Blogs from County Galway, Ireland, Europe

I recorded yesterday that our room is small but not HOW small. The room is so small that when we open the door it smacks into the end of the bed at one third open, and we have to walk through it sideways! The room is so small that there is literally nowhere to put two suitcases but being a resourceful couple, we have balanced one suitcase on top of the mini bar fridge and the other on the wide windowsill. Thank goodness for the deep/wide windowsill. The room is so small it has no room for bedside tables. On one side there is a desk which sort of doubles as a bedside table but on the other side there is nowhere to put the phone and the watch on the charger although Bernie has managed ... read more

When I told my friends that I would be traveling to Ireland, I got similar comments, "Ireland is green, greener and greenest. The people are friendly, friendlier, and friendliest people they have ever met." I must agree that their observations are extremely accurate. The scenery is stunning, and the people are kind, helpful and, yes, very friendly. I believe there is another trait. The places we have visited so far are tidy, tidier, and tidiest. There are not any wrappers, empty bottles, cigarette butts, or bits of trash on the streets or roads. When we made this observation to our driver he informed us that each town enters the 'tidiest town' contest. People take such pride in their towns and their reward is to be named 'The Tidiest Town.' Last year Abbeyleix in County Lapis won ... read more

With little other options, Kyle actually joined us for breakfast this morning. Dining in the same spot at dinner the night before everyone filled themselves between the buffet and hot dinner order before we finished packing up. As checkout was the same time as our tour end, we packed up the car ahead of time. The maintenance man/ tour guide took us around the estate the next 2.5 hours sharing immense amount of information about the history of Ireland, progression of the house through that history, details on the fauna, and even stories about his own life. He talked all over the place which drove me a bit crazy, but we learned a lot. We also walked the beautiful estate setting it from many angles. Every photo we took was just phenomenal. I can't wait to ... read more

Up and breakfast once again in the Hotel the Irish Hospitality and Quality far exceeds the English so far ….got on the bus and into town at 9.30am bought up large at a huge souvenir shop and wandered around the streets of Galway…. Was very tempted with all the Aran knitwear but resisted…. (Next winters knitting projects !!!) …. Got a coffee to go (all very good barista coffees here a Latte is the best size £2.95 (6$ NZ) ….. enjoyed the buskers and little stores as in all the towns… back to the bus 11.30am and onto Sligo at 2pm wandered around the town lots of knitwear/tweed and hunting gentleman’s apparel and called into the pharmacy found a bakery and enjoyed a cup of tea custard slice and HOT salty chips … toilet and encountered ... read more

So today we have a long drive over lots of small roads and I can still see the Sky Road on the horizon in the map. Well we wake up early and as it is quite misty I think great there is no way we need to do the sky road as why would you do this if you cannot see in front of your face - unfortunately, definitely for me, the bloody skies started clearing as we approached the sky road and macho man Mike decides we will do it then as we turn he says to me are you happy doing this - well that is like a red rag to a bull of course I am happy to DIE on the sky road. Well let’s be honest if you do the north to ... read more