10 Questions About…

You know god loves us best when we have perfect weather on an 8-hour tour around the west of Ireland. It rained just enough to give us a few rainbows and only when we were on the bus or inside. The funny thing is, we intended to do a different tour but the bus was too full for our taste, so we took a gamble.

We left Galway around 10am. The bus driver shares info the tour most of the way, but in a way where you can tune in and tune out. We stopped at a few places before the mainliner – the Cliffs of Moher. First stop was Dunguaire Castle. One of several castle/castle ruins we saw on our trip. I’ve grouped them all together. The buildings are amazing. We also saw some thatched cottages. I’m grouping them here too and sharing a fun etymology lesson. The term “raining cats and dogs” comes from cats and dogs slipping off the thatched roofs in the rain. (That theory is unsubstantiated but is the best one I’ve heard.)

We drove through the Burren, which is an interesting patch of land. It’s half rock and half rough grass. Apparently, it’s the limestone in the rain that helps form the unique structure. (Or that’s what I heard when I tuned in.) Absolute bonus was a stop at a dolmen. A dolmen is a prehistoric tomb. We actually lived near to one in Dublin years ago, but it was much smaller. It looks like a large stone table of some sort. We learned that the top slab of the one we saw was 6 thousands tons when it was built. It’s a mazing to think about how (and why!) people who build them back in the day.

We drove by Lisdoonvarna, home to a famous one-month match making festival. (September if you want to mark your calendars.) We had lunch in Doolin. Sadly no music at the pub. Doolin is famous for traditional music sessions.

We got to the Cliffs after lunch. They are stunning. We went when the girls were young and I had terrible memories of there being no safety features whatsoever on top of a stone cliff 200+ meters over the sea for something like 5 miles. It feels much safer now. I didn’t have to hold Kate back at all. We had 90 minutes to walk around and we used up pretty much all of that time walking the path we could. We didn’t see a puffin, which was a great disappointment but it’s really the wrong season. Another memory from our trip when they kids were little was midges – everywhere. Midges flying around blocking the sun! But we didn’t have that either.

A bonus was that we could see Lahinch from the Cliffs, which brough back great memories from a vacation there with Grandma and Grandpa when the girls were little.

We drove home along the Wild Atlantic Way. We stopped in a pub for a drink. (Or a bonus walk for some of us.) And then a peaceful drive.

Kate and I had a really nice dinner then she went off to get ready for her week and I went to an open mic night at Roisin Dubh. It was fun to hear a lot of local musicians at once and to see the community vibe that always supports a good local music scene. As a bonus, The Fynches were playing in the main room and I got to see them too.

(The videos are slowing uploading while I’m on the bus.)

I know the streets of Galway about as well as anyone now. I’ve walk 10+ miles a day while here. Now that doesn’t mean I know the people, history or culture but I know how to get from A to B. I started the cloudy day with lunch with Kate and then a wake down the river and back to the sea. It really is nice to breathe in the sea air and focus on the steps.

I checked out the regular Saturday market as well as the Christmas market.

Then Kate and I met up for a walk around the city and have a very delicious meal at Dela.

Woke up to lots of rain but as soon as I saw a glimmer of sunshine I was out walking. I found myself visiting a cemetery. There was an amazing view of the bay there.

I stopped into the Galway City Museum. I love to see the Galway hanging from the ceiling. I love the views from the top floor.

Then I walked about the bay. The sun was starting to shine, and I even got a glimpse of a rainbow. I walked out the lighthouse. It was windy but nice.

And when I got back to the hotel, they had turned on the Christmas lights. There will be a Christmas market right in front of the hotel. At night, I met up with Kate and her work crew. They were very funny. They seemed very nice and they all seem to like each other, which is nice.

Yesterday I walked about 17 miles around Galway. I started with a walk to Menlo Castle on the River Corrib. It’s nice (and healthy) walk through University College Galway. The campus is an interesting mix of old and new building. It reminds me of University College Dublin in that way.

On the way back, I popped into the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas. It’s a big church and a working church. Lots of hustle and bustle, even on a weekday morning. The art is gorgeous. I really liked the very modern painting of the Nativity.

I got to see the “other” jewelry store where Kate works. It’s in a shopping center near my hotel. Sounds like the shopping center shop does a great business around Christmas and near first communions while the other does well during the tourist season.

In the afternoon, I walked down the Salthill Promenade.

At night Kate and I went to see storytelling at the Crant Bar with Rab Fulton, who also has a podcast of storytelling.

And at night, I found a little music at the King’s Head.

Nothing more peaceful than a 2+ hour bus ride from Dublin to Galway. Guaranteed to have plenty of music from the 1980s on the radio. It’s warm and cozy. And you can watch the sheep and (as a friend used to say) the “natural barriers” (aka fences) roll by. Thanks to the beauty of technology and some memory of the last time I was here, I got to my hotel, which is very central and will be smack dab in the middle of the Christmas fair when it opens, which I think it this weekend.

But the highlight is seeing Kate’s life here. She’s been here two years now. There have been high and low points, of course, but she seems to be in a great place now. She works at a jewelry store. The people seem very nice and it allows here some flexibility and have been a great way to meet folks and see famous folks as they walk by or come in. Apparently, President-Elect Catherine Connolly was a regular passer-by.

I also visited her flat. It’s so central. She shares with a roommate. The place is very artistic but also, big and very nice. In her living room, I spied a poster from her monthly event, a local drink and draw. Each month, she hosts an art night at the Blue Note. She brings some arti supplies, a few lessons (worksheet-style) and the encouragement. They have been very popular.

We had a lovely dinner of tapas at a place called Sangria and walked around town. Everyone knows Kate. Hellos from folks playing music, at the pubs and sitting on the street corner. We saw some much and mostly I took pictures of the street art.

I’m writing this Friday evening as we take the coach from Galway to Dublin. Kate had to work today so I was solo all day. I do enjoy a free day of doing whatever I want. I will admit I probably had two hours longer than optimal alone-walking time. (Sidebar: on top of her artist residency, Kate recently started working at a hotel.) It was a gorgeous day – lots of sun and not much rain at all. I got 12 miles of steps in; I’m not even sure if they have 12 miles of street in the City Center. I spent the last 40 minutes pretending to be a guest in the lobby of a very nice (and warm!) hotel lobby. I’m just going to organize photos by idea rather than any sort of linear chronology. Think of it as my Beckettian post of the trip.

Claddagh
Claddagh is the part of Galway city where the River Corrib meets Galway Bay. It used to be a fishing town. (Bonus factoid: I was told several times that the River Corrib is the fastest river flowing in Europe. It’s formidable – and that’s from someone who walks by the Mississippi River often.) Many folks know the Claddagh ring (pictured below). Well, rumor has it that the design came from Richard Joyce in the 17^th century. He was apparently kidnapped by pirates and sold as a slave in the West Indies to a goldsmith. He learned the trade of jewelry making and eventually got back to Galway where he created the hand and heart motif.

Street Art
Art is big in Galway. I learned from the Galway City Museum that the poet has historically (going back centuries even) been a well-respected position and Galway was top Cultural City of Europe for many years – until bad weather caused them to cancel so many festivals. (Or so I was told by a local.)

Galway Cathedral
I popped into the big Cathedral because I had a long time. It’s gorgeous inside and every much a working church. Lots of people lighting candles and praying. I love the St Therese of Lisieux corner. (It is my middle name.) Although, I sometimes question the idea that she became a saint by doing many good little things. I like the concept except I don’t they’d make a man a saint for doing many good little things. Maybe it’s the word little. Honestly, it sems like being consistently kind, helpful and generous can be much harder than one big miracle.

Galway City Museum
All of the signage in the museum is prominently in Irish and English. There’s an exhibit on the history of Galway going back to Druidic culture and language. That morphs into a more recent history of Ireland decoupling from the British colonizers. (I won’t say more – you can buy me a beer if you want my broken recollection of the history.) There are also very family/kid friendly exhibits on science and Ireland and giant Galway hooker (the boat) hanging from the walk. But my favorite part was the collection of gig posters from 1979-1982 called This is the Modern World, as a nod to The Jam.

Today we traveled via van through Connemara. We thought we were going by big coach, we went on little van. But apparently, we were the bold hounds who grabbed the only seats with tables in the back – even though we weren’t the first to arrive – so we were very comfy. We heard all about the area enroute from our fantastic tour guide, Padraic Moran from Wild Atlantic Way Day Tours.

Connemara is in Western County Galway, much of it on the Atlantic coast. It’s known for ponies, stones and Irish speakers. The Connemara ponies are smaller than most horses so apparently it’s a good starter for horse riders. Connemara stone, or Connemara marble, which comes from the area. It’s a greenish stone. Connemara is the largest Gaeltacht (Irish speaking area) in Ireland. There are still many Irish speaking schools and many summer schools or other programs where people might go for accelerated, immersive language lessons. The connection to culture is as close as the language.

Much of day was spent checking out the views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Aran Islands and/or the 12 Pins (aka 12 Bens), which is a mountain range. (The Banshees of Inisherin was filmed on the Aran Islands. So, it’s that kind of stark, creepy, yet beautiful world of lots of nature and few people.)

At one point, we seemed to drive through a rainbow. The weather is wild. It can be sunny and storming at the same time. We had a day where the harder rain really held off until we were on the way back to Galway. Otherwise, there was plenty of mist but nothing to hold us back too much. And we had lot of clear skies to see the Islands and mountains when the views were the best. Skyway Drive was a spectacular view of the coast. My palms were sweating the whole way from the heights.

The big stop was Kylemore Abbey. Actually we had a choice between the Abbey of climbing on of the 12 Pins. On a less rainy day or with better clothes, I might have gone with the mountain hike. One out of eight on our tour did.

The Abbey is majestic from the outside. It feels like it’s in a mystic, foggy valley and deep woods. The building was originally a castle built by John Henry. He gave it up after his wife died and kids grew older. It went from hand to hand until someone lost it in poker game. Eventually, the gambler ran into harder times financially and the sisters were able to buy the abbey for a song. It was a boarding school for the elite. I can only imagine the ghost stories they told. It still is an abbey for the Benedictine nuns.

On the way home, we stopped by the famous bridge from the Quiet Man, a movie I should probably watch at some point although John Wayne doesn’t sell it to ne much.

The first step is the hardest is never truer than the start of an overseas vacation but my New Year’s resolution is to travel more in 2024. (It even rhymes.) And why not start with a visit to Kate in Galway. I left Monday (Jan 1) at 9pm, traveled and now it’s 5am on Wednesday and I’m jetlagged.

The travel was fine. I flew to Amsterdam, and had three hours to wait for my next flight, so I got a little walk in around the airport. The highlight was seeing the Schiphol Clock, it’s giant clock above a main terminal and it looks like a man is standing in this giant airport clock, painting the hands in real time. I feel lucky I even noticed it. According to Atlas Obscura, the painter is actually a 12-hour-long recording, that gives a convincing illusion that a human is standing inside the translucent clock, busy at work as the hands go around. The artists, Maarten Baas, is a well-known Dutch artist and designer that has a series of similar live clock recordings.

I more intentionally sought out Rijksmuseum Schiphol, which seems to be a sample plate of a larger museum in town. A few amazing “Dutch master” sort of paintings. I noticed a big trend in painting women selling fish.

I finally caught the flight to Dublin. I hightailed it to the coaches and got an express bus to Galway. I was feeling very lucky since it did sell out. It was dark and rainy but still nice to be in Ireland. Kate met me at the Galway station with a Diet Coke and croissant in hand. Two of my favorite things in Ireland. What a thoughtful kid. We taxied to the Maldron hotel, which happens to be where she works. Let’s just say, I have a very nice room.

We headed to the city center. It was damp, but not raining. (Very important distinction.) We had a nice dinner – three cheers for seafood chowder  -then walked around and checked out a few pubs. There was live music in many of the pubs. Often it’s a choice of tradition or cover music. We went with traditional. There was amazing musicians. The key is finding an intimate place that still has good seating for us.

We capped off the night at a heavy metal/rock pub. See if you can figure out all of the featured artists on the mural. (One mural is on the ceiling, which made it harder to capture.) More adventures today!