Going west

Although Dublin is a lively and lovely place to be, it is sometimes nice to leave it behind for a period of time and explore some of the other attractions of the Emerald Isle. Ireland has so much to offer the wayfarer and the discoverer, and I have made some efforts to get around and see bits and pieces, notably the west coast, which is amazing and astonishingly beautiful, some of the north east, which is less stunning but quite interesting, and a bit of the immediate south, including the Dublin and Wicklow "mountains". A lot is yet to come, and I can especially not wait to see Donegal, where I'll head for Paddy's Day, and Cork, which sounds amazing. This weekend saw me however in Galway, the enigmatic centre of the west, combining a young university crowd, rowdy tourists and elements of the surrounding Gaeltachts in a way that makes for a great weekend outpost.

Slightly out of character for Norwegian Hilde, but as it seems more in line with the emerging Irish version of myself, a rash decision was made on Saturday morning to jump at the chance of joining three colleagues on the train heading westwards. Cutting through the countryside where the landscapes varied between green fields, green hills, greenish bogs, green trees, gray spots of town centres, sheepish-looking livestock and more green fields, my old love of training (!) re-emerged, and provided an excellent start to the weekend adventure that I for a couple of hours presumed to be a day trip, causing my overnight equipment to be somewhat lacking finesse. But never one to turn down a great suggestion, I accepted my fate as a hostel lodger for the night, and spent a truly entertaining day and a half in the party capital of western Ireland.

Galway has many charms, but an astonishing number of sights and activities is not one of them. The surrounding area, including the Burren, Cliffs of Moher and other magnificent strokes of genius by Mother Nature, is of a lot more interest than Galway city centre when it comes to scenic appreciation. On two 20-minutes walks starting from the imaginatively named Shop Street, where most shops are found, most of the elements of any interest were covered, including Eyre Square, the Spanish Arch, the Cathedral with the ridiculously long name, the multitude of giant acrobatic swans and the nice bridges and walkways across and around the flowing river Corrib and parallel canals.

Apparently most people visiting Galway do it for the cafés, clubs, pubs and nightlife, however. So who were we to turn our backs on it? It being a rugby night, most places were crammed with green jerseys and, for this match in particular, bucketloads of old men in kilts, but pleasurably poured and even more pleasurably cheap pints could be had in the charming yet immense "super-pubs", including the King's Head, built in honour of English Charles I's Galwayian assassin and the Quay's, conveniently located directly across the road from our hostel. In course of the evening we also had a taste of the local cuisine, with delicious lemon sole in McDonagh's (although the mash was atrocious) and the good intention of having oysters, but deciding to save that pleasure for a rainier day. On Sunday I also spotted my new gastronomical Mekka, unfortunately closed at the time, but a venue I will hunt down on my next trek west; the Couch Potata's, where all dishes include my favourite food, the undefeatable and celebrated Potato. (2008 is the UN's international potato year, by the way, an ongoing event that I enthusiastically try to take part in as much as I can).

In total, Galway was a real treat on a very spontaneous adventure, and a city I would definitely go back to - most likely as a base for enjoying the wonders of the amazing landscape and seascape around it, and as a great place to experience heaploads of good craic, music, excellent sea food, life contemplation on a bench overlooking the sea, river walks and amazing cafés with all kinds of interesting cuisines (who all unfortunately seem to open after 12 on a Sunday, reducing our enjoyment of it this time). And - what happens in Galway stays in Galway.