Velda and Joe: A(nother) Grand Adventure

We are kind of getting on a sleep schedule. That is, we didn’t nap in the middle of the day today, after getting out of bed at 7. Went downstairs for the buffet breakfast, which included all of the makings of Irish Breakfast. Then came back upstairs, took a shower, and headed out for the day.

It was supposed to rain in the afternoon, so we wanted to get at least one thing out of the way. That was the City Museum, which includes the Wild Atlantic Way exhibit. A three floor space, with the Atlantic and science exhibits on the third floor. Second floor was history, and the ground floor was archeology. The history section covered Irish Republicanism, including the debate over whether to sign the treaty with England in 1921. I thought it was a good exhibit.

From there we wandered into the Latin Quarter to check out a bookstore. It smelled like books, and had a very broad range of volumes. There are other bookstores in town, but this is the one you go to if it isn’t a bestseller.

Then to Galway Cathedral. It was a walk, and we crossed at the salmon weir bridge.

The Cathedral is relatively new, finished in 1965, the same year as Corpus Christi’s new (now destroyed) church. It’s a Catholic church, with all of the ornamentation and votive candles I’ve come to expect. There are a lot of sight-lines to uplifting scenes, with a dome that reminded me of St. Peter’s. It struck me that with modern equipment I could shoot inside handheld without a thought, but in 1975 it would have been a 1 or 1/2 second exposure with deep breathing to keep the shaking to a minimum. In other words, no tripods.

Towards the end of our time I was photographing towards the altar from one end of the center aisle when I noticed Velda on the ground with her iPhone in the distance. She shows up very nicely in the photograph.

It was about 3:30 when we finished. Looking for sustenance I found the Corrib House Tea Rooms & Guest Accommodation, on Waterside. A very friendly place, with awards on the walls. We shared a pot of Earl Grey and split a melted ham and cheese sandwich. Since we ate the same thing yesterday, we regretted not photographing either meal. Now that we have a blog, we have to make content, and that was an easy layup.

It never rained, so we meandered back through town, zig-zagging the streets of the Latin Quarter, looking in other bookstores, until we got back to the hotel around 6pm. About 7pm is started to rain.