It's my last day in Galway--I've been here a whole week now. I have been in Ireland now one bottle of shampoo's worth of time. Shampoo, I discovered, is an inexplicably expensive commodity in Ireland...like 8 euros per bottle. To be cheap I went to see if I could find some at the "Everything for 2 euro Store" but all they had was overstock shampoo with Sanskrit writing on the bottle...so at least I think it's shampoo that I bought...
Last night I attended the show Trad on the Prom which, as I predicted, was delightfully cheesy. I wish I could have taken pictures, but photography wasn't allowed. If you want an idea of the cheesiness though, you can look at the website: http://www.tradontheprom.com There was stage fog, rainbow colored lighting schemes, and computer generated projections of celtic knots on the back curtain. Also, there was a singer guy who kept coming on who was really channeling Michael Bolton (not meant as a compliment) and actually sang a Josh Groban song at one point. I caught one of the back-up musicians laughing at him while he sang... The audience, composed of about 95% American retiree tour groups, loved him.
Behind the cheesy facade, however, all of the performers were pretty outstanding. They only had six dancers, but all of them had world titles. The main guy dancer (used to be the lead in Lord of the Dance) kept doing quadruple heel clicks. That means clicking his heels back and forth in the air four times before landing. The girl dancers were pretty impressive too. The most impressive dancing came from these two young boys though. They were brothers, I would guess about 13 and 15 and apparently they have both won the World Championships about 5 times. Ridiculous. I don't even know what to say about them because nothing I saw will get the point across.
What was really unusual about the whole experience is that it was the first professional dance and music show that I've seen after a month of watching casual amateur events and it felt so strange to see in it that kind of setting. Even when they're playing essentially the same music, there's a big difference between watching a woman in a sequin covered dress playing the electric fiddle on stage and watching an ancient local man playing the fiddle in the corner of a crowded pub.
It's a good thing I only have one more night in this hostel because I'm ready to kill one of the people sharing my room--he seems like a nice person, but he snores like a lawn mower. Thank god I have earplugs.
Tomorrow I'm off to the Aran Islands!
Slainte!
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5 comments:
More fun adventures. It sounds like you found plenty to see and do in Galway and now you are off to visit the sheep on the Aran Islands. Remember that is where a lot of the wool comes from. Bhaaaaa... have fun! I can't wait for the continued daily dose of humorous stories.
Just be aware that the words for shampoo and depilatory in Sanskrit are very similar.
Re cost of shampoo, why do you think so many Irish lads wear their hair in spiked pink mohawks?
In the islands you'll be tempted to get yourself an Aran sweater. Originally they were knitted using unscoured wool that retained its natural oils or lanolin which made the garments water-resistant and meant they remained wearable even when wet. (Ever notice how a wet dog smells?)
Some stitch patterns have traditional interpretations. The cable, an integral part of the fisherman's daily life, is said to be a wish for safety and good luck when fishing. The diamond is a wish of success wealth. The basket stitch represents the fisherman's basket, a hope for a plentiful catch. Crossed shoes represent the Irish dance
don't get blown off the cliffs.
omg I hope it was Nair!
Bar soap works as OK shampoo in a pinch.
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