Ireland´s fourth-largest city (pop. 86,000) turned out to be perhaps our favorite of the whole trip. Why? Well, it´s firendly and welcoming, as well as being more intimate than Dublin and livelier than Cork. Much of that liveliness is down to the many trad music pubs and venues in its Latin Quarter (so named because of the influence of the Spanish and Portuguese, who traded heavily with the city back in the Middle Ages), such as the Crane Bar, The Quays, Tigh Ceoli, and Tigh Neachtain; we popped into several of them one night, and it was good craic (fun)! It´s this music culture that made Galway such an excellent European Capital of Culture (an honor which rotates among various cities every year) in 2020. We also enjoyed a hearty lunch at the King´s Head (with a history reaching back 800 years), and toured the old quarters fascinating historical corners.

Read more in my post Our Wonderful Recent Tour of Ireland´s "Greatest Hits."

David Paul Appell