Christmas is all around us!

I'm going to be back in the 'States soon! On Sunday, I travel, taking planes trains¹ and automobiles. I'm on the same trans-Atlantic flight with Jen, a friend from the program, which is nice-- we're going to try to switch seats to sit near each other. I'm getting in to Grand Rapids, my final destination, late at night. And then I'll be in Michigan 'till the 11th of January! I might not write in the 'blog during that time; after all, its purpose is supposedly to record my life abroad, not in the tiny village where I grew up.


This past weekend, I spent most of my time writing, or researching for, my final essay. Saturday night, though, I got to take a break, because some friends of the family were in town. Steve Cousins and his friend Joe were visiting Ireland, and my mother gave Steve my phone number in case they made it to Galway. They did, and on Saturday night they wanted me to show them around. All I can say is: man those guys are good craic. Hanging out with Steve and Joe is the definition of good craic.

We went to dinner at a seafood restaurant on Quay street, after wandering around pretty much the whole downtown area. Afterward, I took them to The Crane, which has officially become my favorite pub. I knew there would be a trad session going, and since Steve and Joe are both musicians I figured that would be the best thing to show them. When we got there, though, there was an actual event on. It turned out to be John Renbourn, the guitarist from The Pentangle! The Pentangle was a band that my parents loved when I was growing up, playing folk-jazz type stuff, and the song he was playing when we walked in was"Lord Franklin," one of my favorite folk songs they did. He's probably one of the better classical guitarists in the world. Steve, Joe, and I were all very impressed.

After he finished, there was the requisite trad session. It was fun, not particularly exceptional... until one of the fiddle players shushed everyone and then started singing, sean-nos style. Sean-nos, or "old style," is the "traditional" style of singing in Ireland, very lilty and ballad-like, and it's quite rare to hear these days, especially in a big city like Galway. I turned to Joe and Steve and informed them that they were very lucky indeed to hear it. It was an excellent night overall.


And now, a couple pictures, from Galway at Christmastime.

First, by popular² demand, a photo of Virginie and I:

Flatmates!

The streets of downtown Galway have all been decorated with lights... it's very beautiful.

(Sorry it's so blurry, night photography is not my strong suit. Actually photography overall is not my strong suit.)

There are also large Christmas trees scattered around, like this one in Eyre Square:


And, finally, taken just today... the winter sun over Galway Bay.




1: I'm actually not taking any trains, for once, unless you count airport trams. Just buses, cars, and airplanes.

2: And by "popular," I mean "maternal."