I'm delighted to notice that the record shop is blaring out VS by Pearl Jam:
I head in and have a look for some music to fuel the afternoon drive which we are taking up the western coast. I settle on the Rolling Stones new album:
We head off in the Car and try to find the hotel. Our soundtrack is the opening track os Big Bang; "Rough Justice". It's definitely the stones. They have such an established sound, that you get the feeling that you've heard it before, but you know that it's good. It even has good quality Mick Jagger lines such as:
"So put your lips to my hips baby
And tell me what's on your mind
I know you still got that animal attraction for me
It's been a long, long time"
We are staying at the travellodge, and my brother and I are delighted when we find out that we can tap into a free wifi connection in the room. Jesus, we're easily amused.
Our road trip takes us up the coast, where we stop by the beach and head out onto the rocks for a picnic. The weather ahs really improved since leaving Dublin, where it was pissing it down. Now we have bright sunny weather with a little cooling breeze, which seems perfect for the smooth sands which make up our view of the Gallway coast.
We have produce left over from the market in Dublin which we have augmented with some salads and stuff from a Supermarket on the way.
After lunch, my brother stays in the car with his sketchbook while my parents and I head out on a wee walk. It's a great little town, and the pubs are already overflowing, even though it's 2 hours until the Hurling kick off. We head of on a country road which takes uss down and onto the beach, and then get a few photos:
There is a river which flows into the sea, and I am convinced that there must be a place where we can cross it and head back to the car. We head along one side of the river, and soon realise thatit was afruitless short cut. My dad however wants to continue. I think it''s something about woodland walks, he seems to think he's in the scouts again. We very quickly get lost. We are trailing my father along the path, when we follow him under a bridge which has a rusty sign instructing trespassers to beware of the dog.
We have now went under the main road and have to climb through ferns and long grass to make it up to the wall where we climb over and jump onto the road. So much for shortcuts.
Once back at the car, we head back to Gallway to hit the street and see what atmosphere is offered by the home town of the Hurling championship underdogs.
My brother and I watch about 30 minutes of the first half over a pint of Guinness, but the fact that we have no knowledge of the rules, game or scoring system, and can't actually see the screen means that we are cheering along with the crowd about half a second after they are. We head out for a wander.
Out on a a wander, we window shop for a little while, have another pint and generally doss about until we meet my parents a the car and head back to the hotel. The most memorable moment during this donner was when we saw a drunk with a radio having a conversation with an Oscar Wilde statue about how the game was going:
By now we've heard almost all the stones album. It's fairly uninteresting. Mick still seems to think that white guitar based disco isn't dead. By far my favorite track is the bizarre Keef vocal lead "track 6???", his gravely weather worn out of tune voice works great on the track. He is a living legend, a knight of the 20th century who wears history on his face. All in all he is a human miracle just on the fact that he can still stand up.
Dinner is a quiet affair in a little restaurant, then we head out to a few more pubs. They are full to the brim, but luckily due to the smoking ban, the bars now spill onto the street. We stand about outside with our pints of guinness and talk to a few locals. I think Gallway would be a great place to some with some mates for a pub crawl.
It's a pretty early night when we head off to bed, having completed the western leg of our family weekend to Galway
No comments:
Post a Comment