After a few days of exploring Dublin and Northern Ireland, we took a quick train ride to Galway. This city was highly recommended to us by friends and family who have visited Ireland in the past as it is much smaller than Dublin, and offers a seemingly more authentic Irish experience.
Similar to Dublin, we spent most of our days wandering the streets aimlessly and venturing into different shops and bars. Galway’s streets were filled with independent musicians, all hoping to make the same break that Ed Sheeran did many years ago.
As Galway is a coastal city with many channels running throughout, tourists can easily spot Hookers (pictured left). These boats were created for the strong gusts of wind off the Irish coast, used by fishermen.
Galway is also well known for Claddagh jewelry. Jacklyn bought herself a ring while visiting, and positioned it with the heart facing inward on her ring finger, symbolizing her relationship. Single people, on the other hand, would position the heart facing outwards, to symbolize their willingness to give their heart away for love.
Foods and Drinks
We were lucky enough to receive recommendations from Drew’s friend , Forger, who studied abroad in Galway. Here were his favorites:
The Pasta Factory, which serves hand made pasta
The Dough Bros: thin crust pizza (which I’m sure served as a substitute for New Haven pizza while Forger was abroad)
O’Connell’s Bar, which has a hidden beer garden in the back
M. Fitzgerald’s Bar, where we started our Halloween off by listening to live Irish music (Jacklyn of course requested Rattlin’ Bog)
The Dail Bar, where we spent most of our Halloween before stumbling on our final location, a karaoke bar
About Abroad 