Some Sights and Sounds from Ireland

Oh, hi. It's been a while since I've posted anything here, and I did actually have plans of regular updates. Fortunately/unfortunately, it seems I don't have time for that. But here's a few pieces of some of the more vivid experiences of my time in the city of Galway and excursions to other parts of Ireland.

A whirlwind of sound: a traditional ("trad") session in progress tonight at the Tig Coili pub, one of my favorite places in Galway. They're midway into a set of reels. Why can't St. Louis have music this good on a Monday night?

The Cliffs of Moher, on the coast of County Clare. The pathway along the cliffs is lined with large sheet rocks you might make out in the top right. My first sketch in Ireland was begun while I rested after feeling light-headed and queasy from the long and stomach-churning bus ride down from Galway. It was a gloomy day with low clouds moving in, but somehow that felt right.

A view from inside Dun Aonghasa, an Iron Age fort on the edge of a different set of spectacular cliffs (you see a number of those around here.) Dun Aonghasa is on Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands, southwest of Galway. On that day we had brilliant sunshine.

The view of Dingle Harbor from our hostel. We spent a weekend on the Dingle Peninsula, which is part of County Kerry, a 5-hour bus ride south of Galway. It was an excellent weekend besides sharing a room and single bathroom with 11 other guys (way too much drunken giggling between 2 and 3 a.m. among some of the other occupants of the room.) We also had the best weather of the trip so far--resplendent sunshine but mild temperatures and a light, persistent sea-breeze.