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Published: August 25th 2008
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Can you believe we had TWO FULL days of sunshine?!? In a row!!! Simply fantastic! It was just enough to lift our spirits before it went back to pissing down rain. I've heard a few times now that this summer is the worst summer on record, stealing the title from last summer. I think this Irishman said it best when referring to the global enviroment situation, 'God gave us a garden and we're just shitting in it.' I got the feeling Ireland is wising up on the whole enviro crisis. The governement has mandated a 20c surcharge on each plastic grocery bag which has prompted people to bring their own clothe bags or carry out their groceries by the armful. I've also noticed on our past two tours, both drivers proudly pointed out the new recycling centers located on the old city dump sites. Perhaps they're changing their ways due to the drastic climate changes in this part of the world.
And now that I've got my environemnt ramblings out of the way, back to my travels. Last weekend we spent two days in Doolin, the traditional music capitial of Ireland. Doolin is a quaint little village consisting of six
Ross Errily Friary
One of the stops on our tour shops lining a small creek. Both nights we headed to the pubs and listened in on some music sessions. Amazing really! Five or six people show up with their instruments (guitar, fiddle, banjo, drum, etc) and just start playing a jig or reel. Both nights the pubs were packed with people all enjoying the music over a couple pints. We stayed at a friendly hostel which proviced a slideshow of the Burren, the rocky landscape surrounding Doolin. The next night, a Frenchman also staying at our hostel, pulled out his guitar and sang multiple songs, some in French and others in English. I specially liked when he played Fade Out by Radiohead! Overall, Doolin was wonderful! In between a break in the rain, we walked out on the rocky beach and found some strange shaped rocks. And of course I had to pack them in my bag, despite the weight. I know my obsession with rocks will catch up to me by the end of the trip, resulting in an extremely overweight bag.
After Doolin we headed north to Galway. Originally we planned to go to the Aran Islands, but due to the hostels being all booked up we
had to scramble and change our route. We spent one night in Galway then headed to the Connemarra Region and stayed along Killary Fjord for two nights. Unknowingly, the bus we took up there turned out to be a tour bus. It was a pleasant surprise to get a little history background on the old ruins, ferry forts and peat bogs we visited. We stayed in a secluded hostel, which was nice besides the fact that we didn't come prepared with a lot of food. And of course we were too cheap to hire a taxi, so on our last day we attempted to walk to the nearest town, but had to turn around after an hour otherwise we'd miss our return bus. So we surpassed a nice lunch for our returen bus/tour, but it all worked out. The nest stop on the tour was at Kylemore Abbey, an old castle used as a school for girls, with a cafe attached!! And suitingly enough, we feasted like Kings! It was glorious.
Back in Galway, we stayed in the heart of downtown for two nights. It was in a great central location for all the sights, street preformers, and cafes.
Kylemore Abbey
Where we feasted like kings! But come nightfall, the three pubs within throwing distance were all pumping out music which reflected quite nicely off the narrow street directly into our third story windows. Our second day in Galway was absolutely glorious! The sun was shining and it was actually hot enough to wear a skirt and t-shirt! We spent the day outside playing in a park then reading on the rivers edge. Everyone was out enjoying the sunshine and all the green spaces in Galway were littered with people. That evening we went to inspect the pub that was creating all the noise the night before. It was quite a surprise. On the outside, it looked like any normal pub, but once you stepped in the all wood decor gave it in an old rusty feel and made it seem gigantic inside. Somehow there were two stories with a band playing on a balcony, a lot of little side passages that probably ran underground to all the other pubs in Galway. The place was packed, but we managed to grab a table and enjoy the band over a couple pints.
The next day we got up bright and early to catch the ferry to
Inishmor
View from the 18th century lighthouse. the Aran Islands. We stayed on Inishmor, the largest of the three sialnds, and were lucky enought to have another sunny beautiful day! The Aran Islands are quite a big tourist destination because they were isolated from the mainland and kept their traditional roots. Gaelic, or Irish, is commonly spoken throughout the whole island! There are many thatched roof cottages and horse drawn buggys all over the island, not to mention the many old forts and churches. We spent a few hours walking the narrow roads gazing at the impressive km of rock walls. We hiked to the highest part of the island where there's a lighthouse dating back to the 18th cntury as well as an old ring fort from the 8th or 9th century and a small megalithic wedge tomb from 2000 B.C. Wow, mindblowing how old it is! We spent a good amount of time exploring the fort and basking in the sunshine. The next day, in the rain, we went to the major attraction Dun Aengus, a semi-circular fort right on the dliff edge. It was breathtaking...and very windy. Fortunately enough, the next day cleared up a bit, so we decided to walk to another cliff
Inishmor
Crazy how many rock walls were on this little island. top fort before we caught the ferry back. This fort, the Black fort, was even more impressive. Or perhaps I enjoyed it more because it was partly sunny. We climbed around on the walls and enjoyed the cliffs before walking back through the rocky landscape into town.
All in all, the Aran Islands were a nice escape into an easy-going, slow pace of life. It was wonderufl to have a few days of sunshine to explore the island and to just soak it all in. Can you believe that I'm actually IN Ireland?!?!
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Jared
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Anna tsk tsk!
Anna...... "pissing" down rain?????!?!? watch your language! i've heard they are notorious for swearing up there in Ireland, so dont you pick up any bad habits!!! I've done two 16 hour days at work this past week and 1/2!! Hello overtime!!! wooooot! Talks between me and Elisa about me going to Honduras have started as well! sometime around late december and early january! Miss ya lady!!!