Saturday September 21

My last day in Galway was pretty quiet. I purposely didn’t have anything scheduled for this day, after a busy first two days in Galway. I spent a chunk of the day wandering around. I found my morning coffee spot in the Latin Quarter, as well as a bakery right down the street. It made it hard to choose just ONE morning breakfast treat.

Just look at these options from Truffle in Galway. I was introduced to Truffle on my Food Tour on Thursday with Galway Food Tours. I could not recommend Galway Food Tours enough. While on the tour, my guide also introduced me to Little Lane Coffee (See previous blog post). Here are a couple of morning treats that they offered up!

I obviously went with the Nutella Cronut, and more than a few people asked that I bring one home for them. (That’s not gonna happen) I also grabbed one of those raspberry croissants from Truffle, of course. I figured I would swing by Little Lane on Sunday morning to grab that Cinnamon Bun before I left the city. Much to my horror, this coffee shop didn’t open up until 10:30!! 😫. Can you imagine if Dunks or Starbucks didnt open up until 10:30 on a Sunday! There would be outright riots in the streets! I guess the folks of Galway like to sleep in on Sundays. Brings new meaning to ‘And on the seventh day…’

Sunday September 22nd

I Never Thought Driving Could be so Stressful!

I rented a car (and got taken to town on the price) for the next couple of days for my travels. I was legitimately having anxiety about driving on the other side of the road. To make things a tad easier, I rented a standard transmission car…at a significantly higher price!

Driving around the city was daunting. The roundabouts, downright traumatizing. It’s amazing how the brain reacts to something some fundamentally different than what it has been used to for 32+ years of driving. We’re just going the opposite direction. But have you ever tried brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand? Give it a shot. You’ll be there all night! I finally stopped sweating and got the hang of it out on the open road. I was taking a trip about an hour south for a night at best hotel I’ve ever stay at! (And for those of you that know me, you realize that those words have some real meaning!)

Dromoland Castle Hotel

Dromoland Castle Hotel is about 75 minutes south of Galway. As soon as you drive on the grounds, you quickly realize you are someplace special. My long time friend from Trinity College, Jonathan (Bama) Epstein is the Owner/Operator of a wonderful travel company called Celebrated Experiences. They focus on helping clients create unforgettable vacation experiences in the UK, and have recently expanded to Italy. He connected me with one of his Ireland experts and am I ever glad he did! She suggested early on that I spend a night a castle…specifically THIS castle. It would be a splurge, for sure, but well worth it! The property is absolutely stunning! Words will not do it justice, so I will try with pictures.

The hospitality here was OVER the top! Before I knew it, the bags were taken out of my car, and I had a cup of tea in front of me in one of the many luxurious ares to sit down for tea or a cocktail!

If you’re thinking to yourself…”Wow…that’s pretty fancy for a slug like Pete”…you’re not wrong. But was it special! I can see my mom sitting in one of those chairs for hours, reading her book, having several coffees, and a couple of cigs, when it was allowed to do so. She would have been in heaven.

And now…the room:

It was the best night sleep I had in a LONG time. In roughly 21 hours, I took three showers and a bath. I’ve never been cleaner! It is not lost on me, that I am way over my head here with this room and experience!

However the highlight of my quick stay there was my afternoon fishing on the pond on the grounds with one of the most interesting guys I have met in a long time!

Clem was an absolute GEM!! We spent close to three hours on that small row boat circling around the pond looking for the big catch. I had never fly-fished before and he gave me a master class in 2.5 minutes. I had a couple of nibbles, that I lost because of my inexperience…but then I finally hooked a couple after two hours of circling. It was such a pleasant afternoon out on the pond. Clem was a delight to chat with, and when I finally reeled one in…he was happier than I was! And for the record…I ended up catching TWO beautiful rainbow trout!

What a Great (quick) Stay!

My dad bought a boat for us down in Westport, a year after my mom passed. We didn’t know WTF we were doing. We had no idea how to fish…certainly no idea how to navigate. We had a ‘Perfect Storm’ experience trying to come back from Martha’s Vineyard one time. We didn’t really subscribe to the widely accepted practice of going out to catch the fish as the sun was coming up. We would usually be going out, when the real fishermen were coming in with a boat full of stripped bass! I don’t know if we EVER caught a fish of substance while on that boat.

The fun and exhilaration I had yesterday on that boat…was absolutely amazing! It was so serene out there, and I really enjoyed the conversation with Clem! Finally getting those two fish on the boat was SOOOO AMAZING! 🤩 I didn’t think that one of my priorities once I get back Stateside would be to learn how to fly fish…but here we are!

All in all, the Dromoland was a 10/10. I’m gonna start taking some extra shifts to start squirreling away a couple of bucks to book a longer stay next time!

Check back tomorrow to find out how I did on a horse named Peter! Until that time!

‘Oiche Mhaith’ – Goodnight 🇮🇪