First-timer's Guide to Fun in Limerick & Galway!
A lovely painting by Leigh Francis at the Hunt Museum in Limerick…
Author: ArtsyChowRoamer
Touring Ireland
LIMERICK
The next leg of our fantastic tour of Ireland was a swing through the beautiful cities of Limerick and Galway; one on the river and the other by the sea. Both are super fun cities with lots to do and this post will show you why.
In Limerick, we headed out to cross the river where we snapped the pic below. Perfect weather! We spotted The Abbey River Coffee house and jumped in for a little burst of energy; cute place and great coffee.
Don’t miss Abbey River Coffee by the bridge for an espresso…
THE HUNT MUSEUM
Then we headed across the street to visit The Hunt Museum. I always go into the gift shops first to see what kind of fun unexpected things I can pick up for friends and family. I snagged some great notebooks with photos from around Ireland; perfect for keeping a journal or work notes.
Let me just say that while the museum is on most lists of things to do in Limerick, they are in bad need of rehab on many of the exhibits; money raising committee please! We still enjoyed the visit and I particularly liked seeing a few pieces that have been purchased in recent years for the permanent collection.
A lovely view out from the bridge over The Abbey River in Limerick
A QUICK BEER AT THE LOCKE BAR
After our museum walkabout we headed back down towards the river to snag an outdoor table for a beer at The Locke Bar. There were lots of people out enjoying the day and having a few drinks. Some even getting a little rowdy but obviously having fun.
One of the rowdies explained to us that the big hurling game was happening over the weekend with Galway and that was why everybody was so excited and having such a good time. That was why all the green and white banners were hanging everywhere around town.
We had to move on to Galway but check out the video below for ten more reasons to visit this lovely city.
GALWAY
We finished our beer and headed out to Galway to see how they were celebrating the big game. It was super crazy there! Crowds everywhere shouting and cheering and watching it all play out on big screen!
Turns out soccer is not the game of Europe anymore. While America is just now starting to get it, (we do have a little team called Atlanta United ya know) Europe has moved on to hurling in a big way. It isn’t a young game it has just gotten more popular than soccer over time.
We got one of the locals to explain the rules. It is loads of fun to watch and is like a cross between baseball, football, soccer, hockey and field hockey. Teams running back and forth constantly and scoring way more than soccer; a common complaint about that game.
Tasty dinner at Venice Restaurant…a quiet spot to relax after the crowds
DINNER AT VENICE RESTAURANT
We are hungry so we pop into a quiet place away from all the crowds for a little bite of dinner. Venice Restaurant offered the freshest bruschetta warm from the oven, drizzled with olive oil and tomatoes. The salad had freshly caught anchovies. Awesomely good! Topped it off with a great glass of red wine! Woof!
I ‘m ready for some shopping and it was excellent in Galway. Lots of posh places and Mom and Pop stands. I popped into Mishnoc to pick up some beautiful leather goods. I could have spent a lot of time wondering around in that place. Fine products with good pricing as well.
Fantastic leather goods and a beautiful store front at Mishnoc
ARTIST MARKETS
Found a great outdoor artists market offering handmade scarves, woolen goods like sweaters and caps, jewelry, sculpture, drawings and photographs.
One artist I really liked was utilizing broken pieces of glass recycled by cutting and polishing to make lovely little framed pieces for hanging in the window to catch the sunlight.
I was charmed and immediately bought several for friends. Another was using blown glass globes with air plants to create groups of small hanging flower pots. I wanted one but I knew I would never make it through customs!
THE SPANISH ARCH
We finished up at the market and ducked in and out of shops picking up treasures along the way. We decided to take a little horse and carriage tour; super fun with great views of the water; and beautiful flowers everywhere.
We asked him to drop us at the Spanish Arch for a final tourist pic; cause sometimes you just gotta be a tourist right? Check out the video below for even more reasons to visit this fun colorful little town.
Pretty flowers blooming around the Spanish Arch; popular tourist destination for shops and food
CONCLUSION
We had loads of fun running around Limerick and Galway. The people were very friendly and learning the ins and outs of hurling was fantastic! Limerick won a squeaker by a single point and the place went nuts!
Don’t miss seeing this game; buy tickets if you can. I hope you enjoyed my first-timers guide to a little fun in both of these great cities. Now you know why these two cities are great to visit. If you would like to read other blogs about travel, look under Explore the World and hey, don’t be a stranger! Let me know if you need more info or have any extra notes to add to my tips OK? Until next time…
Cheers,
ArtsyChowRoamer
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TO MY READERS: This post was updated with more info, pics and videos on 8/31/20
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