The Way To Galway Bay
It's just after midnight and I'm in Galway in the west of Ireland. I'm part of the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Scotland contingent attending this year's al. In a few hours from now I'll actually be on stage as one of the platform speakers discussing the growth of independent production in radio. I'm told that session will be in vision on the .
We flew from Prestwick Airport to Shannon and then hired a car for the 45 minute drive to Galway. The landscape reminded us of Stirlingshire...mostly flat but with hills in the distance. More advertising hoardings than you see at home....some of the villages we passed through looked slightly American in that regard. Here everything is almost as it is in Scotland but not quite. We exchanged pounds for Euros, the chocolate bars are smaller and the news agenda on TV is dominated by stories and characters of which we know little or nothing.
In the car we listened to the Old Firm match via Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Five Live. The signal was strong at first but began to fade as we moved westwards. Now it feels like we're far from home.
We reached Galway as the sun was setting on the bay. I'm sure there's a song about that.
More later.
