The Original House of Style

So on Tuesday, January 12th, the Wiff and I set out on our trip from Kinsale to Galway. The rain was really coming down hard and the wind was gusting to gale force. We made our way up the now snow-free driveway of our hotel and then back down the access road into Kinsale itself. It was unfortunate that the weather was as inclement as it was because Kinsale looked really interesting. The roads were pretty empty as most people were probably already at work by the time we set out. We thought about maybe going into a couple of shops in town but honestly that wind driven rain didn't look too inviting. It was almost coming down sideways. We're going to have to come back in the spring or summer so that we can really explore this town.

The roads were much improved with the occasional exception of some of the hills. Due to the rain itself and the melting snow there was some standing water on some of the roads and on a couple of the hills the water made the road look like a mini river. Luckily the little Prius retained its composure and we got to Galway without much incident. We only got lost in Galway itself for a little bit (and yes, the Wiff sorted it by going to a fire station and asking for directions...honestly I'd still be driving around in circles on the outskirts of the city this very moment if I was left to my own devices) and when we found the hotel I was happy to find out that yes, they did have parking. We weren't positive that this place would since it was right down by the docks and space is a bit tight.

That first night after a nap we went downstairs to the hotel bar. We sat at the bar and chatted to the bartender Mike. I really liked the atmosphere in the place. During the week I guess the hotel has a lot of business people staying there (and there was a party of peeps who were definitely having the business meeting/dinner at one of the tables) but the vibe wasn't too formal at all. The food was pretty kick ass too. We had been in Galway a few years earlier when we did the bus tour thing (aka the Cliff's Notes tour of Ireland) but we'd only had 3 hours to look around. This time around we had booked 3 nights in the city and so we asked Mike what he would recommend we check out. That's always a loaded question I realize and he must dread being asked it. Ah well, he came up with some good options and the Wiff also had some ideas of things she wanted to see too.

The next day we got up and walked around the city. The last time we were there I had bought the Wiff a claddagh ring at Thomas Dillons on Quay St. Unfortunately it had broken and she had had it repaired in the states. Whoever did the repair didn't exactly do a great job so we knew that stop #1 was going to be this shop. We walked in and the guy behind the counter said he could repair the ring and it would only take about an hour. Schweet. See you then Mr. Awesome. We walked around some more and went to this great little coffee shop at the end of Quay St. near the river Corrib and the Spanish Arch. When we went back to pick up the ring (which he repaired at no cost by the way. Their rings have a lifetime warranty), the repair was so perfect and the ring had been buffed to its original shine that the Wiff was convinced that he hadn't actually repaired her ring but had instead just replaced it (thinking that maybe the damage was too great to make a decent repair). It wasn't until later on when she was looking at it more closely when we were having lunch at the Quay Pub that she realized that no, this was in fact her original ring. That guy was just that damn good. Pretty cool. 

We walked all around going from shop to shop basically doing up the whole tourist bit, taking pictures and spending money on things we don't really need. We ended up at the Galway City Museum which is an excellent place to visit. It goes through the history of the area and how people used to get by. Kinda made me realize what a weenie I am. It was a really good day all in all. That night we went were going to go back down to the hotel bar but we'd had a late lunch so neither of us was hungry. Plus, we had planned on taking a drive out to the Connemara region to visit Kylemore Abbey so we needed to get some sleep. The Wiff had noticed the poster above the hotel computer (this hotel was cool cuz it had a computer in the lobby hooked up to the interwebs that guests could use for freebies. For a nerd like me that was a truly welcome thing) and checked out the drive to the abbey. It looked like a really nice day trip and the weather promised to behave.

And so on Thursday the 14th, our last full day in Ireland, we set out on our day trip to go see Kylemore Abbey. The Wiff and I are big fans of the day trip. When we both finally got our driver's licenses (me at age 25, the Wiff at age 28) we would rent a car on some weekends just to take a day trip up to Maine or Franconia Notch in NH. This trip out to the Connemara would be just like that. Just a real chill experience. By this time I was fairly comfortable with driving on the opposite side and luckily we didn't hit any sheep during the ride. This area has a lot of free-range grazing sheep who like nothing better than just wandering out onto the road. At one point we came around a pretty blind corner and HEY LOOKOUT there's a sheep's butt right in our way. My mad drivin' skillz of course came into play and we did not make mutton outta him (or her). I didn't even beep. That's rare for a Bostonian and even rarer for me.



We finally made it to the abbey (after only getting lost once...and yes, the Wiff went into a post office to ask for directions..for those of you keeping score at home: she has by this time gone to a police station, a fire station and a post office to ask for directions) after a really nice drive through some beautiful country. We pulled into the parking lot for the visitor center and it was immediately clear that the place was closed. There was no other vehicle in the lot. We got out, walked over to the ticket booth and discovered that yes, they are closed. Now keep in mind that we had gone on the website earlier and there was no notice that they'd be closed. As a matter of fact, the site said they were open. Ah well.  It was disappointing that we couldn't check out the buildings themselves but after all the crap we'd been through up to this point, it didn't phase us. We took some pictures and headed back to the car. As we approached the car we came across 5 women from Michigan. Of course, that's common way out in the middle of western Ireland in the middle of January. They were students who had walked all the way from town to come to see the abbey. I broke the news to them and considering they claimed to have walked for 3 hours to get there they took the news rather well. They took a couple of pics of the Wiff and me but unfortunately those were the ones that our camera decided to eat.

We drove back to the hotel and had dinner at the bar again while chatting with Mike and Kevin (another bartender at the hotel). Thanks to Galway and the Connemara (and the great staff at the bar) our vacation had been saved. For the most part the vacation had lived up to the extremely vague expectations I had. I'm glad that I was in Ireland for my 40th birthday. That essentially was the entire point of the trip really. I wanted to be there and so we saved our money and went. Ireland is a beautiful country with great people and lots to offer. The only thing is I would caution against going there in the winter. Trust me on this one.