Driving, driving, driving....beautiful Irish scenery everywhere!

My body was enjoying the warmth of the bed this morning, so much that I didn’t crawl of out of bed til 8am. Can you believe it? I can…haha!

We headed down for our usual breakfast time of 8:30am and coming into an elegantly set table of pink linen and china. Catherine took our orders for a full Irish and was back quickly with a pot of tea and toast. Just about finished with our breakfast another group of Americans sat at the smaller table away from us. There were 2 couples from California…very nice. We didn’t stay to chat long since we had a full day of driving ahead of us.

Our journey would take us further north up towards Cong where The Quiet Man (starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara) was filmed. We tried our best but being a Sunday, parking around the abbey was packed and specifically marked for church attendees only. Well mom said there would be a way and I guess I was just too flustered with the whole situation that we didn’t get to tour the grounds. I know deep down mom was a little disheartened that we didn’t get to stop…and let’s face it I was too. Ashford Castle we also skipped, since you had to have a reservation to get through the gates. Oh well, we turned around and headed back out of the small town towards Westport and then on to The Connemara.

Along our route we stopped in a town called Murrisk close to Clew Bay to see the National Famine Monument of a coffin ship in bronze. It was to memorialize those in the 1840’s that carried the sick and starving famine survivors across the ocean for a new life. When we arrived they were having some kind of a festival. Once mom and I made it up to the sculpture they had a group of people playing bag pipes just in front of it. What a neat opportunity to see and hear.

Here are a couple pictures…

On a side note…mom and I had seen many of the hay bails that were shrink wrapped in plastic. I would imagine it was to keep them dry from all the Irish moisture and I finally got a shot of some. This was in a pasture where we parked in Murrisk. Mom and I were just in amazement that we would be parking on such lush grass and how awesome it would be to take some back to her horse Gidget. She would have been in heaven for sure getting to chomp on this grass.

Here is the view just beyond the pasture we parked in.

Continuing on our journey to The Connemara. Such gorgeous views of mountains and sheep roaming freely with no fences, they were walking right up by the road. I would have to say not the smartest animals...haha.

We came upon a monument of a cross signifying the potato famine of 1849. Where 200 died along the road due to no food (600 had made the trip into Louisburgh but were turned away).

 

Another gorgeous view was Black Lake that had been carved out by a passing glacier.

  

We made our route through The Connemara and came across the beautiful landmark, Kylemore Abbey. Such a picturesque setting! We didn't go in the abbey but did walk the grounds and shops onsite.

Once we left Kylemore Abbey we were back at the B&B by 4pm. Just enough time to stretch out, relax and catch up on journaling before our night at the Trad on the Prom. If you’ve never thought about journaling while on vacation…I would highly suggest it. As much as you don’t think that you might forget details…if you are anything like me, I do! This was my dream trip and I was not about to forget any details.

Around 7pm we made the drive down the road to The Salthill Hotel. Thinking it would be best to get our tickets that Catherine had so graciously reserved for us and then go about picking a place for dinner. We decided to eat at The Prom dining on their special. 

Before our starters arrived they served some

long croutons with 2 dips...a hummus and

pureed red pepper that were good. 

Mom and I both chose the Seafood Chowder    

And of course out came brown soda bread...YUM!

I ordered the ground chuck burger

on foccacia bread with chips.

 Mom ordered pan seared chicken and pasta. 

Our yummy dessert...

Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake with Marscapone

I ordered a Bailey's Coffee...

Good but not as good as the Irish Coffee.

So we finished our dinner and got in line for the Trad on the Prom doors to open up for seating. We were lucky and in the “A” Group for seating, we were upfront and to the right of the stage. Great performers….Guitarist: Chris Kelly, Keyboards: Eugene Kelly, Special Performer (flute & elbow pipes): Gerry Fehy, Fiddle: Maureen Fehy, Percussion & Random Instruments: Evonne Fehy. It was amazing….we even learned that Blue Grass came from the Irish immigrants that settled in the Appalachian areas. They had turned traditional Irish music into what we now know as Blue Grass. An amazing singer Marc Roberts sang several tunes. Then a variety of dancers performed several different types of dances. Trad on the Prom was a truly great experience. I’m sooo glad we went it was an intimate session with the performers. I can honestly say there was only one set back to the evening…we were not allowed to take pictures or videos.

After the show we drove back to the B&B, skyped with Dad and then off to bed.

I can’t believe the days are flying by so quickly. That’s the end of the 8^th day, August 28^th….still more to come. Stay tuned!

~Curls~

Oh the green luscious grass, beautiful cliffs and north to Galway...

We woke up around our usual time of 7:30am to get around and be down for breakfast by 8:30am. Mary welcomed us and offered a couple options…we both chose oatmeal with Bailey’s. I do believe that was the creamiest oatmeal I’ve ever had, it was also sprinkled with brown sugar. What a great treat! Back up to finish packing then on our way to journey up to Galway as our final destination. We received directions for Slea Head Drive around the Dingle Peninsula. Mary said now if you do it right you’ll come back this way….we both laughed because we could understand that very well.

It was a gorgeous drive…I stopped along the way getting great pictures. There was a place along the drive where Ryan’s Daughter had been filmed. We were also able to witness a border collie in action working the sheep at that spot. The different bends around the peninsula allowed you to see the varying colors of water in the bay area of lighter teals versus the Atlantic seaside of dark navy blue. What breathtaking landscapes.

Once back through into Dingle we made our way up to Conor Pass so we could go through Tralee and take the ferry across. This journey over the pass had about 5 minutes of tight one-lane curves where literally each lane would stop depending on how much oncoming traffic was coming around. NO BUSES were allowed on the pass and I could understand why. There was an opportunity to stop at the top of the Conor Pass…well I missed it and there was not an easy way to turn and go back. WHOOPS! So onward on the road towards Tarbert where we would catch the Shannon Ferry across the bay. This saved loads of time instead of having to cut back east to go through Limerick. The ferry took about 20 minutes for the ride and then we were on our way to Salthill, a beach town just west of Galway.

We had made arrangements for possible late check in…that was good since we were still on route and needed to stop by the Cliffs of Moher which was just outside of the town Lahinch. Once maneuvering through the parking situation we made our way to the cliffs. Only to be blown by the wind. Just an amazing site to see! We had a couple passersby take our picture. Look at us all windblown that day. Mom was in amazement at the many steps she and I walked up and down to see the Cliffs.

Back in the car twisting and turning through views of beachfronts and other scenic landscapes…what beautiful country! Wow…am I being a bit monotonous with my verbiage. I can’t help it, it was just amazingly beautiful rich green landscapes of God’s creation…how about all those words??? HAHA

Along the way another amazing site is The Burren. We only stopped along the roadside to take some pictures. It’s an area completely of rock.

We began to make our way closer to Salthill where the traffic began to back up along the shore. Families having weekend time to linger at the beach. Starting and stopping down this stretch of road, we were beginning to wonder if we’d ever make it to our B&B. We were to look for the second right after the Golf Club. Sure enough we made it then just up the road to the Carraig Beag. A nice brick home skirted with beautiful flowers. We parked the car, surprised to have made it by 6pm and went to wait in front of the red door. Catherine greeted us, gave us our Trad on the Prom ticket reservation and showed us to our room.

We had decided that we were hungry and dinner would be on our list. So downstairs we went to get a couple restaurant recommendations from Catherine. Then we went about our long walk from the B&B to The Galleon restaurant. We still haven’t mapped how long a walk but it was quite the jaunt for sure but we made it. We decided on their dinner special. I chose a starter of fried golden mushrooms with a garlic sauce that I shared with mom. Entrees…I chose the roasted lamb which was accompanied by mashed potatoes, carrots, broccoli and a dressing/stuffing. Absolutely delightful! (FYI…mom says this has been my word in Ireland, when asked how is everything. What can I say…HAHA!) Mom chose the baked cod that was topped with cheese and a tomato relish, accompanied with mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli that we shared…apple and berry crumble with custard. Yummy!

With tummies full we grabbed our stuff and got ourselves ready for the long walk from town to the B&B.

Here are a few pics on our walk back. 

WHEW! We made it back…we were ready to get around for bed after a couple late nights. However we wound up Skyping with dad. Tired we headed to bed…ahhh a warm bed!

Another day behind us...it just continues to get even better. End to the 7th Day, August 27th. Are you still with me? Well I hope so we've got more to go...

~Curls~