Galway, The Burren, Cliffs of Moher and Doolin - Never enough time...

We probably erred by only spending one night in Galway. But what a night it was. Every year, prior to COVID, there was a Halloween parade. The Halloween parade is comparable to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Ok, maybe a little smaller but still as lively with a lot of people. Suffice it to say, Halloween is a big deal. Everywhere we drove, even in the countryside, there were Halloween decorations. People were dressed in costumes and making a big deal out of it. 

Our hotel told us exactly where to go to see the parade. They must have told thousands more to go to the same place. We could get within a half a block from the street and could see nothing over the other people there for the parade. So we ducked into a pub and had a pint. Since the parade was still in progress, we got a table for 4 and sat on one side of it. Supposedly, there was music starting at 9:30 and it was only 6:30.

The Kings Head pub.

Some of the characters we saw on the streets as well as general pedestrian traffic for the parade. This was one of the lead floats in the parade and we shot it from someone's phone.

A bunch of guys dressed up at dinosaurs.

During the next few hours we met a lot of people with our two open seats. the first four people to join us were a local couple and a couple from Dublin. One of those instances where the one couple from Ireland had each moved to Boston on their own. They met there and then retired back in Galway. We had so much fun talking about their backgrounds as well as the usual chit-chat that occurs in a pub conversation. They left. 

We were joined by two women. One was a local woman and the other was from London. The woman from London had her young niece with her. She was maybe 10 and in a cat costume. She was a lively one. She shared her pictures of the parade with us so we made it to the front row after all. They were kicked out because kids were not allowed in the bar.

We were then joined by a young man and two women from Thailand. Everyone was having fun and we learned something from each of them. 'Twas a lovely evening. When they started setting up a drum set, we knew that the music they had in store for us was not the traditional Irish music played primarily with fiddles, flutes, accordions, banjos, and guitars. So we opted to skip it and headed back to our hotel. 

Our word of the day for Galway was enchanting. The chance to meet multiple sets of people in one evening was exhilarating. Many walks of life were represented as were multiple ages and countries of origin. One of the women was from Russia, one from Ukraine, two from Thailand, the two of us from the USA, and enough Irish to make a party. 

An interesting note about Galway. This is where Susanne first realized that she really likes the Irish Guinness. It's a dark stout and a scientific taste testing was done that shows that the Guinness in Ireland is fresher and probably less pasteurized than in the states. It is drawn very slowly and very creamy when served. It is so full of flavor. She started with half-pints but grew into drinking a pint.

As we left Galway in the morning, we drove through a very unique geological formation called the Burren. It's limestone everywhere. The sides of the mountains are the gray of the limestone. The same for the valleys. It was an awesome sight to behold.

We stopped in the delightful little town of Lisdoonvarna. We've known about this town for a long time from an old Christy Moore song. He says, "if it's music you want, you should go to Clare," i.e., to Lisdoonvarna. For most of the 20th century, Lisdoonvarna was known for it's Matchmaking Festival. Every September, after harvest, people looking for a partner would partake of the festival. One of the locals tells us it is pretty much done since it's now become such a drinking and rowdy festival. On the other hand, maybe he's just outgrown it. There are statutes showing tribute to both the musicians and to the young dancers. It looked like fun to us.

Our day ended with a visit to the Cliff of Moher. The cliffs are a UNESCO World Heritage site. Their beauty is simply understated. Unlike the earlier cliffs at Slieve League, the cliffs here drop straight to the water. And they run on for miles. The Irish coastline is so rugged and beautiful, pictures don't do justice. 

Our evening in Doolin was our first chance to catch some traditional Irish music. We had dinner at Gus O'Conner's pub. I had the Guinness stew which is a heavy dark Irish beef stew made with Guinness. It was very flavorful. Around 8:30 PM the local talent arrived. The group tonight was composed of three fiddlers and two flutists. I'm not sure whether it's proper to call them fiddlers or violinists. But they were a wonderful team. Here's a brief clip of their music. Definitely the traditional Irish jigs were instore for the evening. We stayed with them until they stopped playing and then called it a day.