BAR HOPPING

While spending the summer in Galway, studying at best infrequently and wandering almost nightly, I quickly discovered that the tone of the evening was often set by the pub our troupe selected. If, for example, the King's Head Pub at the far end of Shop Street was our destination, I knew that my night would inevitably begin with a tasty meal, usually with the delicious Irish Tapas sampler served unceremoniously in a big tin bucket. Stumbling into Tigh Cioli, on the other hand, always meant a quick round of Irish Flag Shots (creme de menthe at the bottom, Bailey's Irish Creamer in the middle and a splash of Jameson at the top) to tantalize our taste-buds. To experience more authentically Irish tunes, Taafe's would be our destination. There we could sit for hours, listening to whatever band had landed a gig at the local favorite. Exceptional generosity on my parents part always meant a long walk down to the Salt House at the bottom of Shop Street, where an entire wall is dedicated to the literally hundreds of ales, stouts, lagers and porters they kept stocked. When our wallets were thin, however, there was a single pub that we inevitably gravitated towards - The Hole in the Wall. Cheap drinks and an accommodating group of local youths brought us back again and again, making that place the usual end-of-the-night hot spot.