Do you know that happy-numb feeling you get when you're sitting around a table with a few good friends, drinking your favorite beer (or maybe you're on your second) and swapping bad date stories to a backdrop of live music that you're only half-listening to? I think you do. If that's your thing-or if chatty locals and fisherman sweaters are your thing-spend a few days of your life in Galway, Ireland.
Galway, located on the Western coast of the Emerald Isle, is one of Ireland's most beautiful bragging points. Along with the traditional Irish elements that fill the pages of travel guides(green hills, bona fide Guinness, and rainbow store facades that seem to violate every fire code), Galway has something more to offer. The town offers a taste of the old and the new.
If it's the old you're looking for, take a stroll into Tis Colis pub downtown, and (like I did) you just might find yourself occupying a table near a cluster of local musicians singing of their loves long-gone. These are the guys that make heartache look good. Directly across the street, you'll find the almost-hidden stone chapel that Christopher Columbus supposedly prayed in before setting sail for the New World. (Having sang two choir songs in there, I can tell you that the acoustics are perfect and the stone architecture isn't too shabby either). There's also the Aran Islands if you find trad Ireland more aesthetic. Taking one of the Galway ferries, you'll arrive on the main Island in an hour and experience one of the only places in the world that speaks Irish-they prefer this term over "Gaelic"-on a regular basis. For twelve euros, you'll even get a horse-drawn carriage tour, courtesy of one of the locals. (If your driver is like mine, he might even show you his cottage on the way).
If contemporary Ireland is more your preference, Galway offers that as well. As host to the National University of Galway, Ireland, there is a tangible city life here complete with shopping plazas (that don't just sell sweaters and crosses, I promise), swanky bars, and a beating heart for the county football team-just don't be fooled into thinking it's the same football we boast here in the United States. Also, if it's sports you like, be sure to swing by Kate's Tavern on a night when Galway is playing. If they win, you and your travel pals will be getting free food.
Bottom line...Galway has something to offer for just about anyone. Having lived in many small cities, I can tell you that you won't be finding another city with that old-world-meets-new world charm. Unless of course your city is prone to friendly strangers or cow traffic jams.
