Irish Beats, Riverdancing, and some Chill Time

In Galway, we stayed at the Clayton Hotel which was a 10-minute drive from the center of town but it was a nice hotel so we didn’t mind….and it had a much needed gym! ☺ We spent the day walking around town, doing laundry, having a yummy lunch at Food for Thought (totally vegetarian friendly and mostly organic), and dodging rain with a pit stop at Quay’s for a mid-afternoon Guinness.

Galway is a great little town with shops, a ton of pubs, and cute cafes. It is known for its music scene and since we all love music we were on a mission to find some good Irish beats. Unfortunately by evening time it was pouring! So we went to the bar our car driver (and Lonely Planet) suggested even though we knew there were more local ones across the river (in the less touristy section of the city). But the bar, Tig Coili, was packed and the music was excellent….and honestly we wouldn’t have known if the peeps were local or not. ☺

The next day we made it back to Dublin. It was nice to drop the car off….I’m sure even nicer for Darsh. We had a relaxing day walking around Trinity College and Grafton Street, a great shopping street, and having lunch at Bewleys Café. We saw the Book of Kells sign but not the actual book as it was closed….oh well it's almost the same thing! This time in Dublin we stayed at the Conrad, which is South of the River Liffey, a really pretty, upscale part of town. (Our first night we were North of the River which I guess is the “keeping it real” part of town….definitely edgier!) I’m glad we could experience both.

We were lucky enough to get tickets to the Riverdance show at the Gaeity theater. It was AMAZING! It was definitely a highlight of the trip for me. The dancers feet moved so fast….unreal! My dad loves music and dance just as much as I do so it was great to be able to see Riverdance with him in Ireland.

Our last day in Dublin (and in Ireland) we dropped my dad off early morning so he could catch his flight back home and then we met up with Fiona and Kiran. We learned the story behind the “perfect pint” at the Guinness Factory and then drove around Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey, and Blackrock (neighboring suburbs just south of Dublin). Dun Laoghaire and Dalkey are super cute seaside towns (Bono lives in Dalkey…..we drove by his house!) And again, everything is so green and perfectly manicured!

We had dinner in the Dublin Hills at Johnnie Fox's, a really cute, traditional pub. We actually all had grand plans to go out on the town in Dublin but we were tired so ended up chatting away at our hotel. It was nice to just chill and catch up with Fiona.

I can’t believe our Ireland journey has come and gone. We really had the best time here. The culture and the peeps were some of the best we’ve experienced on our trip!

Thanks Dad and Fiona! xoxo