County Donegal

We arrived in Ardara on Tuesday afternoon. Staying in a huge BnB called Bayview Country House. Yes, it does have a view of the Bay, and yes, it's in the country (about 1 km out of the village).

Tuesday night, Tod and I went into a pub in Ardara for some music. The musician was Euann McIntyre (sp?), who played guitar (Tod was really frustrated, because it was out of tune, and he never tuned it all night) and sang. He did some trad stuff and some of his own stuff, which was not too bad. It was fun because he encouraged us all to sing along with the trad songs.

We were seated right in front of him, and he could hear Tod pretty well. He asked Tod for a song, so Tod stood up and did Great Big Sea's "River Driver". He was great, and he got a very enthusiastic round of applause.

We enjoyed it quite a bit, so went back last night. The music was provided by a couple, who reminded me very much of Mitch and Mickey from "A Mighty Wind". They started out doing some lively trad stuff, but after about 5 songs, drifted into the maudlin, so we left.

Earlier yesterday, we had driven up to Crolly, to Leo's Tavern, home of the Brennans of Clannad fame. We expected it to be a real tourist destination, but oddly enough we were the only people having lunch there. We thought about going back for the session, but the road was narrow and twisty, and the idea of driving back in the dark was not very attractive. Although, after the experience last night in Ardara, we are semi-seriously considering it for tonight. However, we are doing the long drive to Shannon tomorrow, so we may not want to be out too late tonight.

So, Shannon tomorrow. Flying home on Saturday. Can't believe it's almost over, but looking forward to getting home.