Ballyvaughan and Galway

So here’s the deal with Ballyvaughn. 38 years ago, Kay and I flew to London, spent the night, then took the train to Fishguard, Wales, and thence to Wexford, Ireland. It was Kay’s first trip abroad; I had been a few times. We drove all around the country, with stops all around the West Coast. We drove into the Burren region of Clare and ended up at Hyland’s Hotel in Ballyvaughan. We like the place and the area so well that we stayed for several days.

The town was tiny, and back in 1989, there wasn’t a great deal to do. Hyland’s had a pub and on several of the nights, they had impromptu traditional music sessions complete with bodhráns, tin whistles, guitars, and uilleann pipes. I played a little harmonica, and they let me sit in on the session; one of the older musicians told me not to fret about my playing, because “no one will hear you at all, boyo.” That night may have been the most intoxicated I have ever been, although there are parts I can’t recall. I wasn’t entirely to blame. At the time I was unaware of the Irish/British round system.

If 2 of the lads are drinking, they buy each other round for round. But the rule holds regardless of the number of guys drinking: 3 guys, 3 rounds, 4 guys, 4 rounds, you get the picture. On this occasion there were at least 8, including me; you do the math.

In any case, Kay and I have often thought about the place fondly and occasionally considered going back. Yesterday we actually did it. It’s changed a bit; it’s clear that it is more prosperous now then in 1989, and they have done some work on the waterfront that looks out over Galway Bay. They had a sign that pointed to some of the local attractions, and at least while we were there, there was an older gentleman who parked his donkey cart under it. He had trained a small dog to sit on the donkey with a pipe in his mouth, and for 50 pence, you could have a picture taken in front of it.

I recall suggesting to him that if he could train a cat to sit on the dog’s back smoking a cigarette, he would probably boost his profits. I recall that he looked thoughtful.

So a few things have changed, but many have stayed the same. There were a few moments when we first got there that were a bit emotionally overwhelming. I’m not given to nostalgia or existential angst, but you’d have to be pretty unreflective not to consider the contrast between who you were 38 years ago and who you are now. On the whole, I’ve had a pretty good run to this point, and I’m far from finished. Huh, it just occurred to me that it would be pretty ironic if I pitched face down into my porridge after writing this…

Ok, it’s been 5 minutes, and I feel fine, so take that, irony. Kay and I had the usual full Irish breakfast, then strolled around the town for a bit. We decided to catch the Aillwee Cave & Birds of Prey Centre just down the road. We passed on the cave (we’ve seen a lot of caves over the years) and took in the raptor show. It was pretty interesting, and you get up close and personal with the various hawks and owls as part of the show:

We decamped and headed up the road to Galway. We are staying in what they call a “self-catering” apartment by Galway Bay. It is pretty comfortable and spacious, but it is astonishingly difficult to work the appliances or heat. Just using the combination washer-dryer required multiple queries to AI, and you have to turn the outlets on and off before using them. Jon and the in-laws had spent the night in Limerick and didn’t show up till later. Kay and I decided to just walk around the town and get some grub. One thing about Ireland: you don’t have to walk more than 10 feet or so to find a pub. We stopped at Mary Mullin’s Pub. There were two musicians playing incredible traditional music in one of the snugs. I took a video I wanted to post, but apparently you need a Ph.D. in computer engineering to do that. When I get home, I’ll try again.

I should mention that I pulled off an amazingly bone-headed stunt last night. Kay and I were feeling a bit peckish, and I volunteered to walk to the Tedesco down the block. I got back to the door when it hit me; I had forgotten my phone, which had the key code for the door on it. No problem, I’ll just call Kay…oh wait. Maybe I can call the management…wait, no phone, and I didn’t have the number anyway. What to do? I stopped at the pub down the street, ordered a pint, and considered. Maybe Kay would eventually come looking for me. The woman behind the bar told me where we were staying was a busy place and someone was bound to eventually come in or out, and that’s what eventually happened. Later, I discovered that the key card I had on me the whole time would have opened the door.

Today we are just going to hang around Galway, do a little sightseeing, and generally relax. The hot spot for tourists in the Latin Quarter. It turns out that it is not called that because of anyone speaking Latin, Latin Americans moving there, or anything else like that. It is considered a little bohemian, and the city fathers just decided that would be a good name.

There is always a certain amount of tension to this kind of travel. On the one hand, you spent good money to get here, and there are lots of things you feel like you should see; who knows if you will ever get back? Then there is the idea of vacationing, which involves unstructured time, strolling, and multiple pints of Guinness followed by a nap. I do both, but truth to tell, I’m more of a strolling, low-stress kind of tourist. I’ll document my day in Galway and report back in my next post.