would be an excellent place to be an old person studying abroad.
Irish Bars are there for the atmosphere, for the average music and for the Irish whiskey. There is plenty of all these things and I did not walk into a single establishment where I was treated like a stranger. Everyone was friendly and loved to pour the Red Breast for me and I must admit I developed a “taste” for it. I had never been a fan before. But if you go, you have to hit a few of these establishments. Most of them seemed pretty much the same to me, but I mean that in a good way.
The food for the Celiac in Ireland is not much. “Irish Cuisine” is a misnomer like “English Cuisine”. It is shit… at best. But it is edible and there is food to be had. In Galway I found an edible Irish breakfast at every hotel including “The Western”.
Sausage, egg and although I could not partake with my gluten issues an awful little piece of “pudding” that kind of passes for hash browns. They also will occasionally have the abomination known as “bacon” in England and Ireland. This is heinous stuff. I swear is it thick cut, fatty and appears to always be boiled instead of fried, as God intended. But the Irish Breakfast, with a little hot Irish Tea and a newspaper. It works.
They also have gluten free pizza in Galway and Dublin. The Milano’s chain. Nice product and consistent. I strongly recommend it for a safe snack at a chain that “gets it”. 
In Galway, like every other town I have been in, in England or Ireland they have a cheesemonger. In Galway it is Sheridans. One of the smartest things you can do in any town is ask around for the best cheesemonger. It is always worth the question and Sheridans was....fabulous.
Sheridans had everything. fresh fruit, sausage and most of all cheese. A lot of it. I am a simple man with simple tastes and that means Irish Cheddar and maybe a nice cave aged Gruyere.
Knowing your cheesemonger can lead to a feast wherever you are and Galway was no exception.
Blood Oranges, gluten free bread with fresh butter, Italian salami and a lot of cheese. Your leftovers travel well and make a good snack. There also were several good wine shops. I took advantage.
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So Galway is a keeper. I am strongly recommending it and I am lobbying for Sandy and I to take a trip back. It is a beautiful town with beautiful people and 1500 years or so of easily accessed history.
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