Ireland in Retrospect: Kinvara (and Galway!) Day Three

Kinvara and Galway September 20

We woke up pretty early this morning and drove up to Galway, which is about 20 miles north of Kinvara. We got caught in morning traffic, and it took us about an hour to get there. First stop: breakfast and coffee! I picked Pascal Coffee House, and we were not disappointed! Look at my delicious  breakfast!
Perfect!

I'm pretty impressed with that egg yolk.



Then there's this funny sign they had hanging near the restrooms. And by the way, you couldn't use the toilets unless you purchased something. Then they put the restroom code (it was locked) on the receipt. I thought that was interesting.

It's hard to read the bottom two: LADIES: Please remain seated for the entire performance.
GENTLEMEN: Stand closer it maybe shorter than you think.
After breakfast we went to a little store that I'd wanted to check out called "My Shop...Granny Likes It" to hopefully find some gifts for the kids or souvenirs for us. We ended up getting a kit to make four Galway buildings and some pocket bunnies for the girls. The wee little bunnies were hand knitted by a local woman, and are so simple and cute. They won some sort of award for being the most pointless thing that brings joy. Haha Plus, the lady working at the store was really friendly and talkative.

One of the recommended stores to visit in Galway is Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, and we made sure to put that on our itinerary. I loved this store, and how it was laid out. Maybe it was because I wasn't familiar with the store, but it seemed like you could easily get lost in the different rooms and levels of the book store. Every which way you turned, there were more books! We picked out a few for Deuce and Josie, and one for myself.



At some point decided to duck into The Sweater Shop for a bit too. Did I mention that it was raining? Anyway, we were greeted by lots of sweaters and scarves and blankets. After finding out that they ship for free after spending €100, I picked out a blue Aran wool blanket, a pretty scarf, and a pair of cozy wool slippers.

We also checked out a toy store, but there really wasn't anything in there that interested us. However, the building did have three stories and a fun spiral staircase.

For lunch, we shared some tea and got a couple of sandwiches. I also got a cup of soup. Here's a shot that Justin took of one of the shopping streets shortly before we headed back to Kinvara for - you guessed it - more relaxing!


While Justin took a nap, I decided to go back to SIAR for another cup of coffee. Plus, I really like the lady that works there, so I wanted to chat with her for a few minutes. Then, I went to a nearby shop where local artists/crafts people sold their goods. Upstairs there was a really neat gallery of this one woman's artwork that she made with items from nature. Well, more specifically, she made "faerie clothes."



Neat huh? Too bad I can't afford what she charges.

For dinner, we walked to an Italian enoteca called Il Molo. Technically, an enoteca is supposed to be a place for tourists to sample local wines, but many of them also have a small selection of food and snacks. Obviously, we got a couple glasses of wine. We also both ordered the lasagna (the only pasta on the menu) and dessert. Justin got tiramisu and I got a dessert that doesn't even have a name. All I know is that it was sweetened ricotta cheese covered with crushed pistachios. Plus there was cream and chocolate involved. It was SO good!


After dinner, we walked to Connolly's Bar. We were stuffed from dinner, but wanted just one drink with some locals. As it turned out, not one person in that bar was Irish! The Italian bartender and her Scottish boyfriend own the place. And the other three people in the bar (keep in mind, it was a Wednesday night in a very small town) were from England! The conversation was still great. The bartender made fun of how fast people walk in Dublin (it's true), and how she thinks Irish people just pretend to like scones. "It's just dry bread!"

Tomorrow morning we're going to check out of our lovely little home and head south.

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