Sligo, Ireland (08-25-19)

The small town of Sligo was a last minute addition to our itinerary, and we spent a short two days there before heading to Doolin, where we were spending 4 days.









Along the way: We stopped to take a tour of Marble Arch Cave. When there hasn't been much rain, there is a boat tour to take, but on the day we were there, it had rained, so we walked into the cave to look at the features.

This cave has a river that runs through it, so at times, the walkway has water on both sides.

 My favorite part was when we walked near a section of river, where the water was so still, the reflection looked like it was the actual item it was reflecting.  Very hard to capture in a picture but very cool to see in person.

 

We came to Sligo for the music, which is good because the weather was not great while we were there, so no outdoor activities were on the table.

 Its a very walk-able town, with many pedestrian walkways, and restaurants and pubs along the way.

Happily,  our visit coincided with Heritage Week, which meant more music, more often.
Looking at the schedule, we grabbed a quick dinner and headed to the Snug, a very small pub with (early) traditional music being played.

Being a small pub, it got crowded fast, but the music was incredible, and we met quite a few of the locals.

Robbie introduced us to several of his friends, via iPhone.

The musicians knew their audience, and threw a few Pink Floyd songs in the mix.

We thoroughly enjoyed the place and the crowd participation. We went back the following night, and felt like locals when the bartender remembered what we drink.



















Once the music was done there, we headed to Thomas Connolly Pub, the oldest pub in Sligo.
There we heard totally different music, but very traditional, performed by young artists.


















During the day, it pretty much rained all day, so we were happy to hang out, recoup and get ready to go back out on the town.

Our final night we made sure to get to Thomas Connolly early, so we could get a seat at the very popular pub.  Seamie O'Dowd and his two sons, Stephen and Rory were performing, and Seamie is one of the most well known musicians from Ireland, who just happens to be from Sligo.










We could have spent another few days here,  but it was time to move on to Doolin.

Along the way: Julie and Mike went ahead, and Paul and I stopped in Galway.  I think staying in this city would be a lot of fun, but we were here just to shop.

 Parking was an absolute nightmare.  Most garages were full, and would have signs letting people know which garages spaces available, but we didn't know where they were located and had a hard time finding them.  The parking garages were so tight that most people had to do 3 point turns to go to the next level.








After shopping, and a decent lunch at a pub, we continued on our way.