A Walking Tour of Galway

So, this blog post will  be a simple tour around Galway. Tuesday morning dawned bright and sunny

Good Morning Galway!

By the way, the sun begins to rise and the birds begin to sing about 4:15 a.m. and the sun is fully up by 4:30! And it doesn't go down until - well, after my bedtime. That was it's own experience, but I digress.

It was still cold Tuesday morning and began clouding up as I prepared to take another walk. I left the Adare House behind and began walking in a different direction (monks must be willing to move in any direction at any given time).

I love the patio gardens in front of all the little houses - the flowers are big and bright, bold and beautiful! And they seem to welcome the stranger, offering their own gift of hospitality to whomever passed by.

There are brightly painted doorways (love the red!), 

a profusion of color spills from beds and pots, 

and climbs over fences,

while tough minded bits of color push their way up from beneath rock and dirt that forms stone fences all along the way - 

I want to be just this tenacious!

why, fragrance and color even drips from the trees!

I wound my way up and around block after block until I found myself near what I presume to be the Hospital Project Office (about 2 miles), then turned and headed back down toward more familiar territory until I found myself standing at what became one of my favorite landmarks

You're almost Home!

Around another corner is "home".

After a short rest, I headed back toward town to explore along the river. There are three bridges that cross the River Corrib in Galway. The Wolfe Tone Bridge was the one nearest the Adare House that we crossed everyday as we walked into the old City. As I crossed the bridge, I noticed a walkway along the river, so I took it.

It's a neat little paved path called Comb Walk, that winds along the river bank. Along the pathway, you might see lovers walking hand in hand, or a couple carrying a canoe back to a drop off point, or old men and young boys fishing for salmon.

If you keep following the path, you'll cross O'Brien's Bridge

always spotting the green dome across the river behind the trees

or the ancient spires of St. Nicholas Collegiate Church (the Anglican/Episcopal church) in old-town Galway.

At Salmon Weir Bridge you can fish for salmon or you can cross over and visit Galway Cathedral, a "new" church, dedicated in 1965. It is the youngest stone church in all of Europe.

Since I didn't have my fishing gear, I turned onto the property at Galway Cathedral, and my eye caught a glimpse of this stone statue to my left. As I moved closer, I saw her - emerging from the stone. 

On the way to Ireland while on the plane, I read Sue Monk Kidd's newest novel, The Invention of Wings, the story of Sarah and Angelina Grimke, South Carolina plantation owner sisters who fought for the emancipation of slaves in the early 1800's. Their fight to free the slaves eventually led to their fight for their own rights and the liberation of women. They were sweet little Southern girls who managed to muster plenty of gumption and courage to help themselves and others find freedom  - this statue entitled Equality Emerging gave me a visual of their story. Just yesterday, I read a Huffington Post article posted on Facebook about a 75-year old woman pursuing the priesthood to the point of risking excommunication from the Catholic Church - because she's a woman, and women cannot be a part of the priesthood. I thought of this statue; somehow, it seems rather significant to me that this statue is right here, at the entry of the grounds to the Catholic Cathedral in Galway. It was a holy moment for me.

Tomorrow, I'll share a little about our first night together as "pilgrim monks".