Kelley and I have not written much or posted many pictures about Galway. As we have told all of our guests, there is not much to see in Galway from a tourism perspective, you have to experience it… sure there are old walls, the underwhelming Spanish Arch, and the church where Christopher Columbus got his final blessing before embarking to the new world but to really feel the essence of Galway you have to just grab a pint at a pub or walk along the River Corrib watching life unfold rain or shine – emphasis on the former!
And let’s talk about the weather, because we get a lot of skeptical questions from family and friends since we seemingly only post pictures of beautiful sunny days. We assure you it rains….a lot… to be more accurate “the average number of rainy days (days with more than 1mm of rain) ranges from about 150 days a year along the east and south-east coasts, to about 225 days a year in parts of the west”, per the The Irish Meteorological Service Online. Galway is on the west coast. For comparisons, Seattle and Portland average around 160 days per year but it was difficult to find reliable data. This picture pretty much sums up most days…
And when it is not sunny, people are honey badgers and just go for it…
Galway is one of Ireland’s most diverse cities and you can feel it’s energy and creativity in many of the festivals that occur throughout the year. Two particularly memorable festivals so far this year have been Seafest and the Art’s Festival. Seafest was wonderfully educationally and also had one of the coolest displays of human invention – fly boarding. The pictures and video speak for themselves!
The Galway Arts festival, which was at the end of July, featured artists, musicians, actors, writers, and performers from around the world. One night there was an interactive street show with a troop of French street performers. I am not sure what was more ridiculous: the colors and costumes or the fact that it was dumping rain the whole time – BTW it was about 10 pm!
Beyond the weather and the festivals, Galway is just a fun town to walk around and get lost (Kelley: well, there are actually only about 3 streets…..so it takes some effort to really get lost….). You never know what you will stumble upon, from markets to fishermen to baby swans there is something for everyone.
So that sums up our Galway experience so far…..we will check in again after winter reallllly sets in and it’s apperantly dark – ALL-THE-TIME…….
chasingdavis 
For a place that has so many dreary days, sure sounds like there is a lot to do.
LikeLike