In our last week in this part of
the world we had booked a 3 day trip to Ireland – yay for cheap flights! We few into Shannon in the west of
Ireland and stayed the night in a B&B nearby. The couple who owned it were awesome and served us a full
Irish breakfast the next morning… cereal, toast, yoghurt, fruit, and a plate of
bacon, eggs, sausages and tomatoes – yum!
The following day we hired a car, which ended up being WAY easier than
expected, we didn’t even have international drivers licences! We headed up towards Galway via the
western coast to see the Cliffs of Moher, which are comprised of alternating
mudstone/siltstone/sandstone layers (geeky geology stuff), and an area called
The Burren, which is all limestone.
The scenery was spectacular, and we really enjoyed the freedom of having
our own wheels! For lunch we went
to a little Irish pub in Kilfenora and had local smoked salmon and the most
divine Irish stew! Oh, and a
Guinness J We stayed that night in Galway City,
which is a great little place with beautiful architecture and lively
restaurants and bars, we even listened to a bit of Irish music.
The following day we headed west
along Galway Bay into an area called Connemara. The scenery here was different again, but still really
spectacular, with many small fishing villages to stop at along the way. One town called Carraroe has a beach
made entirely of coral, very pretty!
This area is also known as The Gaeltacht, where the Irish language is
still spoken as a community language and often the signs are in Irish
only. After another awesome lunch
in Clifden (fish and chips for Abe and lamb with mint sauce for me) we headed
north through the Twelve Pins and the towns of Letterfrack and Leenane (next to
Killary Harbour, Ireland’s only fjiord) to Westport where we stayed the
night. Westport was a lovely
little town with pretty architecture, and we stayed in a hostel that used to be
a stagecoach house.
On the last day we headed back
towards Shannon, taking the scenic route and stopping at Limerick for lunch and
then Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, which were really fun to explore. We had a Guinness at Mac’s pub in the
Folk Park and also tried Mead, which is apparently made from “honey, fruit of
the vine and selected herbs”. A
random fact for you: in olden times the bride and groom drank Mead for one full
moon after their wedding, hence the term “honeymoon”. Mead is believed to have magical powers of fertility and
virility! A perfect end to a great
3 days, we loved Ireland and its friendly people!
