It only takes about 2 1/2 hours to drive from our house to the Galway area, so we spent the morning hanging out in Galway until we could "check in" to our cabin. What a beautiful little city. So many places to walk and so picturesque.
We went to lunch at a great little restaurant on the water called "Ard Bia". A few different people recommended this place and it didn't disappoint. Ash got a yummy fish chowder (well, yummy for him...not me!) and I got the BLT. Maybe I should call mine an "LT" since Lenora kept stealing all my "B"!
After lunch, Ash planned out a nice loop to take in some Galway sites on our way back to the car. [see pictures for details and captions] Then we headed to our cabin. Wow, it was a winner! So quaint and quiet. Right on Galway Bay. No internet and no TV, but we relaxed while looking at the view and playing with the "cabin toys". The bay was pretty mucky so we didn't actually swim, but we had fun skipping rocks. Lenora skipped her first rock, two skips, not bad.
Galway
On Saturday, Ash planned a trip to a spectacular beach with azure blue water surrounded by sheep and cow farms and mountains. Don't believe me? Look at the pictures below. You will think I photoshopped it, but I didn't. I swear!
It took us an hour and a half to drive from our cabin to the very tip of Connemara but it was worth it. The drive alone was breath-taking. I just love the green rolling, semi-rocky terrain of Ireland...especially when there's a sheep farm involved. Then we drove up to this beach. I couldn't get the camera out fast enough!! And, get this, there was only about 30 people (maybe) on this HUGE beautiful beach. WTF??? Are you kidding me??? Why??? It was a gorgeous, warm (75-80 degree) day. Well, great for us. No stepping over people, looking for a place to camp. It was all ours!!!
Connemara
Sunday, we hiked. We drove to The Burren, an area with a crazy rocky terrain. It was about 40 minutes south of where we were staying. We drove out in the middle of nowhere; or so it seemed. We stopped the car and started hiking up, up, up. The hills were beautiful, but very different than the day before. We did a 6 mile loop. Lenora was such a great hiker!! I'm so proud of her. We had a great time and only saw about 5 or 6 people the whole time. I felt like we were the only people on Earth.
The Burrens
Monday, our last day. We were going to go to a beach and hang out in Galway before heading back to Dublin, but the weather turned. It was still very pleasant, but not beach weather. We decided to drive to Cong. A friend had mentioned the forest there was amazing. The town was supposed to be very quaint (and touristy) with the ruins of an old abbey and a beautiful castle. We thought that would be a great way to end our mini-vacation. I'm so glad we went!
The town itself is so cute, very picturesque. The abbey was perfectly "ruined". It was right on the edge of this little river with the most crystal clear water. After touring the abbey a little, we headed into the forest. Wow, it's like the Pacific Northwest forests have a "sister" forest in Ireland. It made me so happy (and homesick) to walk through that forest. It was GREEN, GREEN, GREEN, with mossy trees and ferns. Everything I love about the PNW forests. Even the weather reminded me of the Seattle area; cool with a little dampness in the air. Perfect. Can you tell I miss Seattle a little?
The walk contained a few caves and I think both Ash and I were kicking ourselves for not having a flashlight on hand. The caves were open for exploring but we couldn't go very far without some kind of light source. Damn it!! Next time!
We promised Lenora a castle, so at the end of our day, we forked over the 5 euros per person to walk the grounds of the Ashford castle. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful castle, but the price is pretty steep since you can't go in the castle. It's actually a 5-star hotel and you need to be staying there to enter the castle. But the grounds were beautiful and perfectly manicured.
Cong
That concludes our mini-vacation. It's a gorgeous country. So far, we've not seen an "ugly" place in Ireland....hmmm, maybe I should make that a goal for our next mini-vacation.....nah.
Oh I forgot I wanted to do just a little bragging about our little lady....just a little, I swear. She is such a great traveler. I think she might have said "when are we going to be there" once on the entire trip. And everyday we traveled for at least 45 minutes in the car each way. I'm so glad she likes exploring, just like her mama and daddy.
