Galway!
Níl Gaeilge agam. Ba mhaith liom. Is é tír na seacht ríthe ireann. Agus is í Gaillimh bród dóibh siúd go léir.
There is an energy to the City of the Tribes that makes you want to dance as soon as you land. The wind from the sea, the liveliness of the people, the sheer energy of the city makes your legs dance, your heart beat and your lungs start to sing.
Preferable not Riverdance.
Limerick leaves you wondering whether you’re going to be knifed for a pint in a back street alley. Cork is frankly a boring ex-industrial backwater. But Galway…. ah, it will be another Guinness and some oysters, if you please. And then join in the the conga down the Long Walk, if you can find the tourists. And then the wind of the Atlantic in your teeth, as you set out on an Adventure.
Dublin, and Brussels, has done its best to tame the city. You arrive through a modern (EU funded) toll road, having to pay at a boring toll plaza. And then a maze of unnecessary streets until you get to the city centre. All bureaucratic nonsense designed to tame a wild horse.
But the second you get out of the car, you know you are in Galway bay. Energy courses through you. You feel alive in a way that few other places can make you feel.
There are a few places in the world that have sent my blood coursing through my veins the minute I arrive. The isle of Iona was one. Barra was another. Seeing a pattern here?
You know what? I could discourse at length on the city. On the vibrant street markets. The great bars and pubs. The shellfish. The night life. The feel of a university city (with no university). The sheer vibrancy. The countryside. Galway Bay. The seals, or the pod of dolphins I idly spotted. The cliffs of Moher and the Burren. Moycullen.Lough Corrib. Connemara (whiskey).
But why? Are you going to get some idle pleasure out of my idle words?
Get off your fat ass and go there. You’ll love it. I did, and always have. And you’ll have far better memories than having read this article.
Pionta, le do thoil!