Blog Catch Up

Missed a few days so it's time to play catch up.

Dingle to Galway

After our bike adventure in Dingle we took a brief rest and then went to a pub to hear some traditional Irish music.  Dingle is known as the best place in Ireland to hear "roots" Irish music. Exceptional local players as well as traditional music artists from across the country come here to take part in some mighty sessions.

Hal and I went to a place called the Courthouse Pub--a low ceiling, hobbit hole like place up town that has been a pub for a very long time. A couple of pints of Smithwicks for me and tea for Hal and we soaked up some awesome ballads and reels.

The next day we fired up the Astra and traveled over Connor Pass on our way out of town.  Ireland's second highest mountain is on tiny Dingle Peninsula, and Connor Pass goes over the shoulder of the mountain. The views north and south were amazing.  Next it was off to the Talbert ferry to cross the River Shannon.

Our day's travels eventually took us by the Cliffs of Moher, some seriously high coastal cliffs, the barren limestone landscape of the Burren and finally on to Galway.

Galway

Galway is an ancient town with a groovy, youthful vibe courtesy of its many colleges and universities. After a long day in the car getting there we decided to leave the car parked and spend the next day chillin out and soaking up the scene.

There aren't any blockbuster sights in town. Really the town itself is the site. It has a few remaining old buildings, but what really gives it's character is the Medieval street plan left over from those walled city days. The town has blocked of several of the most characterful streets as pedestrian only and those streets are full of restaurants, shops and street performers.  

Probably the coolest thing we saw was a bunch of  students playing something like a cross between hurling and water polo from kayaks in the town's locks basin in the River Corrib.

Our room was kind of funky--in the attic of a guesthouse with a handpainted sign. Inishmoor Guest Lodge. But we actually liked the place, creaky floors and all.  We met a nice old Irish guy who was staying there on the way to his 50th high school reunion.

Out of Ireland

Our last day in Ireland (until our way back home) was spent getting from Galway to Newgrange and on to the airport for our flight to Barcelona.  There are several prehistoric burial mounds in the Newgrange area and we hoped to see some of it on our way back to the airport.  However, there's limited space on the tours for the site and by the time we got there, there was no more space to go inside the mounds. So we went to the visitors center and then drove to a nearby mound that didn't require a tour to go tromping around it.

It's pretty cool to think that these burial mounds are older than the pyramids of Egypt and that they served as important cultural, defensive and administrative locations for societies from 3000 b.c. to the middle ages.

Then back to the airport to say goodbye tour our beloved Opal Astra. Driving in Ireland isn't so bad if you don't mind sharing very narrow roads with poor signage with sheep, tractors and very fast Irish drivers.