My spot

Two of my four boxes arrived from Portugal this week. And as usually, I was lucky: one of the boxes contained my bikini and my swimming suit. This coincided excellently with the marvelous summer we have here for one week already. So the plan for the weekend was simple: bike rides along the coast and swimming somewhere in the Galway bay.

I wanted to go swimming early, so I checked the tides online. The first high tide was supposed to be at 5:05 in the morning today. That was a bit too early... So I thought I might as well start biking, and maybe the water wouldn't retreat so far. Or if I wouldn't find a nice place to swim, I could come back in the afternoon and catch the second high tide.

So I took my bike to the Ballyloughane Beach, a small, sandy beach with its own car park, few people and not much water (at that time). I left my bike there and followed a pathway along the shore. There were some people taking their dogs or their extra calories for a walk. But after a short while the way got rocky and there were less people around. The beach was not sandy anymore. Instead there were pebbles, but also large rocks with cranes standing on them observing (and eating) the fauna emerging from the algae, which were exposed due to the low tide.

I went on and found a place with a steeper beach (pebbles and rocks as well). Not many algae were growing there. So I decided to give it a try. The sun was shining brightly, it was warm - not hot, almost no wind. I was not too concerned with the water temperature, because I normally take cold showers at home. And therefore it was not difficult for me to get in. Again I was lucky, because just behind the water line, the ground was wonderfully soft and sandy. And the water was perfectly clear.
And so I swam in the icy cold salty water of the Atlantic ocean (or at least of the Galway bay)! It was amazing! During this whole time I saw not one person around. Only the crane stood there, and looked at me for a change...
I think, I found 'my spot' here around Galway :)

Eventually I had to go back. But I decided already, that I would return tomorrow. But coming back to the 'official' beach (with car park and sand and people - but no water), I found that my bike was gone. When I left it, I clamped the back wheel, but I didn't lock the bike to a fixed object. So anyone could just carry it off - and did apparently...
I didn't buy it myself, so it was 'just' a highly useful thing to have, which accompanied me during a little bit more than one week. But still I miss it! I only hope, that the new 'owner' treats it well and appreciates the time I spent, making it run again.