Galway Races

The way out of Westport was some great riding. The weather was mixed, but it was easier to take it in stride. The way through Murrisk was natural and beautiful, with several major outdoor outfitters offering mountain and sea tours. I visited Kylemore Abby, a west coast “must do” but had to come back the next day when they could not offer a safe place to put my bicycle. The Abby was run as a catholic girls school until 2010, and now appears to be in transition without a clear core business. The tour was disappointing, with only four (4) of the 70 rooms open to the public. One of the rooms had a slide show of the areas they wouldn't let us into. Thanks. The walled gardens were more worth seeing, with historical insights and a functional history of the watering systems and early greenhouses that were used to grow tropical fruit. I also had time to climb Diamond mountain, met a few nice people along the way. I met a Wyoming girl and had a good Irish stew. I'm finding the Irish are very generous in hospitality.

I was then able to make it to Galway in one day, though I had to truncate some of the peninsulas along the coastal route that may have prevented this. During the day, I was the only soul on the horizon as I rode through the bog lands; by night, I was packed shoulder to shoulder in some American themed bar celebrating some girl's birthday who I met in the hostel. After about two hours of primping, the whole lot of us were finally off, with plenty of drunken girl drama to ensue, but I can't make fun, they invited me, and it was good company.

I decided to go to mass, seeing as I'm in Ireland, and I have free time on a Sunday morning. It was nice. I went to Galway Cathedral, which is actually fairly new at 50 years old. I visited the museum, and toured the very nice shopping district downtow
n. One of the shopping areas is built around the cities historic stone walls. It is literally a giant stone wall through the center of the mall, where historic preservation meets modern commerce, yet the design of the mall, textures and colors, make it all come together well. The city is famous for its horse racing an oysters, neither of which I partaked in, but I did learn a few things about Rugby and Hurling. There is also some famous “Galway Hooker” fishing ships, but I could not find any charters. I went out again with a different group from the hostel, and had more relaxed, overall nicer time talking about culture, travel, and life with the German and Australian girls.

Today I walked all over town looking for new brake pads to no avail. I guess the style I have is unique and somewhat dated now, but I called ahead to Limerick and they should have them for me there. The pedestrian areas are very nice, but the automobile areas can be hazardous with narrow sidewalks and mixed driver reactions. The city is clean, but does have a lot of late night pubs where the streets are cleaned early in the mornings. Galway was a good city to see for few days, with good day and night life, and overall good score. Tomorrow I'll head off to the Cliffs of Moher, another “Must Do.” Weather looks good, time to roll out.