Grandma in Galway

Sam:

We woke up very early in the morning and Mom told me that it was time to go and pick up Grandma. So we had breakfast and then got into the car.

drove for over two hours to get to Galway. When we got there, we met Grandma at the train station and then walked around town. We went to a place called The Pie Maker for lunch and had mashed potatoes and for dessert I had a Banoffi pie. That’s banana and toffee. Me and my sister switched pies halfway, so then I had Irish apple pie.

After lunch, we went to the river and took a picture at the Spanish Arch. After the arch, we went in a museum. There was lots of axes and a giant sceptre and sword. Next, we went to the bookstore. My grandma bought me a book. Then we went home.

In the evening, we went and had supper at Swagman pub in Sligo. I got a while peanut butter stack (which is a cake with chocolate and peanut butter). My grandma said it was better than hers.

Charlotte:

First we woke up very early to get my grandma from the train station. And then me and Mom went to the washroom in the train station while waiting for Grandma, and we had to wait in a long line. When it was finally my turn, a stall door opened and Grandma came out! It was hilarious!

Then we walked around Galway and had lunch. I had mashed potatoes at a restaurant called The Pie Maker. And for dessert, I had…. bum bad a bum…a pie! I chose the apple pie because it had caramel and ice cream. It was pouring outside while we ate.

After lunch, went to the river. There were lots of swans. Then we went to the bookstore and Grandma got me a Dork Diaries book. It is big. Then we went home. It took two hours.

We relaxed for awhile and then went to Sligo for dinner. I had mashed potatoes and chicken strips. For dessert, I had pudding that was cake. It was great.

Everyone was really tired, so we went home. I did my Mom’s and my Grandma’s hair in really pretty styles and then went to bed.

Mom and Dad:

This morning we needed to be on the road by 8am to pick my mom up from the train station in Galway. Her flight landed in Dublin very early.

We met successfully and Brad took Mom’s luggage to the car while we went to the tourist office to grab a map of the city attractions. We walked by Eyre Park and down into a mall. We saw a little place called “Shake” that had a menu of probably over 100 types of milkshakes. There were chocolate bar shakes, cookie shakes, candy, ones, fruit ones, and lots more. Charlotte chose Starburst, Sam chose Lion bar, Grandma picked a dark chocolate bar, and I ordered a Double Decker. Grandma and I switched because she liked mine better.

We left the mall quickly because there was nothing particularly Irish about it, and we went out to the pedestrian streets for touristy shopping. We checked out jewellery, street vendor stalls, and watched some Irish dancing on the cobblestones.

We were getting hungry, so we wandered into a tiny little restaurant called “The Pie Maker.” I have to say that the savoury pies were a bit disappointing. The crust was good, buttery and flaky, but the fillings were not so great. My beef and Guinness only had 3 pieces of beef and a whole lot of celery. The kids’ dessert pies were tasty, especially the apple. We were happy to be cozy and warm as a downpour began outside almost as soon as we were seated.

The rain has mostly stopped by the end of our lunch, so we continued down Quay street to the Spanish Arch and city museum. Then we walked on to Charlie Byrne bookstore. What a great place! It was huge, with lots of different rooms and a mix of new books, used books, and antique books. So much fun to explore.

My mom was fading fast due to over 24 hours with no sleep, so we decided to head home. She started out in the passenger seat beside Brad, but we switched places about halfway home because I had restless legs and she was terrified of the Irish roads. Rookie! 😂

Once at home, we gave Grandma a tour of the house, showed her to her room, and relaxed for a couple of hours.

We went into Sligo town for a late supper at Swagman pub. It was a busy little place, filled with locals. My potato leek soup provided a welcome warming of my tummy and the funky fries (chips with cheese, bacon, spring onion, and sour cream) were good, too. The sticky toffee pudding was sweet and tasty, but not the best I’ve had.