WELCOME
Ireland ....Part 4...Galway Co (County) and the region
Prologue
........If you ever go across the sea to Ireland,
Then maybe at the closing of your day,
You can sit and watch the moon rise over Claddagh,
And see the sun go down on Galway Bay......
Then maybe at the closing of your day,
You can sit and watch the moon rise over Claddagh,
And see the sun go down on Galway Bay......
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We wind our way through the morning traffic rush of the busy Galway City to drop off our rental car.....without a scratch.....and walk off to find a room in and around the central Eyre Square.
However, it's an English long weekend, so many places are full or trés expensive. Finally, we find a room at the Bunk Inn Hostel....Friday night €99 euros, Saturday night €149 euros..ouch! It's a great place......quiet, clean.....with a yummy breakfast....filled with people of all ages and countries, along with groups in town for the inevitable stag 'n hen party weekends that we've come across in Ireland.
** Travel TIP **.....Irish hostels are a pretty good option for travelers. They provide a variety of rooms....private w bathroom....dorms 'n shared bathroom....even family rooms. All the ones we've stayed in have been safe, well run, with good security and great energy! We'd never hesitate to stay in one.
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GALWAY CITY
The hub of the region, Galway has a dynamic pub 'n music scene. Popular with tourists and locals alike, it's a good stopover for us to wait out the changing weather and predicted rain. We hit a few bars, listen to music, take a short train ride to the medieval town of Athenry and lay a few bets on the dogs at the local Greyhound track! We even win €11!
Introducing the dogs at the Greyhound track
....and they're off....
...and in a flash, they're gone
........For the breezes blowing o'er the sea's from Ireland,
Are perfumed by the heather as they blow,And the women in the uplands digging praties,
Speak a language that the strangers do not know.......
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ARAN ISLANDS
With good weather in the forecast we get a ferry to Inis Mór, the largest of the 3 Aran Islands. It's a sleek, modern passenger-only boat and makes the 30 min or so crossing easily.
The Aran Islands attract upwards of 1000 tourists a day in high season - nearly double the resident island population.
We check into our B n B at the Piers Hotel....just steps from the dock, grab some rental bikes and set off to explore the 17km long/3km wide rugged, rocky island strewn with ruins and Celtic forts.
While the tours and day trippers immediately head out for the main attraction... Dún Aengus; the best preserved fort set on the highest seaside cliff, we pedal off in the other direction away from the invading hordes.
The landscape, stunning scenery and stark solitude take your breath away.
The cliff views are spectacular. Our back roads cycling take us past old farms, tiny villages and along deserted walking paths. The sun is brilliant while on Inis Mór. In fact, we leave tanned and wind burned from our time there.
Stone fields.....
Can you see Shayne on the left above?
The glaciers have scraped the land clean
The Black Fort
On the left, one of the smallest orchids in the world!
.....The road less biked.....
A small village on the opposite side of the island
Dún Aengus, a 2000 year old prehistoric fort standing guard over Inis Mór on 60 metre high cliffs.
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CONNEMARA
We say goodbye to the Aran Islands, return to Galway and rent a car to explore the Connemara region west n north of the city.
Navigating out of Galway City in the late afternoon sun, we head north along the coast for Clifden.
FYI..... it's daylight until 10:30 pm in these parts of Ireland.
Again, this part of Ireland produces stunning scenery at every new corner and view point. The drive moves us through rambling low hills to coastal villages and into high mountain country.
This is the land of the shires.....of magic and pixies.....soft light.....mists as fine as Irish whiskey.... bogs n lakes...peat colored rivers flow over ancient burden....gray skies....green hills....peat fed fires in the fireplace.....songs are sung....tales are told..... walking paths yet discovered...
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.........“I think that travel comes from some deep urge to see the world, like the urge that brings up a worm in an Irish bog to see the moon when it is full.” – Lord Dunsany
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Next.... Donegal Co... walking the Glen and hitchhiking our way around...say, what? Aren't you too old for that...?
Additional Random Photos
