Galway City

Galway
I arrived in Galway on a hot and sunny Wednesday afternoon. I unpacked into the hostel and then went wandering around town to see what I could find. Galway is quite a small city, but being a student town the streets and square were packed with people shopping and sunbathing.

That night I went out looking for a music session but instead ended up listening to a bluegrass band and chatting to a local guy and a German marine biochemist researcher. At the end of the night I was heading back to the hostel, but having looked after my fiddle all evening I decided that I wasn't going to go to bed without playing it, so I set up at the side of the main street and had a go at busking for the first time on my own. By this time it was very late and most people had gone home but I still managed to make 20 Euro (£15) in 40 minutes, which I thought was pretty good going for a first attempt.

On Thursday I came back to the hostel after a day walking around in the sunshine to find that I had a brand new set of room mates... and they turned out to be a great bunch of people; Andy and Bobby are brothers who are visiting Ireland for a week from Colorado; Shannon & Sarah are over from Canada spending the summer working in Galway.

Me, Bobby, Andy, Sarah, Shannon A posing heron
We all headed out that night and spent the evening getting to know each other and listening to some excellent live music (non-trad for a change!) in a great pub called The Kings Head. It turns out that Andy plays guitar, and Shannon step-dances, so at closing time we went back to the hostel to pick up my fiddle and guitar and give busking another try - this time we were a bit too late and even though we made 4 Euro in about 2 minutes there weren't many people around so we moved on to find somewhere a bit more populated, but eventually admitted defeat. Us guys headed back to the hostel while the girls went on to find a night club.


Us providing street entertainment The next day went along in a similar way except by the evening Shannon & Sarah had been hit by jet lag and had decided they were going to bed early. I went out with Bobby & Andy to a session that I was certain I had seen advertised (more than once) around town but it turned out to be non-existent, however on the way past another pub the doorman saw the fiddle and invited us in to join the session there - we just caught the last 20 mins of it and then went back to drop the instruments back to the hostel (The plan was to come back later and try busking again but that never happened). While we were back in the hostel the girls caved into peer pressure and decided to join us for a little while, which turned out to be a good move because somehow we managed to end up in a pub which was hosting the party for some guy who had just been elected as chairman of the Vinters Federation of Ireland - this meant that there was free food, which Andy & Bobby did very well in acquiring for us!

Free Food
The next day the American guys headed off to spend a few days in Dingle and I went out in my van to make sure the battery was charged up, and to see what I could find a bit further afield. The girls were busy finding jobs, and a place to live, which amazingly they did both within 3 days of arriving in Ireland despite spending most the time partying and having no work visas or money!

I haven't got much of a clue about where I went but I found some nice mountains and loughs about 40mins drive out of the city... I think to the north.


The next two evenings I spent in town with Shannon & Sarah celebrating their new jobs and apartment as well as helping them to get acquainted with Galway nightlife... they seem to be doing pretty well at this, there is even 1 bar where we were getting free drinks all night because Shannon's cousin worked there last year. We met all sorts of people these few nights, a group of American engineer students and a group of German students too as well as lots of Irish.

American Engineer Students
Me & 'The Galway Girls'
A really great few days but I think I need a few days of recovery now!