North Atlantic Skyline - - Photographs from the west of Ireland (Galway, Mayo, Clare, Limerick, Roscommon and even Leitrim)

Up, up and away

I asked this nice lady to turn and smile, so she did...the British School of Ballooning get all fired up in Athlone this morning.

When I lived in Athlone - a town in Co. Westmeath on the banks of the Shannon - more than a decade ago, one could justifiably complain that there wasn't much to do or see there. Now, the economic boom has strengthened Athlone's claim as a major regional centre - new developments have transformed the architecture of the town and, with a number of attractive riverside developments, it has finally stopped "turning its back" on the river.

But some of the old habits remain. There is an international ballooning festival taking place in Athlone this week. This morning, dozens of huge balloons took off from Summerhill College at the edge of the town at 8am. The morning was clear and sunny, and there was no problem getting right up to the balloons as they took off. But did anyone show up to watch? Nope, apart from a few camera-toting chaps such as myself (and I had to drive from Galway for the privilege). Maybe no-one gets up for 8 o'clock in Athlone. Next year, they should have it in Galway.

Camera=Canon350D, lens=Sigma 10-20mm @20, ISO=100, Aperture=f5.6, speed=1/160.

balloon, hot air, athlone, ireland, galway, westmeath, irishblogs, photoblogs, photography, galwayblogs, monasette, north atlantic skyline, autumn,john smyth, Canon, 5D, september, 2007

Posted by Monasette at September 27, 2007 11:16 PM