King’s Head – Traveling

I’m a little over half-way through my trip, and made it to Galway today. I’ve spent a lot of the last several days on buses, and when I got to Galway, I just didn’t have the energy to go out and take a bus tour of the city. I’ve got two bus tours in the next two days, so I decided that I would take some time to relax this afternoon¹, and just take a walk around the area by my hotel to see what I could see.

I picked the Jury’s Inn in Galway because of its location, and that turned out to be a great choice. It’s right on the edge of the medieval section of the city, and perfect for taking a stroll around with a camera.

Out Front — This is outside the front door of my hotel. The mix of buildings – dark stone with bright colours – is typical of Galway. At least, this area of it.

Across the Channel — Turn right out my door, and you can look at the far side, where Claddagh and Salthill start.

Turn a little farther right, and the Fisheries Tower sits just across the bridge over the channel.

Spanish Arch and Blind Arch — The arch on the left is Spanish Arch, running through the remains of the old city wall. The one on the right is Blind Arch; it doesn’t actually penetrate the wall.

Spanish Arch and Wall — Here’s the far side of Spanish Arch, looking along the length of the remaining city wall.

Medieval Street — Just past Spanish Arch is a row of medieval buildings, some of which are still in use.

Twisty Streets — The buildings tend to be Georgian and Victorian, but the twisting street layout and stones are medieval. It’s a neat place to wander.

More Streets — More of the twisty, turny streets. These are closed to vehicular traffic, so I wouldn’t have got to see them on the bus tour.

And just down one alleyway, you find St. Nicholas Church jumping out at you.

Thomas Dillon and Sons jewellers. They are apparently the original makers of Claddagh rings.

The King's Head — According to legend, the pub here was granted to the man who executed James II. According to the web site for the pub, it’s a little more complicated than that.

Eyre Square, the park in the middle of the city. Very full of people during rush hour.

Eyre Square Street — Eyre Square is ringed by buildings like these.

Browne Doorway — This is the doorway of the Browne family house, moved here in 1905 from Abbeygate Road. I have no idea what the significance of any of that is, but it’s a neat little monument.

So, after taking a couple of hours to walk around and see stuff, I came back to the hotel for dinner, and to give them a bag of dirty laundry to the front desk – I am out of clean shirts, but that will be fixed by tomorrow evening.

Now, I think I’m going to kick back, do some reading, and get an early night in. Tomorrow, I’m off to Connemara.

I’m getting a little worn, to tell the truth. I need to make sure I’m getting enough rest and eating right so that I don’t wind up sick for the last half of my trip. [↩]