Onto Galway we go, with a quick orientation tour in the bus, then 2 1/2 hours of free time. The bus is parked off the main pedestrian area by a couple of blocks, and down a non-descript street. We’re taking bets on who won’t be able to find their way back. I know, I know…..we should be ashamed.

Well, anyway, we wander off to walk around the town, avoiding the main pedestrian street which is jam packed with people. Ick. We end up finding a lovely little promenade winding along the River Corrib that takes us from marina area to the Galway Cathedral.

Skirting path construction and roadway work, we cross the Salmon Weir bridge and enter the Cathedral which is a fairly recent addition to the City, opened only in 1965. It was built on the site of an old jail, which was quite controversial at the time, and it took almost 20 years for the building to actually begin. Worth the wait, we suppose, as it is a beautiful Cathedral. Outside, the design is mostly Renaissance, but inside there Romanesque features influenced by Spanish churches (because Galway has close links with Spain – why? Dunno). And the dome over the Sanctuary is stunning – as are the stained glass windows.

The most important thing for us, at lest, is the little Mortuary chapel to the right of the entrance that has a mosaic of Christ resurrected flanked on one side by a small circular mosaic of Padraig Pearse, a leader of the 1916 Rebellion, and President John F. Kennedy on the other. JFK visited in 1963, just months before he was assassinated, after which the town decided to dedicate the entire cathedral to him.

Done with the cathedral tour, we head back out into a much more pleasant afternoon with the sun shining brightly, even though the temps and wind were still chilly. Walking back along the river, we followed signs to the Galway City Museum, where we immersed ourselves in all things Galway. It is a sweet little museum with different displays, a boat hanging from the ceiling and guns from the uprising. But the best thing about the whole museum is this one placard that actually explains in very succinct terms exactly what Home Rule was and what prefaced the 1916 Rebellion. That one darn sign put the entire Belfast “2 sides” tour and the Dublin 1916 Rebellion tour into total perspective. A very worthwhile visit!

By now it is after 3 and we are a little hungry. Lunch time on these tours is a revolving hit or miss proposition. Even though we have an included dinner tonight, we decided to stop at an awesome little Asian restaurant, Re Nao, right on the marina square for snacks. Snacks, which turn out to be way more than snacks! This could be our whole meal for the day! Seriously good Duck Spring rolls along with Prawn Cigars – the description said “wrapped in spring roll pastry” so we figured it would come out like, well, I don’t know what we thought – but what we got was an artistic, yummy crispy fried wrapper on a huge prawn.

Back on the bus, everyone made it. We’re happily surprised! As we make our way back toward Ennis, one of our Indian tour-mates passes around this bag of fabulous roasted wheat crisp crackers. At first we weren’t going to try them, but then decided what the heck. Ok. Let’s just skip dinner now. They were excellent – so much so I have taken a picture to remind myself to find them when we get home.

3 way too short hours later we are having our dinner in the hotel. Along with drama about seating arrangements (it is one of our tour pals birthday and her traveling partners have arranged a sort of surprise BD Celebration – and well – drama ensues but is all worked out eventually), we feast (if that is the appropriate word) on a pork leg for Ed (sort of an osso bucco type thing) and….wait for it….stuffed chicken for me. Too much food – and for SURE the damn potato famine is over! Geez Louise, I’ve never seen so many potatoes served. The chicken is wrapped in bacon and served on top of a massive pile of mashed potatoes. And with what was the chicken stuffed? You got it. More mashed potatoes. Then as side veggies they served…. potatoes au gratin!  A couple of veggies are strewn off to the side. And of course for dessert we have to have a slice of the cake that is there for the Birthday celebration. No is not an answer our friends will accept.

Sigh. I’m eating fruit all day tomorrow!!! I’m looking forward to getting on the Azamara Journey so I can eat salad every day and night. Potato famine indeed.