Tim Freedman

We've just been down to the Roisin Dubh pub (great live venue) to see Tim Freedman play his Whitlams hits and a few newies (new album coming out next year apparently).

Really good show. Not many people there (where have all the aussies gone who packed the place out for Tim Rogers?) but good all the same. The band definitely have fun.

Damn, i've still gotta tell you about our trip to Northern Island last weekend.

Soon...

This weekend - Belfast!

A friend of ours from Galway (another Aussie) has a work conference in Belfast this weekend and decided to drive up, so we're going to scab a lift up with her and spend the weekend up there. (I was getting worried we wouldn't make it up to Northern Ireland before we left, so this is good news)

We'll try and do a black-cab tour, check out the Giant's Causeway, and just sit back and listen to the northern ireland accents...

Now we just need to find a hostel to stay at - if anyone knows of one, please let me know!

Finally - the famous Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher is a stretch of amazing coastline on the west coast of Ireland, in County Clare, an hour or so drive from Galway. This is one of the most popular tourist spots in all of Ireland - and after 6 months we still hadn't made it there!

Luckily, our always-generous Galway-hosts Sean and Marie came to the rescue (much appreciated) and took us down to see the cliffs on a day trip last weekend. A Hungarian friend of Sean's just happened to be in town so joined us as well. It's a great drive down to Clare, along the coast - and would have been even better if the rain had held off.


Unfortunately it started coming down just as we approached the cliffs, so we all got slightly wet braving it on the short walk out to the viewing areas. Check out the clips I managed to snap before i got rain on the lens, hehe. It's a pity visibility wasn't that great, but we still got a great look at the coast and could imagine how nice it would be on a clear sunny day.

The worst part was on the drive back, when the clouds disappeared and the sun came out! Oh well, maybe we'll get back there one day. Who knows.

Ahhhhhhhh - Bundy!!!

Got home from work yesterday to find that Ally had gone out and bought me a bottle of Bundy - soooooooooo nice... Needless to say, I was quite legless last night...

Good stuff - it had a been a while!

Bought a map

I'd seen this cool old map of Galway in shops around the place and decided to buy a copy for myself. It was drawn in the 1800's, and represents Galway in 1651, which was about the time that the city was at its peak.

The original is about 6 feet wide, and has comments around it in latin describing what the different buildings and streets and whatever are. The map above is the one that I got a copy of - it's not the whole thing but shows the center of the city. You can check it out in larger detail here.

I reckon it's pretty cool - mainly because the layout of the city (within the walls at least) really hasn't changed that much, and a couple of the buildings are still here. I'm still not used to 'old'...

Also pretty cool that you can see the lane where we're currently living, and possibly part of the building (well i'm sure it's been rebuilt, but in exactly the same spot).
In case you're interested, our lane is is just inside the walls, towards the bottom, slightly right of center, with the number 73 on it. These days the lane turns left and joins up with number 72 lane, and on that corner is where we're living at the moment.

I love pulling the map out and taking a look at it. Will have to send it home before we leave and get it framed.

Cheers.