January 14, 2004



Today we visited Kylemore Abbey, which houses a school for girls run by Benedictine nuns. The scenery along the way from Galway to the Abbey was absolutely stunning. The snow-capped mountains surrounded by the lakes and the ocean was amazing. It actually hailed on us a bit while we were at the Abbey. It's peculiar how unpredictable the weather is here. Since school was in session we didn't actually get to tour the Abbey, but it was amazing all the same.

Tonight I went to hear some music with the Irishman I met last night. He agreed to take me around to some of the places where bands were playing traditional Irish music, which was awesome. He also introduced me to some of the other locals there. They were all very interested in what our group was studying and the places we had left to visit. And they were ready with advice as to what we should see and do. One thing I didn't expect to find, though, was a guy from South Carolina. (He had lived in Ireland for a while.) When he found out that I was from Kentucky, he immediately wanted to talk basketball. It burst his bubble when he found out that I was actually a Duke fan since he was a Tar Heel fan. A new Irish phrase I learned applies to tonight, "The craic was 90," which means the conversation and atmosphere at the pub was grand.