Going to the Races

The hottest ticket in town come August is the Galway Races. This year's horse racing event is held July 28-August 3. Because we're going to Stockholm this weekend, we decided to go the races on a rainy Tuesday evening. We will miss all the special themed nights -- Ladies Day (Best Dressed) and Mad Hatters Day, for example -- but that's okay. The rain didn't keep the Galway ladies from stepping out in high fashion last night either. I can't imagine running around a race track in the pouring race in a cocktail dress and three-inch heels, but Galway women love an excuse to dress up.

The Irish love to bet too. I've never mentioned that we have betting companies with stores at several locations around town (including two Salthill alone). Ladbrokes is one of the big companies and had its own VIP tent yesterday. After about 30 minutes, we figured out the system for getting race cards and betting. We put 50€ on Mountain Snow to win; out of more than 20 horses, Mountain Snow finished...2nd!!!! And by only a few feet. We would have won 25€ if we'd bet on him to place. It was pretty exciting for my first horse race. Then we went home to get out of the rain.