First Houseguest

In early April we finally prepared the guest bedroom for the first of several scheduled visitors this spring and summer. Our good friend Eric Hannagen helped ready the room by mounting a mirror on the wall and adjusting the wardrobe to be user-friendly for our guests.

In mid-April my cousin Katie Minion traveled from her present home in Toulouse, France, to visit Ireland. In addition to time in Dublin and Cork, her trip included a few days in Galway, and we enjoyed our time with her. Katie was one of our two flower girls in our wedding 20 years when she was just 4 years old, and it was great fun to spend time both around town and around the kitchen table getting to know her better.

Our good friend Mike Lynch generously took Katie and us around Galway on a combo auto/walking tour…what an amazing guy he is! Not only to spend a few hours with us but the vast wealth of historical knowledge he possesses (here is a video of him explaining part of the history behind the first lynching in Galway)! We were thoroughly engaged and impressed, and enjoyed the tour very much. Our good friend Yvonne Hannagen joined our tour at the Galway Cathedral just before the walking tour began. Following the tour Yvonne, Katie, Tim, and I made our way to the Dough Bros restaurant, where we enjoyed some of the best pizza we’ve had in Galway to date! The weather was lovely and the twilight skies gorgeous.

Katie had such a good time she decided to stay an extra night, which we thoroughly enjoyed. Not only was she an easy first houseguest, she brought us macarons and chocolate from France, and was a delight to have in our home. There has been some talk of her coming back to visit during June, and I hope that she is able to make that happen!

The following week we took a short drive into Connemara and found ourselves on a delightful little road (here is a video). Tim climbed the hill at Silver Strand, and at the end of that week he returned to the States, signalling the start of the longest-yet separation in our 20 years together. That weekend I took a few photos of St. Mary’s, as the cherry blossoms were in full force.