Still travelling in Ireland



October in Galway note the Christmas decorations

 GALWAY TO DUBLIN

The rain has been absolutely relentless since our arrival in the western seaside city of Galway, We enjoyed a very traditional Irish meal and managed to avoid the thousands of witches and halloween characters who were revelling in the streets until late. The retail hub was being quickly swept and cleaned when we took this photo in the morning. We could not find the ideal shoes for Ray and the weather was pretty bad so we decided to push on for Athlone.



Bridge over the River Shannon, Athlone



Athlone is in the heart of Ireland and on a fine day you would spend hours wandering around the city with its colourful old shops and the River Shannon which runs through the middle of the town. There are little boats at the ready to take tourists on a cruise up the river to see the remains of a 6th century monastery. However, the weather continued to be foul and we abandoned ideas of walking, cruising or even painting a picture. We imagined that getting to Dublin in this weather is the best use of our time. However, we have Athlone to thank for a wonderful pair of shoes that actually remain dry on the inside.

Getting into Dublin late afternoon in the dark and rain was not as easy as we imagined. We seemed to travel around in circles in city traffic for some time with not a B&B in sight.

Eventually we decided to stop outside a pub called "Hole in the Wall" where old friendly Ray decided to seek directions. After some time he emerged with the news that we were organised for a meal at the pub and that accommodation was in hand. (Glenys seemed a bit dazed and not so sure.)

As it turned out the owner of "The Hole in the Wall"  whose name is PJ McCaffery sat down and had a great old chat with us and his son booked us in at the Castleknock Hotel and Country Club for the night. (Bed and breakfast in an executive suite for 60 Euros!! Not only that after we finished yet another delicious meal which included a pint of Guiness for Ray, PJ (our new friend) led us in his car out to the Country Club and saw us properly checked in.... what a man....  will all Dubliners be like this? Tomorrow and the next night we are off to stay at the Theological Institute as planned.