The sun was falling below the Horizon on Clew Bay, this was my favourite time of day in the last days of April. I was at the harbour in Westport trying to charm an old friend into my bed for the night, she had been a colleague twenty years ago and had been in and out of a marriage arranged by her parents.
She was a bank manager in Galway now and we had agreed to meet in Westport for dinner to catch up, I had returned recently from my global travels as a troubleshooter for a European Bank and was enjoying catching up with old friends. I was also enjoying reconnecting with the country that I loved and I had just completed a two night stay in Kinsale.
I was making my way homewards to Donegal, I had no family left there following the death of my parents but I did have a house that they lived in. We walked back to the car and I dropped her at the Westport Woods hotel where she was staying and I returned to the Castlecourt Hotel with a promise to meet for coffee in the morning followed by a bit of sightseeing before we went our separate ways in the afternoon.
We parted with a renewed friendship and a promise to meet up again soon, she said she had an invite coming up and she believed it would be a good opportunity to meet again. She did not say what the invite was but she would call me. I drove East along the N5 until I reached Tulsk, stopping briefly to get a coffee and snack before turning north towards Boyle, finally turning North East towards Enniskillen.
Arriving after just over two hours driving at the Lough Erne Resort where I had reserved a room for two nights. I had to make an important visit the following day.
