This bike had 15 gears but only one hard saddle. Ouch!
What a day! I decided to take Wednesday as a vacation day, and I struck lucky. We went down to Salthill Prom for breakfast, and it seemed like the Mediterranean – the sky was clear and blue, the sun was shining and there was loads of people pottering about on the prom. About 100 metres offshore, the dolphin had made a return – delighting everyone with views of its fin and back as it broke the surface of the water time after time¹.
I’ve just about recovered from my saddle-soreness caused by riding a bike around Inis Mór [the largest of the Aran Islands] on Monday. We went over on Sunday and came back on Monday – unfortunately, the weather was resolutely grey and overcast for every minute we were there. Actually, the last time I was on a bike was in May 2005 – on Inis Mór. In contrast, yesterday and today have been warm and sunny. I thought that the overnight stay was going to be an expensive one – I realised last night that I’d left my tripod behind me on the ferry – it would cost 300-400 euro to replace. As it turned out, the tripod had been travelling over and back for the last two days, and when I rang the ferry company, they offered to bring it in to Galway to me. There was no need – a trip to Ros A Mhíl was the perfect excuse to put the top down on the MG and drive along the coast. [Big thanks to the Aran Island Ferries who sorted me out – and – and this is something that hardly ever happens in Ireland – rang me back a couple of times to let me know that they had the tripod].
I’m writing this just before I go outside to throw a steak on the barbecue. Yes – I know it will be raining and perhaps snowing before the week is out, but I’m going to enjoy this while it lasts. I didn’t get to take any pictures of the parade this year due to an overrun on a photoshoot, so no gallery of parade pictures this year.
¹Because we were just going for breakfast, I left a camera bag with 4 SLRs and a bucketload of lenses sitting in my hallway, so no pictures at all of the dolphin (I think it was a dolphin – it may well have been a porpoise – I could only see a black silhouette in the water). Ah well.
Hello John
I always enjoy your slant on things and delight in your pictures – no matter what their subject. Your tales of the ones that ‘got away’ strike no chord because the photos I see are marvellous – until today. The title ‘Sunny days’ created expectations that your black and white photo from Inis Mor didn’t meet…then I read the explanation of the bag left in the hallway…I thought I was such an unfussy visitor! I’ve been an occasional guest recently and am ‘catching up’ on my holidays, which I’m taking in Queensland, Australia on a magnificent island called Stradbroke. A total contrast to the West Coast of Ireland but unfortunately I possess none of your talent with a camera so won’t be sending any shots.
Thanks for the pleasure your stories and pictures bring.
Warm wishes
Caroline Brudell
Hi Caroline,
You have no excuse for not taking great pictures if you are going to Queensland – have a great time,
BR,
John