Blogs from County Galway, Ireland, Europe - page 36

As we biked along the azure coast of Inishmore (the largest of the Aran islands) off the West Coast of Galway, we basked in the sun’s warm glow and drank in our idyllic surroundings; stone walls interspersed with wildflowers, undulating hills, grey seals languishing on warm rocks, cows lazily grazing in green fields, and the clear blue waters of the Atlantic ocean sparkling like a sea of diamonds. Dave sidled up to me on his bike and we laughed together, held hands, enjoying the (rare) Irish sun and discussed how much we loved being together, and how blessed we were that the sun was shining and allowed us to enjoy the outdoors. It was in this setting (whilst still ambling along on the bikes!) that Dave proposed to me asking me to share many more moments ... read more

Jessica finally finished her paper...she is done with school until the fall! We picked her up at Corrib Village and drove her to the school to turn in the paper. We then went down to the City Center to do some shopping on Shop Street, which is right next to Merchant Street (these Irish come up with some clever names for their streets). I picked up an Aran sweater, and Pam managed to find gifts for all the nieces and nephew. I got a few shots of Shop Street and Eyre Square. Later in the day, we dropped Jessie and one of her roommates off at the rugby game (Connacht vs. Cardiff Blues). Cardiff kicked Connacht's butt (39-6). Connacht was the home team...it was not a happy time! Apparently, Connacht is so bad that they are ... read more

I'm assuming you're wondering where I went. Mostly, I've been living the Irish dream. And by that I mean drinking. And by that I mean I've had more to drink that someone of my height/weight should probably consume in four days, but that is Irish culture. I thought the exessive amounts of drinking was just a stereotype, it is not. Irish people like to drink, and so does Jessi, so it's been a good time. Early Monday morning Jessi met me in Dublin. She's still as funny looking as I remembered, but I decided to have pity on here. After a quick breakfast we got on the train and made it to Killarney. Killarney is a tiny town, but it's beautiful. We had no idea before, but it turns out, it's also a bit of a ... read more

Forgot to provide an update on the weather. It was sunny and 65 when we arrived. We had sunshine for our entire cross-country trip. When we arrived in Galway it turned overcast and cool. While we were out walking on Quay Street (pronounced "key" street), we experienced one of the notorious freak hail storms that Jessie has been telling us about. One minute nothing, the next minute it is raining hail. Everyone on the street just walks to the sides under shop awnings or in doorways to escape the hail storm. They just keep talking on their cell phones and chatting as normal. The hail lasts about 30 seconds and then suddenly stops. Everyone comes back out on the street and keeps going on about their business as if this is perfectly normal. Very strange! A ... read more

Today was amazing, to say the least. We left for Connemara this morning. It was the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. Again, if you are on the west coast of Ireland, take a trip through Connemara. We went through the peaklands of the area, right through the mountains. It was so green and the tops of the mountains were covered with thick mist. The river valleys we drove through seemed endless and to be honest, I didn't want them to end. The most exciting part of the day was seeing Kylemore Abbey come into view. I had looked at pictures of this place for years and it was a complete surprise when we came across it. It was even more gorgeous than the pictures, as is everything in this country. It had hit me, ... read more