Go West, Young Man

The boys of the NYPD Choir were singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day
-The Pogues

The days following Christmas consisted of plenty of getting up late, watching TV, walking around town and not much else. (Although to be fair, we did see King Kong, a great piece of hollywood cheese) Maleaha and I decided it was time to go for some adventures. Thus we went to the West Coast of Ireland to Galway. Booking accommodation was a pain in the arse, considering it was coming up on New Years.

On the first night, it rained. So we had some pub food (more stew), some ice cream (they actually make a Bailey's flavour) and walked around the old city for just a bit. Maleaha was not impressed with staying in a dorm-style room for the evening. Something between the Italian female tourists and the drunkard waltzing into our room at 3AM...

On New Year's Eve, I wanted to see the town and shop a bit, since almost everything would be closed the next day. Sadly, the forecast for our entire stay in Galway was: rain, sunshine, rain, wind, more rain and some sunshine. It being near the Atlantic, the weather was liable to change every 5 minutes! Despite this, we got to see a lot of nice streets, pubs and stores and I dropped a lot at the Winding Stair, which sells old prints, jewelry and other knick-knacks. For a Christmas present, Maleaha bought me a hot towel shave - and let me tell you, my face hasn't felt that smooth in many a year. Gentlemen, if you want to spoil yourself in a testosterone-based manner, go for the shave. It's totally worth it.

Our B&B for the next night was a quick drive into the suburbs (the disadvantages of booking online: your universe looks that much smaller than in the real world), but it was like heaven: I had a real hotel room with tv, shower and the most comfortable bed I've slept in in at least four months. It was big and had electric heating pads under the sheets. I cannot stress how fantastic it was. I had a nap immediately. When I awoke, I turned on the TV to watch "Guns of Navaronne". (Hooray for old WWII movies starring Gregory Peck AND David Niven)

Given that it was a bit of a drive away from downtown and Maleaha isn't the "party girl" type, we took it easy for New Year's. We hopped by the nearby hotel/pub and my last meal of 2005 was bangers and mash (sausage and potatoes) with apple pie for dessert. I had a pint before midnight, but the place wasn't exactly "jumping" and the band wasn't exactly "traditional". There was a wedding reception going on next door - methinks we should have crashed it instead...

So I realized by that point that this evening wasn't about partying, it was about being with my Sweetness, Maleaha. A New Year's Eve party is a New Year's Eve party, no matter where you go. Besides, we have tons of Irish pubs in Markham and Ottawa and more friends to do it with. So we went back to the B&B and rang in the new year watching Irish TV from the comfort of our room. Some people were lighting fireworks in the backyard. Apparently the Irish really like their fireworks, 365 days a year!

The great thing about a B&B is that the second "B" stands for "breakfast", (In case you hadn't figured it out, the first is for "bed") so traditional Irish breakfast with egg, sausage, bacon, toast and pudding. No, that pudding was not made of chocolate, but pigs parts. A yum.

Given that nothing was happening on January 1st, not even "year round" bus tours (LIARS), we had a lovely walk near the bay and took an early bus home. Cheers to Galway.