Notes from Galway I

It won't take too long to see that there are no pics, again.  On the way to Athlone and then to Clonmacnoiose, we stopped in Longford and I purchased another card reader, another European reader, which I was told by the shop owner would work "just fine."  The packaging indicated it would work with "all popular memory cards" and with a Mac. It works fine with the Mac but does not read the "unpopular" SDHC cards which I use.  It apparently can read SD cards and I can always purchase a couple of SD cards and use them for the duration of the trip but that means some of the photo stories will wait.  Of course that is not the end of the story for today.  When we arrived in Galway we checked into the Park House Hotel and after getting ourselves grounded dashed to a nearby camera store where the staff member attempted to sell me the same reader I had purchased in Mullingar.  He was insistent but after removing the directions from the box I convinced him that "OS" meant operating system in describing the various windows systems which would accommodate the reader.  "OS" did not mean the Mac OS "OS."  When we finished in the store it was too late to shop elsewhere.  There will be one more stop tomorrow before we set out and it will either result in the purchase of a working reader or in an SD card.  At this point I know more about card readers than I ever wanted to know.  In fact, this quest is becoming a story of its own.  That story will soon end.

It was a great day otherwise.  We were the only guests left in the Keenan's Hotel and we had breakfast (Continental) to ourselves ... with Nell.  Talkative doesn't begin to describe Nell who gave us the "skinny" on everything (almost) Tarmonbarry.  Too much to note here but we did learn that many of those who have moved into Tarmonbarry in recent years commute to Dublin, a drive requiring 1.5 to 2 hours each way.  I suspect that's peanuts to those commuting from Bristow (hello Rebbecca) but no "small order" nevertheless.  We also spoke with Annette who then took us over to the Guesthouse to visit with Eileen. Ignoring the cane, Eileen hasn't changed much at all.  A pleasant conversation and most enjoyable.  Annette has 4 children, one living in Chicago, two in school in Dublin, and the fourth still at home.  He came in as we were talking and helped himself to a bowl of porridge.  Yucch!  With some trepidation I asked the source for the Salmon.  Much to my delight I learned that the Salmon was SHANNON River Salmon coming from downstream of Tarmonbarry.  At that point it didn't really matter as I had already eaten breakfast, including my fourth "run" with the salmon.  I am going to miss the fish and taste, at least for now.  Kiera would have been in "fish heaven."

On the road:  We traveled east to Longford (as you already know) and headed south to Clonmacnoise. Clonmacnoise is the site of an ancient ecclesiastical site along the Shannon River about 25 miles south of Athlone.  Unfortunately there is no direct route from Athlone and in keeping with my desire to stay on the backroads we really did so this time.  We've experienced winding and narrow roads but today it seemed ever more the case.  There were some trucks that were approaching so fast on our side of the road that breathing became difficult. They apparently knew what they were doing but ...  I am pleased to say there are no branches we are bringing home from today's travels (barely.)  We did smile thinking about Matthew and Samantha making the same road trip.  (Did I hear Dramamine mentioned?)

Clonmacnoise was founded by Saint Ciaran (hello Kiera) in 548 AD and survived repeated attacks and destruction from Vikings, British and weather.  The site is now an Irish National Monument and is in a wonderful location along the Shannon.  The gravestones and structural stone remains suffer the white splotching which is so common here (and hopefully you'll see in pics soon) and yields a somewhat ghostly appearance.  It was cold and after more than an hour's stay we returned to the road.

Next stop:  Athenry - as in "Fields of Athenry."  We never saw the fields (if there are specific ones) which gave rise to the song but we did see plenty of fields along the way.  We can now say "we were there" everytime we hear the ballad.

Then to Galway.  After the "reader" run we found a pub (The Skeff) where we enjoyed our first fish and chips meal since arriving in Ireland.  One of the food "specialties" (?) of this area is, are you ready?, mushy peas.  As you might guess I ate Sheila's but all in all the meal was delicious. We have enjoyed outstanding food since arriving and I can say - mushy peas included.

It was then back to the room and planning for tomorrow.  It looks like the Aran Islands are out and the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher are in.  We'll also do a little shopping in the am before traveling and then returning to Galway again for tomorrow night.  It's a lovely city with a very young population.  It is supposedly the fastest growing Irish city.  We're right in the center of town and it's a great location for walking.  Just in walking tonight we heard French, German and Polish.  The foreign languages spoken were from those who appeared to be college students.  Sheila commented that we heard just as much Polish in Tarmonbarry.  Again, not the Ireland of her father.

Apparently no comments to last night's query: what does "soft margins" mean. Very simple - soft shoulders of which there are many now in Ireland due to their winter.  More about that later.

Tonight's query: what does "traffic calming" mean?

Enough for now.  Hopefully pics tomorrow.

and, Til tomorrow ...