Back in July 2011, I had a few days off and decided to go to the West coast of Ireland and stay near Galway. After some perusing about the hotels, I found a beautiful looking hotel called the Galway Bay Hotel, on the North Side of Galway in a suburb called Salthill. The hotel faces the sea front promenade around Galway Bay and has interesting warm yellow architecture. The inside is very elegant with marble floored oval foyer with custom dark wood seating. The Foyer opens onto an all glass conservatory from which you can reach a lovely summer terrace with chairs and tables so one can take in the brisk sea air and a bit of sun on warm days. I got a prime room – on the top floor, and facing the beach – with a huge king size bed – for a good deal of less than 100 euro a night. Despite the drizzle for most of the day, the view (below) was magnificent.

I had a massage, and a chance to soak in the tub and relax. By the time that I was ready for diner, the weather was clearer and cooler – but twilight had set in. I walked over to the village…

and opted for a Slavic restaurant that promised authentic perogies. Now I’m no expert, but I did have lots of Perogies when I lived in Russia. I was a bit skeptical at first, but when I asked the waitress what type of perogies they had – and she told me the names I was familiar with, I got my hopes up and was not disappointed (seriously the best perogies I had since I lived in Russia!). Add in a bit of tasty pear vodka and also a bit of yummy dessert and I was one happy girl. (Who would have thought that such a tiny town would have such an awesome restaurant?)

On the way back to the hotel, walking along the promenade, I did try to take a picture of Galway’s lovely Bay with an tanker sitting out on the water. It’s blue because of the twilight – and I wanted to try again later (no chance – it started raining again and did most of the morning – thus why I headed to Connemara/Kylemore Abbey) but I think it came out ok.