Tweet, Babloons and lost yesterday

Hey all... well... it's been a whirlwind, unexpected week in Galway... I guess that's how it happens. I intented on only staying the weekend and one thing led to another. Thus, the theme of Galway that sucks so many people in!

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First...

Cassie... just keep playing and listening! I feel very lucky to, not only have a session every night, but be playing and have SO MUCH music all day long. it's really insane and I don't know what I'll do without it at home... we'll have to play more and more, k? Miss you too.

Ma... sometimes I couldn't spot 'er either!

Shannon... Too much fun... I might have to agree and I'm so glad you are liking the stories! NYC... definately... will... get ready!

Paul & Terry... funny ones! Yes, I was aware is was known as Island of White Cow, which I found very ironic as most of the cows there were black! (i know I know)
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ok... where to start.
To begin... I must apologize... this blog, in specific, tells what happened, but it's the most bland account of my experiences during the past week. There's just nothing I can do to tell you guys really what it was like, but, at least you will know where I was. I didn't take many pictures. My camera remained in my bag most of the time. I did do a lot of recording though so, you will be able to hear a lot of stuff when I get back...

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Friday night... arrived to Galway... no place to stay and was in touch with Alan. His friend Keith offered me a place for the night and I graciously accepted... which was wonderful because Alan and I were able to catch up a bit which was long overdue! He taught me a tune, some Irish, we played, drank and laughed the whole night... just a blast. Thanks for that Alan and Kevin.

Saturday, Elaine and I decided to head up to the festival in Riverstown (This was the festival in Sligo that I was supposed to be at, but went to Galway instead)... what a freakin' blast this trip was. We played tunes for 2.5 hours the WHOLE way up in the car. She was lucky I was able to trust her driving with her knee on the Irish roads! In any case, we got there, met her friend, Caroline and Kevin (from Bofin) was there as well. The tunes were fantastic... one session of 37 people and it sounded like 7! We went to a house party and, talk about amazing music, they played all the way through the night. Other than getting sit on by a very large, drunk man, it was an absolute blast. I lasted until about 6am when I took a short nap on the floor... we left at 7 and they were all still playing. Amazing. We headed back to galway that morning after we slept for a couple hours.

Jess (from Drumshambo) came in that night and boy did we have the best time ever! We kidnapped a balloon artist who was just crazy... Aaron... he made us balloons the whole night that were admimately popped by the balloon demon named Kiran... I liked Kiran though, but he was just after our balloons! (alright, the story isn't sounding so good anymore)... Anywho... we had just a blast that night.

Monday we went to the beginners session at the crane bar and I just loved it. I finally was able to play most of the time and, if I didn't know the tune, I figured it out. It was so fun. We headed out after that and later in the night, I went to meet back up with alan and... when the door was opened to greet me... yes... it was the balloon demon. Small world this Ireland is. Turns out, they are very good friends. We watched some amazing Rory Gallagher DVDs and stayed up well past dawn having a grand ol' time... after a few hours sleep, we headed into town to get breakfast... met Edain there and one thing led to another and before ya know it, we were at Nachtan's at it again. The rain was coming down and it was a beautiful day. The drinking started early, but we had a gig to go to that night so, we took it slow... Really, honestly, an amazing time out there that day. Rocky joined us... funny guy... We met everyone at the Grada gig and, my god, talk about amazing music. This would have blown your minds. Oh, so, Grada is the band... that guy Alan Doherty who gave me a lesson a month back... this is his band... uh they are unreal. What a time... we went back to the same house and had music and great Craic all night. Uh... it was an unbelievable day, followed by a sleep in until 3pm yesterday. Yeah...

Yesterday was a bit messed up as I needed some recovery time, but it was good nonetheless... alan and I attempted to walk down shop street, succeeded at getting some food and buying a couple books...

Met back up with Jess and Elain (miss you guys for 2 days!) and then we went to a wondeful session last night. Had to call it an early night and get a good sleep though.

Headed to Feakle Festival today... ah! It never ends and I love it.
So... that's the stories... I know they were brief, but I'm finding it harder and harder to explain my experiences through this blog. At least it will give you an overview.

Smiles.

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