Weekend in Westport, Co. Mayo

As with a lot of the scenic towns in Ireland, Westport seemed a little sleepy in the early March off-peak season, but that definitely worked to our advantage in many ways. Ellen and I checked into the Old Mill Hostel to find that our bunkbeds were the only beds occupied in the room, so we had no random, weird roommates. Straight away, we tried to arrange bikes, but were a week too early for the bike rental place's liking, so we were relegated to exploration of Westport by foot. After walking around downtown for a bit and getting my Ireland rugby shirt that I was after, we went outside of town a bit to look at the mountain, Croagh Patrick, we had decided to visit on Sunday. From a distance of six miles, it dominated the scenery and would prove to be a worthy test for the next day. Before Sunday came, though, we wandered down for dinner at a restaurant on the bay and ended up on the fireside couch, enjoying the heat from the fire, tasty food, and great conversation for nearly four hours. To cap the night off, we wanted to check out some music. Just as easy done as said in Westport; about every pub seemed to have a hand-written "live music tonight" sign in their window. We settled on the famous Matt Molloy's (owned by the Chieftans flutist, for any traditional Irish music fans out there) and enjoyed the craic that was out in full force. To start off our Sunday, we hit a quick morning Mass (most Irish Masses clock in in a little over a half hour) before going out to Croagh Patrick. In lieu of a bike, and keeping in the spirit of adventure, we footed the trip to the mountain, which we had heard to be anywhere from 5-14 miles away. We were correct in assuming the lower end of that range, and even though the approximate six mile walk took about two hours, there were great views of the bay and countryside on the way out. After a quick lunch at the visitor's center, we began our trip up the mountain, which took us two hours to both ascend and descend. I'll get to the experience itself in a forthcoming entry. Feeling a bit wasted from our grueling climb, we were in no mood to hike the additional six miles home. Luckily, Ellen approached some guys that looked like they were college-aged in the parking lot and got us a ride home. I became a mountain climber and a hitchhiker in the same day. After freshening up with a shower and a short rest, we hit the town for another dinner and music session. This pub was definitely not as crazy as Molloy's, and we just sat back and enjoyed the tunes. Again, the music proved to be unpredictable, as people would just come in the door and pick up an accordian or guitar and join right in. I struck up a conversation with a friendly Scottish guy who was there on holiday with his parents and girlfriend of 14 - fourteen!- years. And I thought Irish people were hard to understand. Wow. I did manage to make out that a roundtripper from Dublin to Edinborough was pretty cheap, so my desire to go there was renewed. Exhausted, we left the pub and were asleep by midnight. On the bus back home Monday, we stopped off in Galway for a walk around and lunch. It was one of those really crappy, wet, cold days, so we didn't see too much, but Galway definitely seemed to have it going on. I did pick up a copy of Angela's Ashes at a used book store, figuring it would be safe to read it now that I am entrenched in Limerick and in no danger of wanting to leave early. From the bus station in Limerick, we went straight to school and made our 4pm class - Irish culture, followed by the Irish language class. Even though we didn't have to miss any classes, I'd say that it would have been okay if I did; I got a hands-on study of Irish life and custom this weekend. A wonderful weekend spent with wonderful company. More tomorrow about Croagh Patrick, Molloy's, and pictures.