Éire go Brách

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We spent a week discovering a few places in Ireland.

First landed in Dublin, we hired a car and drove towards Galway, where we stayed at a Bed & Breakfast. From there, we took the Connemara loop and rode amongst fields and lakes, stopping at Cong and at the Kylemore Abbey (avoid visiting, it isn't worth it). The landscapes were totally breathtaking with bogs and black sheeps everywhere. We were quite lucky with the weather and didn't get much rain during our trip.

Galway is a small coastal city on the left side of Ireland. We liked to hang around its streets, trying fried fish, lamb stew, seafood chowder and local beers. We learned about a bit of its history visiting what remains of the Spanish arch, an ancient door that was built to protect the city. Its name reminds us of the shipwrecked Spanish Armada that sank in front of the western Irish coast.

After a couple of days in Galway, we headed south until Limerick. However, the next day, we traced back to Doolin so as to visit the Aran Islands. We made a detour to see the Cliffs of Moher and once ashore we payed a small van tour around Inishmore with a local. After that, we went back to Limerick where we spend another day walking along the river and trying some local beers in pubs.

On the way back to Dublin we stopped in Glendalough. A very tiny village that is a famous monastic site founded in the 6th century and known for its pilgrimage. There is a thin 30 metre tall tower made of stone and surrounded by churches and tombs.

Dublin is an interesting city with many pubs and restaurants (although it was very hard to find anything besides street food). We visited the National Museum of Archaeology which I absolutely loved. They had amazing pieces of Irish craftsmanship made of gold and silver and a very interesting room with a few iron age corpses found on bogs. Unfortunately, I also wanted to see the Book of Kells but the exhibition was sold out... (the tickets are rare gold, so better make a reservation in advance!).

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