it's been six months since our summer trip to ireland/scotland/wales with our friends, the weinsteins who i find myself missing along with the beauty we have seen together. i will break down our 2016 summer travels in one liner-ish notes, the parts that stand out more than others...
the aran islands and roundstone
with the sun shining, we took advantage and rode to ros a' mhil to catch a ferry to inis mor, one of the aran islands of the coast of ireland; although the ride was nauseating for me, it provided yet another encounter with a friendly local who gave me some gravel for the return trip (thank you lady from the ferry, it helped!).
spending the day biking around the island saying hello to sheep, cows and ponies, avoiding the horse and carriages that sometimes passed by and taking in magnificent vistas.
passing by the stark stone cottages and stopping to take too many photos.
although i brought a swimsuit, the gorgeous clear water beach we biked by only had people in wet suits going in... cold waters!
filled up on irish stew we set off on the trail up to the old stone fort known as dun anonghasa; gorgeous! and the drop from the cliffs, scary! - the mamas may have been a little over protective, or not.
we didn't get to see all of the island and were hesitant to leave but we made the ferry with minutes to spare :)
driving through the beautiful connemara region with its scenic roads towards are next hotel in leenane but first a stop in roundstone, a pretty fishing village, to have dinner. and, we had the best calamari, the melt in your mouth kind, so, of course, we ordered more baskets. stefan enjoyed a beer by the seaside, just as the locals did :)
loving the sight of sheep that run hither and thither; they are totally clueless, funny creatures and they never cease to entertain us... although sometimes we wondered if we would get to our destination, waiting for them to get off the road.
arriving in leenane, we all sighed with relief - the leenane hotel is located by a fjord, all foggy and misting - it was a gorgeous sight (the hotel in galway was meh).
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| photo by chloe |
watching jason eat blood sausage for breakfast!
driving through the rolling hills of western ireland's photogenic connemara district.
photogenically perched by a lake, kylemore abbey castle, a 19th century gothic fantasy was built for a wealthy english businessman who spent his honeymoon in connemara and had fallen in love with the landscape... it had taken 100 men and 4 years to complete.
jumping on the peat bog! walking on the spongy green carpet we found our spot - drier area to avoid squishing into the water - and began to experiment... you could feel the vibrations of the jumping 30 feet away.
cong is a cute little town where the quiet man was filmed. colourful storefronts, rivers and ruins, if felt rather romantic. in the rain, we explored the shell of what was an abbey from the 12th century... carved doorways and arches remain amongst moss encrusted trees, a path leading to the fishing house built over the river so that the monks could haul their fish straight up, and then woodlands. the hungry monk cafe was a must for something warming.
a quick stop to see dunguaire castle; built by the o'hynes clan, it's a teeny castle but beautifully located on galway bay. the castle was closed but it was a lovely photo op nonetheless. they offer a medieval feast if you are ever in the area.
arriving at the aran view country house in small town doolin, we were delighted again... the hotel and its sweeping views of the aran islands.
walking to dinner was a nice change - especially for the men who did all the driving and tolerating their wives reminders to stay left but "you're veering too far left, we're going to crash" - down a hill, past some friendly cows to mcgann's pub for food, drink and live music.
connemara is magic, along the wild atlantic way, there is the atlantic ocean on one side and the barren connemara landscape on the other... peace and beautiful scenery.
the wild atlantic way
seeing the jaw-dropping site of the cliffs of moher, the sheer size and scale of these cliffs is amazing! we all kept a safe distance :)
yet another ruined shell of a mansion, not opened to the public but it's believed a female ghost haunts it.
finding the cover to rick steves guidebook! the poulnabrone dolmen (a portal tomb); we walked around what was a former seabed dating from 250 million years ago when ireland was at the equator. amazing, yes?
tomorrow, travelogue: ireland, part 2 of 3, inishmore, connemara, the wild atlantic way.
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