Shopping and Galway City Museum

After a couple of beautiful days the West coast rain returned today just in time for the babies to start feeling a bit better. Girl slept the whole night for the second time in a week (the second time in her life, actually) and since we were all up by 6am and had the whole day before us we decided to visit Galway City Museum.

Despite living in Galway for over five years we had never visited the museum before. So we piled into the car and arriving a little early we headed to the Eyre Square Centre for a look around the shops.

Ahh I forget how much I love shopping in Galway. While B loves the chain stores - HMV, Game, Art & Hobby and the Early Learning Centre - I love the independent stores that line shop street. I picked up a huge bagful of craft material in Powell's and a tiny music box from Wooden Heart - though we stopped and gazed/drooled for aaages over the big wooden toys, sigikid dolls and quiet books (and their even bigger price tags). Before heading home we took a stroll around the St Nicholas market and stopped into It's Magic in the Eyre Square centre where two teenage girls were gawking at a pin screen. I've never felt older when one said "I've never seen anything like this before!" and I found myself telling her they were all the rage when I were a lass.

We did actually make it to the museum too, which was clean, quiet and pleasant if a little unremarkable. Entry is free. The exhibits (wartime, dance hall days, Irish cinema, prehistoric and medieval Galway) were interesting but not really suited to the kids, though Boy was entranced by the gigantic Macnas puppet from the 2010 arts festival parade and he did like the big hooker hanging from the ceiling. Apart from that the highlight for him was pushing coins into the somewhat empty voluntary donation boxes and going up the stairs and back down in the lift. Three times. Girl remained passively unimpressed throughout.

What was worth remarking on was the museum cafe, which was had a really beautiful brunch menu, gorgeous food well above the usual standard found throughout the county, a good cup of coffee and friendly service too. I will definitely keep an eye out for new museum exhibitions so I've an excuse to return for another plate of mezzes - it gets the thumbs up from all of us!

We don't go into the city centre very often, although we are not far away. So I don't feel too bad about the small fortune we spent. At least I should be able to craft the kids their next six pairs of shoes from all the felt and pompoms freshly packed into the art box downstairs.