Crash-Landing in Galway, Ireland and Eating My Feelings Away
When I got my itinerary for Ireland, I panicked when I saw that I’d have to pick up a rental car from Hertz at the Shannon Airport that I had to use to make my way across the country to Dublin.
I spent a year in New Zealand and never drove once because it was on the opposite side of the road, and it freaked me out. Being on a sponsored press trip through Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, however, didn’t leave me much of a choice in the matter, especially if I wanted to see all the places I wanted to, like Galway and Trim.
Galway on a quiet evening.
After leaving The Outing Festival, I got dropped off at the Shannon Airport, already nervous because it was the first day it had properly rained out of the four I’d been in Ireland. At that, it was meant to have rained every day I was there, and it hadn’t, and this day was meant to be the first day without it.
Finding and starting the car also proved to be a bit of an issue, but I made it to the road easily enough, and before I knew it, I was cruising on the open highway headed for Galway.
What I learned about roundabouts
When I got dropped off at the airport, my driver ensured I understood how to use roundabouts, as I’m from California, and they’re not that common, though they are increasing in frequency.
I understand how roundabouts work, and I adjusted my mind to flip the direction I needed to go. I did probably 10 of them before I arrived in Galway, and I was about two blocks away from my hotel when I came across a type of roundabout I’d never seen:
One with two lanes.
Out of the three exits, I thought the left lane led to exit one and the right lane to exits two and three. There was a left arrow in the left lane that influenced the thought, so I stayed in the right lane, although I needed exit two. Once I got there, I realized the lane I was in actually led me to exit three, but I went along with the ride and let the GPS redirect me because I had already given myself the grace to mess up along the way.
The oopsie.
The redirect wound up taking me down a pretty narrow side street, and there was one person in front of me. Someone was coming in the opposite direction, and they stopped and pulled off to the side to let the person in front of me go. Once they’d gone, the other person stayed stopped, so I thought they were staying for me, too.
I went to go, but as soon as I did, they started driving toward me. I veered left to avoid them and wound up sideswiping a car along the way. Of course, it was still pouring rain, and I couldn’t find the person I’d hit, and all of this had happened within 90 minutes of having the car. I left a note, notified my sponsors, and checked into the hotel to do my best not to let this ruin my trip.
Drinking my sorrows at The Crane Bar
Fortunately, the person I hit reached out to me and was the nicest person I’ve ever met (thanks, Yvonne!) My sponsors were also really relaxed about it and told me I’d be surprised how many journalists wound up in accidents and that, fortunately, the damage was really minimal.
Still, someone I’d met at The Outing Festival told me the best place in the entire country to get a Guinness was at The Crane Bar, and a number of people had told me I couldn’t leave Ireland without trying their signature beer on their homeland at least once. I’m used to Guinness in a can with some weird thing in it that makes it sound like a can of spray paint, but I’ll admit it tasted better over here.
Also, I heard about this trend called “splitting the G”, which involves your first gulp of the beer. Every Guinness mug is labeled, and you’re meant to chug your first sip down to the Guinness logo and align it so the beer splits the G from top to bottom.
I was successful at this two times out of the 10+ Guinness’s I tried: The first time, and the last time.
Dining Alone at McSwiggans
Once I’d had my fill of Guinness at The Crane Bar, I headed in for my reservation at McSwiggans, which was a quaint restaurant that had some amazing mussels and a delicious half duck.
This was the first dining experience I had in the country all alone, and it was actually nice to be able to just sit back, relax, and observe. It was a quiet and rainy Monday night when I came in, but the wooden and rustic feel of the restaurant made me feel like I’d come to a cozy cabin to escape the storm. In some ways, it was like The Prancing Pony in The Lord of the Rings, but in the best way possible.
The mussels came from the Killary Fjord in Ireland and were some of the freshest mussels I’ve ever had, and I’ve worked in a seafood restaurant. I’m sure the half-duck was just as fresh, and I’d be surprised if the vegetables and mashed potatoes didn’t come directly from a nearby farm.
Staying at The Galmont
Although it was only for a night, and I hardly had any time to be there, my stay at The Galmont Hotel was awesome. First of all, I had a business suite, which was great because it had a refrigerator that allowed me to store my leftovers from McSwiggans and eat them again later on.
Additionally, the receptionist, Hela, whose name tag, I believe, said she was the Lead (and if she’s not, she should be!), was great to me on arrival. As noted above, I had my little fender-bender right before arrival, and I was a little shaken up after that happened. It’s stressful enough getting in a car accident as it is, but when it happens in another country in a sponsored car, it adds a whole other level.
I arrived at the hotel just after 1 pm, and check-in wasn’t until 4. I was a little shaken when I asked what time I’d be able to get in the room, and Hela got me some water, helped calm me down, offered me tea, and told me it was no problem to get me checked in three hours early. Due to the circumstances, she also waived the parking fee for me, which was a small gesture that also really helped me feel better.
The hotel itself was immaculate, and also one I thought might be a great alternative to hold The Outing Festival if they ever decided to move it up this way or host a separate event here.
Finding Joy Again on the Galway Food Tours
After the day of the accident, I woke up the next morning fresh and ready to finish out my brief but dramatic stay in Galway with the Galway Food Tours. I was particularly excited about this because my freelance writing career really got started with the Monterey Bay Food Tours, and who knows where I’d be or if I’d have even had this trip as an option in the ultimate grand scheme of my career without them.
Besides that, who can say no to a good food tour?
And it was not only good, it was great. I had some of the best chowder of my life at Rúibín Bar & Restaurant; tasted a very unique tea-like coffee at Little Lane Coffee; chowed down on some amazing chocolate at Truffle (complete with a fun chocolate fountain!); had a great lamb stew with more mussels and an oyster at Tigh Neachtain’s, which also had a lot of fun artwork on the walls; had a whiskey, cheese, and salami tasting at McCambridge’s; and rounded out the experience with some whiskey-chocolate ice cream at Murphy’s.
My guide, Danny, was also very knowledgeable and fun to be around. We fought the wind together a couple of times, but he showed me Galway’s finest with a smile the whole time and obvious care for the job that made the journey all the more enjoyable. Considering how my time in Galway started, he certainly made sure it ended on a high note.
