We arrived in Ireland early Tuesday morning. Jet lagged and disoriented, we settled into our hotel room, turned on the television, and caught this silliness just as it began. It turns out the Irish love this video, too. Go figure!
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Galway
When we arrived in Galway, we had no idea there was a problem with the water . In fact, it was not until we went to dinner an lar and sought out some bottled water that we learned of the issue. Unfortunately, Theresa, our bed and breakfast proprietress, was less than truthful when she told us there was absolutely nothing wrong with the drinking water. Perhaps the Guinesses and Bulmers we enjoyed that first evening at An Pucan, one of our favorite pubs in Galway, spared us from the dreadful effects of any potential exposure.
We spent four days total in Galway because it was such a convenient starting point for much of our sightseeing in the West. And there was a certain vitality and multi-cultural influence that only a college town could offer. Our first morning in town, we walked half a block to the local Rugby field, just on the other side of the greyhound racetrack our row of B&B's bordered...it sounds dicey, but it was quite the place to be...There we caught league tryouts for the 14-year-olds and met a very friendly local man, a coach scouting kids for his team who suggested all sorts of cool things to do and see. We ventured out on our own agenda and timetable for the most part, but we did heed his suggestion to have lunch at DaTang Noodle House. This place is not to be missed, not only because of the abundance of fresh, extraordinarily tasty food, but also because Johnny Depp's doppleganger is a waiter there (even funnier, though, there was a poster in the restaurant window for an upcoming regional music fesitval, Pirates of the Corribean). In a post luncheon haze, we popped into a wine merchant next door and got the most delicious pinot noir from Chile, Leydah. Armed with some local soda bread of some kind, we feasted on bread and wine as we watched Rugby on Setanta while the skies opened up and the sun set on our first day in Galway.
A graveyard where Spanish Armada sailors were buried after their ship was destroyed during a storm off the coast of Galway
Rest in peace
The University courtyard
Perhaps a future professor?
A typical home in SaltHill, Upper Galway. We walked from an lar to SaltHill and had the best soda bread we had our entire trip at Lohan's overlooking the Bay.
Jon and Sarah on the edge of the Prom (boardwalk) in SaltHill.
Walking back towards an lar from SaltHill, we encountered a gaggle (and then some) of swans, geese and ducks.
And, as usual, they all flocked toward Jon
We spent four days total in Galway because it was such a convenient starting point for much of our sightseeing in the West. And there was a certain vitality and multi-cultural influence that only a college town could offer. Our first morning in town, we walked half a block to the local Rugby field, just on the other side of the greyhound racetrack our row of B&B's bordered...it sounds dicey, but it was quite the place to be...There we caught league tryouts for the 14-year-olds and met a very friendly local man, a coach scouting kids for his team who suggested all sorts of cool things to do and see. We ventured out on our own agenda and timetable for the most part, but we did heed his suggestion to have lunch at DaTang Noodle House. This place is not to be missed, not only because of the abundance of fresh, extraordinarily tasty food, but also because Johnny Depp's doppleganger is a waiter there (even funnier, though, there was a poster in the restaurant window for an upcoming regional music fesitval, Pirates of the Corribean). In a post luncheon haze, we popped into a wine merchant next door and got the most delicious pinot noir from Chile, Leydah. Armed with some local soda bread of some kind, we feasted on bread and wine as we watched Rugby on Setanta while the skies opened up and the sun set on our first day in Galway.
A graveyard where Spanish Armada sailors were buried after their ship was destroyed during a storm off the coast of Galway
Rest in peace
The University courtyard
Perhaps a future professor?
A typical home in SaltHill, Upper Galway. We walked from an lar to SaltHill and had the best soda bread we had our entire trip at Lohan's overlooking the Bay.
Jon and Sarah on the edge of the Prom (boardwalk) in SaltHill.
Walking back towards an lar from SaltHill, we encountered a gaggle (and then some) of swans, geese and ducks.
And, as usual, they all flocked toward Jon
Doolin
Many friends and family told us prior to our trip that we should not miss the tiny village of Doolin, just north of the Cliffs of Moher. But when we arrived, it seemed as if the idylic town others had enjoyed before us with one quaint row of shops and the lowland sheep farms all round had been overrun with new development and McMansions at every turn. We found this twosome at the Pitch and Put just beyond the shops on the main road. And for us, they were the only noteworthy thing about Doolin.
Kinvara and The Burren
Our first day exploring from Galway we drove to Kinvara, throughout The Burren, on to the Cliffs of Moher, to Doolin and back to Galway.
Jon in front of a thatched roof house on the outskirts of Kinvara
Dunguaire Castle
Our first experience encountering swans smitten with Jon
Sarah looking toward Kinvara in the distance
The Burren is the largest geological formation of its kind in Western Europe. The area gets its name from the Gaelic bhoireann, "rocky land."
Jon in front of the ubiquitous stone fences throughout The Burren (and Ireland, as a whole)
We tried to fit so much into our southern tour of County Shannon that we ran out of time to visit all the sites we hoped to see. A surly park ranger at Caherconnell Stone Fort would not let us in even though it was five o'clock and the park closed at 5. It did look cool, though, even if all we were able to see was the exterior perimeter. Fortunately, we had no time constraints at Poulnabrone Dolmen, a portal tomb dated to 2500 B.C.
Our search for Cahermore Stone Fort was fruitless, but we did find an earthen ring fort, An Rath, as we headed back to home base in Galway. Check it out at the bottom of this link, The Burren.
Jon in front of a thatched roof house on the outskirts of Kinvara
Dunguaire Castle
Our first experience encountering swans smitten with Jon
Sarah looking toward Kinvara in the distance
The Burren is the largest geological formation of its kind in Western Europe. The area gets its name from the Gaelic bhoireann, "rocky land."
Jon in front of the ubiquitous stone fences throughout The Burren (and Ireland, as a whole)
We tried to fit so much into our southern tour of County Shannon that we ran out of time to visit all the sites we hoped to see. A surly park ranger at Caherconnell Stone Fort would not let us in even though it was five o'clock and the park closed at 5. It did look cool, though, even if all we were able to see was the exterior perimeter. Fortunately, we had no time constraints at Poulnabrone Dolmen, a portal tomb dated to 2500 B.C.
Our search for Cahermore Stone Fort was fruitless, but we did find an earthen ring fort, An Rath, as we headed back to home base in Galway. Check it out at the bottom of this link, The Burren.
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