Today was a day of towns. First, off to Spiddal. Though it's less than a two mile walk, we had lucky timing and were ready to go just as Rory, the favored hackney driver of the CSB/SJU students, arrived to take a few of them into town so we asked for a detour in the other direction to Spiddal.
Once there, we made a brief visit to the church where they speak Irish during mass. Someone stopped in to say a prayer and light a candle. She deposited a coin in a metal box to cover the cost off the candle or support the church, however you want to look at it. The particular clink of a euro coin into a metal box is one we heard quite a few times after mass in Dublin too. This form of piety or donation or prayer seems to be popular among a certain sector of the population.
Mom and I also walked out by the bay and saw several hookers. Now, that's a particular type of boat used in this area, prized for its stability in the water.
The center of Spiddal is only about two blocks. We popped in and out of a butcher shop, pub, grocery/post office, bank, pharmacy, and coffee shop (connected to one of the pubs), and past a few other shops, restaurants, and local hotels. Then we had lunch with Anna, Rick, Sylva, and Norah and a bit of a clown car ride back to Park Lodge. Rory rolled up right on time to take us all into Galway. Our friends are heading out for a 10-day mid-semester break so wanted to leave their car at home.
After storing their luggage we walked around the center of old Galway, down the pedestrian streets and over to the river. Since the River Corrib flows into Galway Bay right there, it's affected by the tide. We caught it at or near low tide, so walked out on the rocks to get close to the mute swans that make this river their home. One picture below.
Soon it was time to bid farewell to our friends. But not before Steph found the flute she barely dared hope for! And I even "christened" it on Shop Street where we passed close to a dozen people truly busking in the course of our day.
Mom and I then headed to Taafee's Pub, where there's an early session of traditional Irish music each evening. We caught some fancy reels on video to share later. We wanted to try to visit the cathedral ("catEEdral" as the Irish say), so walked along the river. The church was locked up by the time we strived, but that just meant we got to repeat the lovely walk along the river in the daylight.
By this time we were in search of dinner. We found good pub food, then went in one more shop before closing time. Rory brought us back to Park Lodge Hotel for one more night. Tomorrow we'll tour the Burren area and Cliffs of Moher, then catch a bus to Dublin.
I'm including here a photo from a brief visit I made to the rocky shore of Galway Bay that's about a five-minute walk directly down from our hotel. I arrived not too long after sunrise this morning. I just love the light reflecting off the water and rocks. The sky was clear tonight too so we saw the quarter moon reflecting on the bay on our ride home. A lovely set of bookends for the day.
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