Ballybaan

After checking in at Flannery’s Hotel we drove the 2km into town looking for somewhere to park. We did two laps of the town circle before driving into a shopping centre car park. Car parked, I took a photo of the level and section so we would be able to find it easily. We eventually found our way to the centre of Galway. A lovely historic town with lots of street performers hoping to be discovered as the next Ed Sheehan. Also lots of tourists and lots of shops but MDW showed great restraint by window shopping only as she was preparing herself for the Saturday markets. After a few hours of strolling around and listening to the street performers we purchased some milk and fruit scones. The man at the checkout says you can get two more scones for only 1€ extra which is half price. MDW darts back in o the bakery section and comes back with 2 plain scones as there were no fruit scones left. Well they are going to be difficult to eat as we don’t have any butter, jam or cream. “Don’t worry, we will manage” MDW said. “We can get butter at the hotel”. “And spread it with a spoon?” I reply. I think that’s the plan.
With our milk and discounted scones we headed back to the car park to find the car. We got in the car park lift which didn’t have our floor level so we got straight out. This was not good. Nothing looked familiar so we re-entered the shopping centre and decided this wasn’t the way we came in. Across to the other side we found another car park exit, out to level 2, this looked better but our car wasn’t there. “No we have to go up one flight” MDW said so we walked up the car ramp against the oncoming traffic and to our relief our car was just around the corner now squeezed in between two cars making entry a challenge. I think we will bus it in next time.
We started following the Navman directions to the hotel and soon realised we were heading in the wrong direction when our 2km journey was suddenly 6km. We had headed west and not east. A skilful u-turn and we were heading in the right direction.
That night we had dinner at the hotel. Possibly one of the nicest meals yet, MDW being courageous had the spicy chicken which she said was delicious and she was going to have it the next night too. The waiters were brilliant, so good that one gave us the menu and 10 seconds later another one arrived with menus too. After we placed our order with one waiter another one brought our serviette and cutlery then the waiter who took our order arrived with another set of cutlery. We ordered drinks with one waiter and another arrived minutes later asking if we needed drinks. This routine continued throughout the meal and was quite amusing. One of the waiters told us of his 11 months holiday in Australia and how much he loved Canberra. Our meal finished we asked for the bill. After about 15 minutes we were still waiting and could see the waiter laughing and chatting with the bar staff. MDW eventually caught the waiters eye and he suddenly realised he had forgotten about us. We still had to pay!
Next day we caught the bus to Galway town. MDW was anxious to get to the markets which supposedly start at 8am. No rush I say, nothing opens before 10am. The bus stop is directly across from the hotel and as it was only 11am on a Saturday morning we were the only ones at the bus stop. We hop on the bus and I attempt to buy the tickets but smash my face into the clear perspex. The bus driver and I roared with laughter but he still took our money. Seated MDW was still laughing at my smooth entry onto the bus. With my pride a little battered we got off the bus and headed to the markets which have been going for over a hundred years. We find them near St Nicholas Church, nice name and are underwhelmed by the number of stalls. MDW looked distraught. “This it” she says. We still look at the stalls, mainly food with a bit of craft stuff. Wikipedia says Galway has a population of 80,000 so maybe we were expecting too much. I have been worried we are approaching our weight limit with our luggage, although MDW has been restrained with her purchasing. I did a quick search on my iPhone for luggage scales and the first result was Argos with £3.95 in the result. Sounds reasonable so off we head to Argos. Argos is a funny store where you order online or at the store and then your number is called once the item you want to purchase is brought to a window from their warehouse. Well into Argos we walk and search on the order keypad for the baggage scales. Nothing under €18. What’s going on. I check the search result closely to see the £3.95 is the delivery cost. Back to Dunnes and get scales for €15. After a bit of shopping and lots of walking we decided to go back to the hotel, maybe come back into town tonight. At the motel I ask if they have music at their pub tonight, “Yes, traditional starting about 10pm”. Most pubs start their entertainment around 9:30pm, maybe that’s why not much happens before 10am in Ireland. So we decide to stay at the hotel.
We pack our bags and to my surprise they both weigh under 20 kilos. I’m amazed but also worried I’m losing my strength as the bags have felt extremely heavy.
We have a late dinner, MDW having her now favourite dish of chicken. The restaurant is not as busy and we only have the one waiter. Meal finished we go back to our room for a cup of tea as it is only 9pm. About 10pm we head off to the bar where the music will be. There is only one table free with three chairs so we get our drinks and sit down. There is one musician tuning his guitar, not looking very traditional we think. Then a well dressed man with shirt and tie looking like a bank officer from the 70’s sits at our table. With a very strong Irish accent he says “It’s the last seat” to which I reply “chair?” as I wasn’t 100% sure that is what he said. “You don’t speak English” he says. This is a man who is speaking with such a strong accent you need subtitles to understand him. “Australian” I say. And that was the end of any communication between us. MDW by now had tears streaming down her cheeks, trying to not laugh. The more she tried the more she laughed making it near impossible for me not to laugh too. Hopefully we didn’t offend the Irish gentleman although we could feel his eyes burning into the back of our heads.
For the next hour, MDW and I sipped on our drinks listening to the two Irish guys singing covers of songs like Piano Man and Stand By Me. Nothing traditional but they were pretty good. Unfortunately not many people were listening and the applause was minimal so they started providing their own sound effects of applause after each song saying that was last nights audience. We avoided making eye contact when the Irish guy sitting across from us as he glanced from one side of the room to the other feeling as uncomfortable as us. He wasn’t even drinking Guinness or Smithwicks, looked like lime cordial to me. After this hour had passed we decided to slip away and leave the table to our Irish speaking companion on his own.
Before I end this days blog MDW reminds me of an interesting happening at Carrowmore. When she was drinking hot chocolate and talking to the jewellery maker, the lady asked MDW where are you from. “Australia” MDW said. “No, what part of Ireland are you from” the lady asked. “Oh I don’t know” came MDW’s reply. So MDW doesn’t know if the jewellery maker thought she was Irish but had emigrated to Australia or just Irish because she said “I can tell with your accent that you come from around here”.Read more