Before You Go, Blog, Experiences, Uncategorized

Irish Explorer Bus Tour: Day 4 – GALWAY & BELLEEK POTTERY

June 21, 2018 /

Yesterday, we traveled from Donnegal to Galway. One of the many benefits of utilizing a bus tour is not needing to actually worry about getting yourself around. You can sit and relax, enjoying the view of the countryside as you go by. Sadly, I can’t seem to ride on the bus without falling asleep, so I end up missing most of it. Haha

But our ride to Galway was beautiful. You wouldn’t believe how many fields of sheep, cows and horses we passed along the way. I’m pretty convinced they make up 90% of the population here in Ireland. The country is just gorgeous, and I love that so much of it is free-range animals like that.

On the way, we made a stop at a place called Belleek Pottery to do a tour of their manufacturing facility. This wasn’t something that would have caught my interest naturally, but as it was part of the tour, we were able to try it out and were actually surprised at how much it intrigued us.

At Belleek Pottery, everything produced is handmade, every step of the way. From mixing the clay to shaping the molds, from creating the actual pieces to inspecting them for cracks, to hand painting them and stamping them. Just like when we visited the Tweed Visitor Center and watched as they wove the wool that would ultimately be the sweaters that hung on their shelves, a craft few people can still do today, we watched with the same interest at Belleek Pottery. The time and detail it takes to make their pieces is incredible and it gave us a much bigger appreciation for their craft.

From Belleek Pottery, we drove on and arrived in Galway. Before checking into our hotel, we went on a little river cruise. The ride itself was nice, as we got to see some of the beautiful parts of the city that we otherwise would have missed. What really made it fun, though, was when the crew came out to teach us how to make a proper Irish Coffee and showed us the steps to some Irish dancing. One of the crew members was a national champion and performed for us as well. Sean and I tried to master the footwork as best as we could, but it definitely looks easier than it really is!

Irish-coffee — We opted for a Bailey’s coffee as we’d been drinking a lot of Irish Coffees lately

Following the cruise, we headed back to our hotel, Hotel Meyrick. This has been one of our favorite hotels to stay in as it’s right in the middle of the city, so we are walking distance to anything in downtown Galway. The hotel itself is also quite nice. They provided us with things we did not expect or receive at our previous ones, such as bath salts and body scrubbers. The wifi also works great for us here, which is a huge bonus! Lol. The staff is incredibly friendly and accommodating. I can’t speak for the price, as the hotel came as part of our tour package, but we both would absolutely recommend this hotel to anyone visiting Galway.

Galway has a lot to explore, so we took a few hours to walk around the downtown. We strolled through Shop Street, and after seeing all the stores they had to offer, we did what anyone should do when they visit. We hopped from one pub to the next.

Galway’s pub scene is actually pretty impressive, seeing as all of the pubs seem to shut down by 12:30, even in Dublin. Here, there are some that stay open until 2 am. You can be up until the wee hours of the night sampling beers and checking out the different pubs. We shared a drink at each place we went, trying the Guinness’s, Murphy’s and H41’s. When we were a little done with the whole beer thing, we asked the bartender what drink he would recommend. His reply, “If you’re all stouted out, then a Jameson and ginger for you, I reckon.” And so that’s what we had, and it’s now our new favorite drink. We ended the night on some shots of After 8, a mixture of Creme de Menthe and Bailey’s. MMMM.