After much anticipation, we had our first authentic pub experience here in Ireland. We were fortunate enough to be in Galway during the annual Tuam Trad Festival (Trad is an abbreviation forTraditional Music), so all of the pubs were filled with musicians playing live Irish music.
Follow this link to hear a few minutes of Trad...It will greatly enhance your reading experience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlrGblTIZQ0
At about 10pm on Saturday evening, Sarah and I, along with Clodagh, Connor, and two friends, set off in search of a pub. Connor knows his way around the small city of Tuam very well, so we went from pub to pub trying to find one with trad music as well as open seats. We finally ended up at Harpys, which is a pub located just outside Tuam's city center.
It is at this point that I would like to mention that the Irish drinking stereotype is no joke. Seriously. I don't think it's to much of a generalization to say that the people who go to pubs in the evenings don't go simply to enjoy the drinks. No, they go to "shattered" (as they would say) and to have an awesome time doing it. From about 10:30pm until 2:00am (when we left) we witnessed people laying out huge amounts of money for round after round of beer. The six of us were seated at the main bar...which was no small feat as the entire pub was absolutely packed...and all evening long there were Euros being tossed over our shoulders onto the bar and people yelling orders from right behind our heads. The two bartenders did an absolutely amazing job of keeping up with all of the orders and making change at the speed of light.
Guinness was by far the most popular drink in the pub...and maybe in Ireland in general. There are literally kegs that line the streets. To keep from looking even more like tourists, we didn't bring a camera to the pub...so unfortunately we don't have any pictures. Overall there was just an incredible sense of community and warmth....Irish pubs are exactly what you would imagine them to be: crowded, lively, hot, and completely fantastic. Cheers to that.
Lastly, we continue to be amazed by how well taken care of we are here at the Clancy's. Each morning we wake up to a full breakfast table (Cocoa puffs for Sarah, Frosted Flakes for me, toast for both), and although Celine says that she's a terrible cook, we have enjoyed every single meal so far. The portion sizes are HUGE though. Last night we had a traditional Irish meal of cabbage and bacon (just ham...not American bacon)...each of us got probably a whole head of cabbage and a small pig, plus four massive potatoes. And tonight we had portions of spaghetti that could have fed all of Galway with plenty of leftovers for Bobby the terrier. We always ask for smaller portions but she tells us to "just try." Sarah feels like she's losing weight, while I feel like I might be getting a muffin top. Life is good.
Well thats about all for now...thanks so much for reading and enjoy the pictures below.
Great to hear the you two enjoyed the first pub night! I'm jealous, especially since there was live music! I thoroughly enjoyed the food description! Huge portion sizes must be a common thing in Europe because in Bulgaria every meal for just me was enough to feed the entire family!
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