JFK memorial, Eyre Square, Galway

There's a bit of a buzz here at the moment as we approach the 50th anniversary of the visit of JFK. Most recently, I read that an Olympic-type ceremony took place in Arlington Cemetery in connection with the celebrations.

On a personal level, today's blip proves that yesterday's fiasco has been learned from. Bringing my travel pass rather than my driving licence got me a return ticket by train to Galway, right over there on the Atlantic coast. The journey took two and a quarter hours and was reasonably painless. It was soon after I got off the train that I came across this JFK memorial (the head can be seen in context here).

Galway is great! Eyre Square itself is no great shakes (a bit on the tacky side, to be honest), but a walk along Shop Street down to the Spanish Arch and the Corrib river was really wonderful, as was a riverside walk, a stop for an al fresco lunch at the Bridge Mill was delightful, and all in all I really enjoyed the few hours I spent in the city. I was struck most of all by the numbers of weirs along the stretch of the river I walked along. I remembered only one from previous visits, but there are several, which make the sound of rushing water an abiding memory.

Next time I go on one of these trips (I have a check list which includes Wexford, Cork and Sligo) I must bring a book to pass the time on the train. Today, all I could turn to was playing games of sudoko on my iPhone.