The rest of the story...

So... I didn't spend all of the bank holiday weekend asleep in the garden! In fact, I had just come back from a very exhausting (and fun) adventure. You probably didn't know this, but Ireland is playing host to the world's fastest sailing boats as they race around the world. The two week stopover here has turned out to be a lot of craic (a real festival atmosphere). The west coast greeted the boats as they came in last week with giant bonfires all along the coast. The fact that the boats started coming in around 1am didn't seem to dampen any of the excitement. The docklands where the boats are being kept have been transformed into a concert and exhibition fair ground, and free events are being held every day of the two weeks. On Saturday (before my nap in the garden) the boats went out for a set of short races. Before the races began, however, the 'Red Arrows' (The British version of the 'Blue Angels') performed a free exhibition. It is estimated that around 110,000 people showed up to sit on the beach and watch the races and exhibition. This great crowd and the hottest day of the year (around 74F) made the whole event a blast to see and photograph. I ended up going in with a couple of friends and walking around for a couple of hours... needless to say - I was exhausted when I got home. Here are a few pics from the day.



















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