Had a busy couple of days. Friday we headed down to Galway City, about an hour and a quarter south of Westport, to spend the night and scope out the Galway Arts Festival. We had pre-booked a concert to see the Stomptown Brass group out of Dublin. Cool group - six brass players, trombones, trumpets, sax, and tuba - and three percussionists. High energy and they obviously had a big fan base in Galway - lots of enthusiasm, lots of dancing. The arts festival is a big deal, with people coming from all over Ireland and from the continent. While we were there, it was announced that Galway had been selected as the "European Capital of Culture" for 2020. Believe me, a great honor. It was fun to see all the pride and the celebrations. They will receive substantial funding from the EU and will have to provide a year's worth of top-notch cultural events - dance, drama, music, literature, visual arts, etc. And they have to do it in a way that will create a sustainable arts environment for many years' time. We had a great meal and plan to make this festival a part of our annual planning.
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| Galway City |
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| Artisan pie at The Dough Bros., #3 restaurant on TripAdvisor. Pretty terrific. |
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| Stomptown Brass at Monroe's Live |
Saturday was a pretty quiet day, but we did go into town on our bikes. Should've have taken more pictures but was struck by the beauty of the hydrangeas along the way. These things grow wild everywhere.
On Sunday, we met up with our daughter Eryn's good friend, Paudie Long, an Irishman from Co Limerick, and his lovely wife Andrea. Paudie has been in America for a number of years and he is the manager of Meehan's Pub in Atlanta. Eryn had been a bartender at Meehan's for a few years before she met and married Craig. Paudie is one of this world's great good guys - just a big and generous heart, with a trunkfull of Irish charm. His wife Andrea is a school teacher. She's lovely, smart, funny, sweet and has one of this world's most pleasant speaking voices. A funny thing to notice, I suppose, but it's just so palpably present. We met to hike Diamond Hill in the Connemara National Park. It's a terrific walk. Although demanding, it is not the dire challenge of Croagh Patrick - the path is well-defined and well-maintained, and the climb is more manageable with the ascent in more gradual increments.
Candee and I didn't go to the top, we were a bit sore from yesterday's bike outing and, unfortunately, some heavy mist came in to obscure the spectacular views that would've been available from the top. We had left Westport in one of the most beautiful days of our visit - blue skies and few clouds - and those few white and puffy, a complement and contrast to the blue. As we headed to Connemara, heavy mists rolled in hiding the tops of the high hills. We are certain to take the drive here and the climb to the top on a future fine day. We had a nice lunch with Andrea and Paudie, good food and good things to talk about.
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| On the road from Westport |
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| The path up Diamond Hill |
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| The mist rolls in, turning the climbers on the high loop into ghosts |
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| A good group... |
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| Looking down Letterfrack Harbor to the Atlantic |
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| Heading up to the mists |
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Back in Westport. The Reek is hiding in the mist, but the sun
has slanted under the cloud to light the hillside |
