Galway

We spent the better part of 3 days exploring Michelle's family's ancestral home in the towns of Crosmolina and Ballina, located in County Mayo, Ireland. We roamed the countryside, looking at maps, searching for signs, and just aimlessly driving for quite a bit of time. We think the homes and villages no longer exist, but we did take time to appreciate the beautiful scenery and serenity of the area. On our second attempt, we did find people who occupy the land where her family lived, but all we found was an angry dog and a woman who didn't really have much info for us. But she did allow us to drive around and have a peek of the place.

We've met plenty of friendly people who have been offering us all kinds of advice on how to spend our time in the country. We've gotten good tips on hearing some good traditional music and to check out a music fest. The headliners were a U2 tribute band who were trying their absolute hardest to look and sound like U2, down to their outfits, poses, and banter.

We're now in Galway for the next few days before heading off to Cork for our second attempt to track down Michelle's family. We just watched a Hurling match, which if you're unfamiliar with the sport (much like we were prior to two hours ago), then you'd be surprised to discover that a sport exists that blends soccer, rugby, field hockey, lacrosse, and jai alai. No joke. Good luck trying to figure out the scoring.

We're trying to figure out how to post audio and pics, so when we do we'll have some other things for you to check out other than our lame commentary. But we're doing well and starting to get the hang of this traveling thing.