Westport, County Mayo

Last weekend, Erin and I went to Westport with Colm, a colleague of mine, to experience of bit of the country outside of Dublin. We arrived in Westport late Friday night after the 4 hour drive across the country. Colm parents were amazing hosts and spoiled us the entire weekend, thanks again!

We got a lift to town from his house in one of the many bays of the area to the West Bar for our first pints. After this, we went to John's Bar, which had a great fireplace and a live band playing the traditional songs, who of course was one of Colm's friends cousins. If you aren't related to someone, you know them in some way shape or form. The Guinness there was really good. After the bar we made it to the night club and ended the night in the early morning hours. It was a good taste of the city for the first night and Colm and his friends showed us a great time. It is cool to be out with the locals as you seem to always do things you normally wouldn't as a tourist (i.e. we would've never choose John's bar out of the nearly 50 in Westport town, as its off the beaten path). Erin and Steve, Colm's good mate at Matt Malloy's:The club warrants a post of its own, but I'll leave it to you to experience it yourself. Funny enough, John's Bar happens to be right across the street from McCarthy's Pub!! This one is for you Johnny Mac!

The next morning Colm and I golfed at Westport Country Club, where his counsin is the pro there. It is a beautiful course and has a couple great tee shots overlooking Crough Patrick, where the Saint himself drove the snakes out of Ireland!

After another delicious dinner from Mrs. Mac, we made it back into town for to Moran's bar for the Ireland-Bulgaria world cup qualifying match. Sporting events bring out our favorite part of Ireland, the pub culture where everyone gathers for a beer and watches the match...kids too! It beats the american sporting event culture where you go to your friends with the biggest flat screen, much better atmosphere!

The line of the day goes to Steve. He wasn't drinking (yet) and I said his doctor would say a pint of guinness a day is good for your health. Steve naturally replies, "he actually would, he's standing right there," and pointed at his doctor, sipping on a guinness across the pub!!

This pub also serves the best pint of guinness in the city, and the best I have ever had. The closer to the tap the keg is, the more pure your pint is. Naturally the keg was directly below the tap here and the guinness was amazing!

After the disappointing match, we walked across the street to Matt Malloy's, an institution in Westport owned by the flute player in the famous Irish band, the Chieftans. Instead of most theme bars like those in the US, Matt Malloy runs the pub with his son and it is a truely great bar. Once in a great while, Matt will join the locals in the midst of a trad session and play with them. To our delight, this was one of those nights! He played for about 30 minutes in one of the smaller rooms and Erin and I squeezed in to catch the very memorable experience. The music was amazing.

The next morning, Erin and I got a lift into town from Colm's mom and walked around the town for a few hours, and walked out to the quay to check things out. It is a great city with tons of character that everyone who wants to experience the true irish culture should visit! Its right up there with Dingle. Thanks again Colm for the great weekend.