I arrived in Shannon and was familiar with the drill -- get through passport control, Nothing To Declare, push through the doors and there ye be, in Shannon airport. Fetch a great but pricey cup of coffee, relax in the comfy sofas, go to the toilet because there are no bathrooms on the busses here, then catch the 8:55 am bus to Galway, kill an hour or so there, then hop on the noon bus to Westport. The talk radio is omni-present on all Irish busses and God only knows how the driver doesn't rear-end the fella up ahead because mostly he is laughing his head off from all the nonsense the commentators are spouting.
Once again I stayed in the Old Mill Holiday Hostel, in the all-female dorm which in the deep of winter was brutally cold. There was a heater but w/o much in the way of traffic I think it had not been turned on. I slept in all my clothes and was STILL cold. The bathroom was the same -- the icy seat woke you up when you have to piddle in the middle of the night.
Lukas, a Polish guy living and working at the hostel, gave me some numbers for rooms for rent, also tips on finding more ads at the Super Valu market up the street. The first call led me to Michael O'Hallaran, a 29 yr old musician and Tesco market employee, who rents out rooms in the house he is mortgaged to the hilt for. The house was great, located only 3 blocks from the center of town, my room is on the third floor with one big window and a skylight. The price was excellent -- 60 € a week, 240 € a month. We have access to a washer and a dryer, a great kitchen, cable TV, and a fireplace plus a wall heater in the living room. By Sat. I was unpacking in my new home! My other roommate is Tommy, a Korean engineer who now owns an internet cafe in Westport.
Weather in Ireland is a big topic -- no matter what it is doing outside, everyone has something to say about it. The first weekend it snowed, but combined with gale force winds it was like a hurricane with snow! Very dramatic and lovely to be in a house with a fire, gazing from the comfort of an easy chair I have claimed as mine. Since then, we have had warm spring weather, gloomy winter weather, gales w/o rain, gales w/ rain, sunny but frigid, and today, gloomy but frigid. In short, winter in Ireland.
Pub life is still the center of society here. I limit myself to one drink and then wander from bar to bar in search of good music. Matt Malloy's, owned by The Chieftain's flutist Matt Malloy, has music every night. Young musicians just starting out may start the evening at 9 pm, playing alongside local singer Mick who knows hundreds of Irish folk songs, rebel songs, and ballads. Then around 10 pm, the Real Musicians show up 2-8 of them and they start playing in the small back bar with the coal fireplace. Porter's Pub next door has good music as well and there are other places in town that will offer traditional music on different evenings. There is also rock, sometimes hiphop and this weekend there is a Brasilian samba band playing at Shibeen's down on the Harbor.
As for how I fill up my days, I go walking most days. There is a branch of the Western Way pilgrimmage route nearby that takes me down a farm lane, past sheep and horses and meadows, then over hills toward the sea. I hope to travel it extensively up the coast but so far in my attempts, I have only gotten drenched to the skin. Another walk takes me to the old railway line, now a greenbelt, through a lovely river valley, then out to the coast, along the harbor and back into town. Last week I walked down hill towards the sailing club, through forests and past the old Westport Country House, an old expansive estate. I spotted two mating storks and could hear a woodpecker searching for food. But traffic on the narrow lane became brisk and I feared for my safety when the young male drivers raced by, so after 45 minutes, I turned back. Off-track walking is the best because you can relax and just enjoy the surroundings.
I am planning on getting a car one of these days but drivers here are among the most unsafe I have ever encountered. The combination of young people driving on narrow lanes edged with hedgerows adds up to many traffic fatalities. Mix in an active pub life and it is incredibly dangerous out there. Pedestrians are mere connon fodder -- no one sees them or even slows down for the elderly struggling to cross the street.
But life is good here, comfortable and so far easy. I joined a drumming group and am learning drumming rhythms from African, Latin, and Native American traditions. I find it relaxing to drum with others and I look forward to meeting with this group each month.
Once again I stayed in the Old Mill Holiday Hostel, in the all-female dorm which in the deep of winter was brutally cold. There was a heater but w/o much in the way of traffic I think it had not been turned on. I slept in all my clothes and was STILL cold. The bathroom was the same -- the icy seat woke you up when you have to piddle in the middle of the night.
Lukas, a Polish guy living and working at the hostel, gave me some numbers for rooms for rent, also tips on finding more ads at the Super Valu market up the street. The first call led me to Michael O'Hallaran, a 29 yr old musician and Tesco market employee, who rents out rooms in the house he is mortgaged to the hilt for. The house was great, located only 3 blocks from the center of town, my room is on the third floor with one big window and a skylight. The price was excellent -- 60 € a week, 240 € a month. We have access to a washer and a dryer, a great kitchen, cable TV, and a fireplace plus a wall heater in the living room. By Sat. I was unpacking in my new home! My other roommate is Tommy, a Korean engineer who now owns an internet cafe in Westport.
Weather in Ireland is a big topic -- no matter what it is doing outside, everyone has something to say about it. The first weekend it snowed, but combined with gale force winds it was like a hurricane with snow! Very dramatic and lovely to be in a house with a fire, gazing from the comfort of an easy chair I have claimed as mine. Since then, we have had warm spring weather, gloomy winter weather, gales w/o rain, gales w/ rain, sunny but frigid, and today, gloomy but frigid. In short, winter in Ireland.
Pub life is still the center of society here. I limit myself to one drink and then wander from bar to bar in search of good music. Matt Malloy's, owned by The Chieftain's flutist Matt Malloy, has music every night. Young musicians just starting out may start the evening at 9 pm, playing alongside local singer Mick who knows hundreds of Irish folk songs, rebel songs, and ballads. Then around 10 pm, the Real Musicians show up 2-8 of them and they start playing in the small back bar with the coal fireplace. Porter's Pub next door has good music as well and there are other places in town that will offer traditional music on different evenings. There is also rock, sometimes hiphop and this weekend there is a Brasilian samba band playing at Shibeen's down on the Harbor.
As for how I fill up my days, I go walking most days. There is a branch of the Western Way pilgrimmage route nearby that takes me down a farm lane, past sheep and horses and meadows, then over hills toward the sea. I hope to travel it extensively up the coast but so far in my attempts, I have only gotten drenched to the skin. Another walk takes me to the old railway line, now a greenbelt, through a lovely river valley, then out to the coast, along the harbor and back into town. Last week I walked down hill towards the sailing club, through forests and past the old Westport Country House, an old expansive estate. I spotted two mating storks and could hear a woodpecker searching for food. But traffic on the narrow lane became brisk and I feared for my safety when the young male drivers raced by, so after 45 minutes, I turned back. Off-track walking is the best because you can relax and just enjoy the surroundings.
I am planning on getting a car one of these days but drivers here are among the most unsafe I have ever encountered. The combination of young people driving on narrow lanes edged with hedgerows adds up to many traffic fatalities. Mix in an active pub life and it is incredibly dangerous out there. Pedestrians are mere connon fodder -- no one sees them or even slows down for the elderly struggling to cross the street.
But life is good here, comfortable and so far easy. I joined a drumming group and am learning drumming rhythms from African, Latin, and Native American traditions. I find it relaxing to drum with others and I look forward to meeting with this group each month.
1 comment:
how long will you be back in ireland for? i'm jealous of all your travels. at least we'll have three weeks of fun in a couple of months!
xx zach
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