DAY 27 AND REEK SUNDAY

Saturday is so unexciting that these are my only notes for the whole day:
Jog planning for croag Patrick
Confession
Grocery store – slim pickings
Euro store-leprechaun hat- but didn’t buy it…yet
Watched Pete Newell video – He is a great coach who is an expert on post play. He was so ancient in the video he made Al Davis look vibrant.

REEK SUNDAY
8:00 am It was refreshing to wake up to an empty house. I'm very weird like that. I love having friends and family close by and this trip I've occasionally felt the need for both, but then I am often recharged by being alone.

9:00 am Walked to cathedral for 9:00 mass, but mass is at 9:30. Can't go AND make the bus to Westport. I've planned on catching the 10:15 to Westport and then a quick taxi to Croag Patrick. I'm on the way now so all I know about this mountain is that tons of people climb it. It's like a pilgrimage and some even do it bare foot. I consider myself to have a decent pain tolerance, but I am an absolute panzy when it comes to being bare foot. I would rather endure 5 Clemson last second losses than climb this thing bare foot.

11:15 Arrived in Westport. Nice little town and very busy because it is Reek Sunday. The locals call Croag Patrick the Reek and the last Sunday in July is the biggest day to climb it. According to the sign I read this tradition has gone on for 1500 years. As for Westport, I stop by the visitor center to get a map. I then walk around to see a couple of monuments and of course a cathedral. Once you've seen one Irish cathedral you've seen 'em all. This isn't true. They do all share extremely similar external architecture, but inside they vary greatly. I return to the visitor center because they said they would be kind enough to call a cab for me. Instead of calling a company and getting a random person, she calls and says, "Hey Martin, can you pick this lad up?"

12:00 Martin is a lovely man and tells me some good non-touristy places to visit when the fam gets hers. He also informs me the weather forecast for TODAY is awful!

12:30 So I get near the base of the mountain and of course there are two pubs swarming with post climb revelers or just lazy good for nothings laughing at us for climbing 762 feet...or is it meters. At the base I read it is believed St. Patrick himself spent 40 days and 40 nights on a rock bed atop the mountain. Its also alleged he drove the snakes out of Ireland, but science has since proven Ireland never had any reptiles. So it is thought he drove out the "symbolic" snakes, i.e. devils and demons, since the devil was a serpent in the Garden of Eden.
Some other interesting facts about St. Patrick. His dying wish was that all Irish and Americans would commemorate his birthday by laying face down in the gutter in a pool of their own vomit. Not really, but he was in fact born BRITISH. After his father's estate was raided he was taken to Ireland and sold into slavery as a shepherd. He was a Godless lad and then after six years in bondage he had a huge conversion and escaped to England. Got some ministry training and returned to Ireland, drove out "snakes," used the shamrock to represent the trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and spread Christianity across a land of pagans.
At the time the Celtic people were being duped by Druid priests who were all about blood sacrifices. So Pattty said, "Listen here. My guy Jesus did all the sacrificing you'll ever need." He was highly effective as Ireland is now 99.99% Christian.

So now you know the back story and I will continue my odyssey tomorrow.