Thing 245 Galway Christmas Market

Okay okay, I really shouldn't be blogging about Christmas this late in January, but this is the situation we find ourselves in folks. We can get through this together if we try. If it makes you feel any better, we only took down our tree today (and of course by we, I mean Pony Boy, Token Northy and The Frenchman). I was sleeping it off.

There are many reasons why Galway is a more attractive city than Limerick. Much and all as I love my home town, and it really always will come first, it's impossible to argue that it's a prettier place to live than Galway. The pedestrian streets, Eyre Square, the sea, the promenade, my cousin Killy, handsome man that he is. Hi Killy. Plus Galway can do cool stuff like Christmas markets very well. And they did. It was a criss-crossing little labyrinth of stalls, Christmas smells, people being jolly (they weren't all fat though) and couples sucking face. Apparently people are much more openly affectionate in Galway.
It was a real spur of the moment trip. Finished work, nought to do with the day but shoot the breeze with Lady Awesome Mermaid Elegance and Dr Frasier. These things have the habit of snowballing - God Boy calls up to see what I'm at, and decides he's getting in on the festive action, Little Sister lives in Galway, so she pops down to join us. Now it's a right little festive party, the only problem being that I've made a giant fuss out of this day out, and now everyone's expecting me to deliver the goods, but it's FREEZING cold, and my tootsies (that's my childhood word for toes - welcome to a little personal slice of my life) felt like they had frostbite and were seconds away from falling off...

My poor little tootsies.

Still, we got some cool stuff done, and there were a few other firsts too. I had an ostrich burger, and a chocolate and hundreds and thousands covered pretzel, and I waddled all the way back to my car like the big fat mess that I am. We drank coffee and shot the breeze and I started thinking that Galway's not that far from Shannon if I felt like moving house...

Thankfully everyone else was as cold as me, so no one else was keen on hanging around too long, despite the seasonal fun. If they'd been mad to stay and hang out, I'd have had to stay, and then someone would have been sewing back on my large toe. And nobody wants that to happen.

What struck me most about the place was how nice it was to see people spending money. I know I'm a capitalist pig and all that mess, but this country is fairly boned at the moment and everyone's afraid of the bank, so it's nice to see people out at the market spending money on presents and banter and mulled wine before our Government reaches into our pockets and takes it off us... It's a real possibility.

What a cheerful merry Christmas thought...

One way or another, Christmas Market in Galways is cool, and though you're now going to have to wait eleven or so months to see it again, I highly recommend that you do just that.

P.S. Galway people are lovely aren't they? They just all seem very pleasant.