Drinking Guinness with Mom.

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Mom came for an incredible week - she must have brought the sunshine because we had one twenty minute hailstorm all week! Every other day was sunny - literally sunny. We had a tough agenda! When I went up to meet her at the hotel, the bellhop said to me, "Be easy on her, she looked pretty tired when I moved her up before." Well, obviously he doesn't know anything.
The first day I took Mom to O'Mailles shop on High Street to look at all of the Aran knitwear. O'Mailles' tailors made the costumes for the movie The Quiet Man and are the best shop in County Galway to buy knitwear, I promise, even better than the Aran Islands. I am now on a first name basis with the owners because I go in so much. I've bought a lot there and have taken friends to spend money too - I think I'm pretty close to getting a commission now...

Mom bought a gorgeous purple sweater that she wore the rest of the week. She fits right in! Of course, our first stop in Galway was to get lunch and a Guinness! We went to the Quays (great pub) for lunch before we started shopping. Early dinner at the Park House Hotel, a great restaurant and where Mom was staying. She was tired, it was an early night! We were able to go to an early music session at Taaffes so she could hear some traditional music.

The next day we took a day tour of Connemara. Even though Mom rented a car (much to my fear? nervousness?) it was better to take a bus tour, because then she could see the scenery of the wild west! We toured all over with a bus driver named Steve, who sang us songs in Irish. A main part of the tour was Kylemore Abbey and its gardens. The Abbey is actually a castle, originally built in the 1600's by a man named Henry for his wife. I hope there are still men in Ireland who want to build castles for their women! That was beautiful. I think Mom's favorite part of the day was when we went outside Maam Cross to the bridge where John Wayne looks out on his cottage in the Quiet Man...it was a five minute walk to the bridge and she quoted the whole way. Let me tell you, I got in a lot of trouble for not seeing the movie in a long time!

We spent the next day in the Aran Islands biking, with perfect weather. On the island we saw my friend Jake (random) and his parents and then realized his uncle was my fifth grade teacher!! How wild can this get? I've been living with him for 4 months and we finally realize it. Again..it's a small world. I won the $5 by default. Anyway, we biked all over, to the fort, 7 churches, cemeteries, seal colony. The next day we went to Cong, where the majority of the Quiet Man was filmed, and Ashford Castle for tea. Unfortuantely we were not allowed in for tea because we weren't staying in the castle----bah, humbug. It was supposed to be served in the drawing room! I stayed over in the hotel Thursday night and the next day we drove 3.5 hours to the Dingle Peninsula. It was some of the most beautiful country I've seen in Ireland -incredibly green, lush, sheep, seashore, sweaters, flowers - it was perfect. That night we stayed in the hotel in Shannon. It was awesome! Mom rented a car...she can tell you about driving on the left side of the road, I've promised to keep it allllll on the DL.

Finally - what you are probably wondering. HOW much Guinness did Mom have, exactly? I can tell you that she definitely held her own! I can tell you that we did in fact pub crawl and eat fish and chips! I can tell you that YES she did have a Tullamore Dew and we DID go to my favorite 4am coffee place for after dinner food and beverage (wine and cheese for Mom, baileys coffee and a brownie for me). Mom loved Tig Coili the most, as I do -we are related, after all- and loved Salthill, and everything. She told me she didn't think about work once. I think that means a great vacation.
To end the description of Mom's trip, I think this conversation that took place a little before midnight on Thursday will be entertaining:

Katie and Mom are sitting at the bar at Tig Coili, listening to trad and drinking.
MOM: (picking up her tumbler of whiskey) Ooh! How much is left in this?
KATIE: I don't know. Mom just knock it back!
MOM: I need a shotglass, I can't drink this.
KATIE: Mom, just drink it out of the glass why do you need to dirty another?
MOM: Because this is more than a shot! I only wanted a shot!
KATIE: Mom, if you wanted a shot you should have ordered a shot! You ordered a Tullamore Dew.
MOM: Oh. Eee. (Mom knocks it back like a champ)


This video is from the traditional music at Taaffes.