|13-MAY-2015|  A great sign outside a cafe in Galway; the second of very profound coffee signs we’ve seen on this trip.

Today was utilitarian – drive from Dungarven to Galway with only one pre-selected stop. Preferably on some not-so-crazy roads (on request of the driver).  We left Dungarven after breakfast and made a quick, and local stop, at Ardmore, before several long stretches of highway featuring construction, leap-frog passing and marginal radio. 🙂

We lunched in Ennis and arrived in Galway around 3:30pm.  After a quick check-in at our hotel we took in the afternoon sun strolling the pedestrian shopping promenades in Galway.  Popped into a local used book / record label / record store and picked up a few records (and a CD and two tapes, as in cassettes) of Irish bands. Note I said bands, not music …. unless someone is putting out heavy-metal/punk fiddle music…. which I doubt.

After much debate over dinner (style of cuisine, and how hungry we were, etc.), we opted for the wine bar at Sheridan’s Cheesemonger … WIN! Excellent pairings, a great Spanish white wine, and finished it off with the rarely offered Porto Blanco. Excellent! Now if only we had real coffee in our room … this instant coffee isn’t too bad, but a french-pressed dark roast would be amazing right now.

First stop of the day: Ardmore.  St. Declan’s Cathedral (what’s left of it) and the 98-ft high Round Tower date back to the 13th century. In fact, this location on Ireland’s south coast is believed to be the site of the oldest Christian settlement in Ireland!  I can’t argue with this view … Stunning!

Took a break from diving for lunch in Ennis, a town just north of Limerick.  The Ennis Friary (right) dates from 1242!

We chatted with a local while lunching on toasted sandwiches then enjoyed ice cream before hitting the road again.

Dinner at Sheridan’s Cheesemongers. Several of the cheeses and salamis were locally made here in Galway. Exceptional!

Pleep taking in a bit too much of his homeland – an excellent Porto Blanco. Liquid butterscotch.

The outdoor cafes along the pedestrian promenade were packed tonight as people gathered outside to enjoy the sunshine, good times, and apparently a lot of beer.

Jeff’s Notes:  I was, admittedly, a bit apprehensive about doing a bunch of driving on this trip, all while sitting on the right side of the car and driving on the left side of the road.

The good news is we’ve had no issues (of course, we bought the full insurance, so “drive it like a rental” is in effect).  That being said, my best description of Irish driving is deliberately aggressive.  Now on the surface that may sound bad, but in fact it isn’t.  The bottom line is if there’s a spot to make a turn in front of oncoming traffic, an Irish driver will take it… and the oncoming driver knows it, so it’s really no big deal.  It just takes some getting used to.  Passing is frequent and in fact to some extent encouraged – slower drivers will pull onto the shoulder to signal to drivers behind them that it’s OK to pass.

The most important thing to remember is that no one, and I mean no one, cares about what the cross walk signal indicates.  Irish pedestrians are every bit as aggressive as the drivers, though they won’t run – no matter how fast you’re coming up on them, they’re strolling.