Ireland

We wanted to see as much of Ireland as possible in our short week long trip, so we only stayed overnight in Dublin, which is a large city full of old buildings and churches complete with Griffins on the towers.

The next morning we hopped into our little rental car and headed for Galway on the west coast. We passed through a number of small towns, and no matter how small, there was always at least one pub. And yes, the sign does say Budweiser, which is readily available, but Guiness and Hard Cider seemed to be the drinks of choice.

Galway is a pretty, college town which makes it a cultural center and a tourist destination. We also met people from all over Ireland who come to vacation here. In the center of town whole streets have been turned into walking malls where street musicians, human statues, sand carvers and jugglers were in plentiful supply.

When the tide is out, the boats in the harbor are left high and dry.

Most pubs in the town have some great live music, though most of the sessions are for the tourists, and not open for jamming.

From Galway we made out way up the coast to Sligo, where we had a beautiful, though busy, campsite overlooking the water.

Char heard some accordion music in her wanderings, so I looked up this fellow and shared a few tunes with him.

Of coarse, no trip to Ireland would be complete without a pint or two of Guiness.