WYBMADIITY and rain, rain, rain

Showers all the way with Galway; possibly the rainiest area in Ireland. So we are getting used to that now. Due to the weather Friday morning we aborted our plan to go to the Aran Islands for the day. We have a few days up our sleeve here so we can afford to park the idea. Despite vowing that we would not follow the tourist coaches to the Cliffs of Moher, we did just that. By late morning we were out in the rain tramping over to the Poulnabrone dolmen as part of our tour in the Burren. This dolmen is said to be over 5,800 years old, older than the pyramids and is a remarkable structure.



And Yvonne knows what WYBMADIITY means



From there, we headed into coastal Doolin where we joined a large throng of people sheltering and lunching in O' Connors pub. Something of a local icon we gather and the meal was very good too

So we headed off into the rain and the Cliffs of Moher. The raincoats were working flat out but our legs were soaked through by the time we dashed from the car park to the cliffs. There were a few other mugs also out and about and the outlook was not too bad. But we did not hang around for the cliff top walk we planned. Perhaps in a few days time when staying in Clare County we will come back this way to finish the job.

From there we straggled back to Galway, had a bite to eat locally at Salthill, before finishing by far our dampest day. The locals and radio stations say that the weather is terrible for this time of the year. But by now we know they lie about weather to us visitors. They just get on with life, some without raincoats, some even in T shirts. We figure that most do not even know when what we call rain is happening.



Saturday arrives and it seems to be clearer today and the rain is certainly backing off. After breakfast we walked into town, checked out the Saturday markets and caught up with Luke, brother of Rachael's Brisbane friend Leah. Luke works in McCambridges an up market gourmet food store in the heart of Galway city. We had a good chat to someone obviously well set in Galway and enjoy a coffee before moving on to finish our look around the city. The place certainly has a very relaxed feel about it. We enjoy our lunch near the river and Spanish Arch at Ard Bia at Nimmos before walking back to our bayside B&B, passing some locals playing competitive Aussie Rules in the damp. No Jimmy Stynes in this lot though.



In the afternoon we drove over to Athlone where after a walk around this old town, we dropped into Sean's bar, said to be the oldest pub in Ireland, if not the world. A very cute little pub that dates back to the year 900AD. And yes this has been researched. During renovations in 1970 the walls of the bar were found to be made of 'wattle and wicker' dating back to the ninth century. A few chords of Irish music later and we moved to back bar where we watched some Wimbledon tennis. Athlone is a foody heaven in its own way so we enjoyed a great dinner before heading back home.