West coast…best coast?
Today we decided to travel to Galway. Well, technically, yesterday evening we decided to travel to Galway. We’ll stay here for a few nights and use it as a jumping off point for a few destinations in the area before heading south.
I was admittedly anxious about picking up our hired car, because of their ability to levy fees on us or stick us with a lemon with essentially no recourse available to us. Put another way, I can’t stand being at somebody’s mercy. But picking up the car went just fine—I even made friends with the woman Mary there, and we chatted away happily. They gave us a feisty little Spanish-made Seat Ibiza diesel, in candy-apple red.
Me-ow
Feisty is a word which here means uninspiring, as the clutch is forgiving, the turning predictable, the ride noisy, and the acceleration nonexistent. When I push my right foot to the floor, literally nothing happens except the tiny engine complaining a little louder. But overall the car is suited to our needs, and I’m not complaining—just stating fact.
Driving on the left is easy—but I’m also a competent driver who enjoys driving. Hard left, wide right. I was able to shift by feel instead of watching the tach, so I could focus on navigating the lanes (and the kilometres-per-hour posted speed limits, and the cameras for catching you over the kilometres-per-hour posted speed limits) of Dublin city centre. First gear was fine, but second gear was unexpectedly farther left than I’m accustomed to placing it when shifting with my right hand, so I threw it into fourth instead of second a few times. And I did stall in a roundabout in Galway, but I’m blaming that on the driver in front of me who stopped unexpectedly (and then on trying to start in third—whoops).
But by and large, whizzing across the country was fine. The drive from coast to coast is only 200km—about as far as the Cape to Manchester for comparison. ANever some things never change: BWMs were by far the douchebaggiest drivers, followed by Audis.
We made it to our accommodations in a light drizzle, and walked along the water towards the city centre after a nap.
The edge of Galway city centre from South Park
Looking west over the Atlantic from South Park
Swans and such on the River Corrib
Wrecked skiff
The River Corrib racing towards the Atlantic
I hesitate to say I like the weather: rainy—but only partly, cool, sufficiently humid—not oppressive, and sunny enough to make everything lush and fragrant. There are roses, and palm trees.