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~