I think I may have skipped a day - will go back and recreate, but this was last Sunday... We had two wonderful nights in Galway, and then we drove south. We loved the city so much, though, that we had to make one last swing through before leaving. We will definitely go back!
They were putting up the Galway Christmas tree in Eyre Square Sunday morning. Adaline was impressed.
We visited the church downtown. Christopher Columbus worshiped there before sailing out to sea - they say he came to honor an Irishman who had traveled across the ocean before him, but I can't remember his name and Bryan isn't in the room right now to tell me...
There were beautiful "old things," as Adaline would say, all around the church. We were glad to get there before church service started - it was very peaceful and a perfect way to start our day.
We took a final stroll down "The Long Walk" (referenced in the song The Galway Girl) before turning around and heading back to the car.
Each part of Ireland that we have visited is just a little bit different - it is all so striking. In western Ireland, the land is very rocky, so the farmers used the rocks to make little stone fences, which I loved. The Burren, in particular, is very rocky - so lots of rock fences!
Above is a peat bog. We used Rick Steves travel book for many of our routes - he encouraged readers to get out and jump on the peat bogs to feel how they moved. We decided to forgo that particular recommendation... :)
We stopped for lunch in Ballyvaughn, a cute little town along the way. It had cute little shops and a cozy pub for us to eat in.
The Burren was somewhat man-made - when early Norman settlers (again - should verify with Bryan...) clear-cut the land of trees, the environment responded by developing into this interesting landscape - a lot of the books describe it as lunar. Apparently the flora is just amazing during the summer. Surprise, surprise - we saw it in the rain. :) It was still striking.
Next stop - an ancient tomb in the middle of nowhere! As an aside, Adaline has desecreated some national monuments (if you know what I mean...), and this is one of the ones where Bryan made a mad dash for whatever coverage he could find for Adaline to do number one. I know - too much information! I told him we should start a list - she will be horrified when she is older.
Thank goodness for Adaline's rain boots!!!
We never tire of seeing castles and towers along the way. This one was particularly amazing - we thought someone should spend the money to make it safe enough for tourists to visit - just beautiful!
Our final stop was at an abbey that Rick Steves recommended - has some of the oldest Irish crosses in the country. We walked around for a few minutes looking through the hundreds of crosses in the cemetery - only to discover they were in a protected room in the back. Ha!!
We had a great trip through the Burren, even though several spots were closed for the off season... We stayed in a bed and breakfast that I thought was in Doolin (a music town) so we drove there - only to reread the directions stating that our b&b was five miles away - but the landscape, again, was beautiful, so we didn't mind the extra drive. I will try to go back and make sure I add pictures from November 15 next.
I think I may have skipped a day - will go back and recreate, but this was last Sunday... We had two wonderful nights in Galway, and then we drove south. We loved the city so much, though, that we had to make one last swing through before leaving. We will definitely go back!
They were putting up the Galway Christmas tree in Eyre Square Sunday morning. Adaline was impressed.
We visited the church downtown. Christopher Columbus worshiped there before sailing out to sea - they say he came to honor an Irishman who had traveled across the ocean before him, but I can't remember his name and Bryan isn't in the room right now to tell me...
There were beautiful "old things," as Adaline would say, all around the church. We were glad to get there before church service started - it was very peaceful and a perfect way to start our day.
We took a final stroll down "The Long Walk" (referenced in the song The Galway Girl) before turning around and heading back to the car.
Each part of Ireland that we have visited is just a little bit different - it is all so striking. In western Ireland, the land is very rocky, so the farmers used the rocks to make little stone fences, which I loved. The Burren, in particular, is very rocky - so lots of rock fences!
Above is a peat bog. We used Rick Steves travel book for many of our routes - he encouraged readers to get out and jump on the peat bogs to feel how they moved. We decided to forgo that particular recommendation... :)
We stopped for lunch in Ballyvaughn, a cute little town along the way. It had cute little shops and a cozy pub for us to eat in.
The Burren was somewhat man-made - when early Norman settlers (again - should verify with Bryan...) clear-cut the land of trees, the environment responded by developing into this interesting landscape - a lot of the books describe it as lunar. Apparently the flora is just amazing during the summer. Surprise, surprise - we saw it in the rain. :) It was still striking.
Next stop - an ancient tomb in the middle of nowhere! As an aside, Adaline has desecreated some national monuments (if you know what I mean...), and this is one of the ones where Bryan made a mad dash for whatever coverage he could find for Adaline to do number one. I know - too much information! I told him we should start a list - she will be horrified when she is older.
Thank goodness for Adaline's rain boots!!!
We never tire of seeing castles and towers along the way. This one was particularly amazing - we thought someone should spend the money to make it safe enough for tourists to visit - just beautiful!
Our final stop was at an abbey that Rick Steves recommended - has some of the oldest Irish crosses in the country. We walked around for a few minutes looking through the hundreds of crosses in the cemetery - only to discover they were in a protected room in the back. Ha!!
We had a great trip through the Burren, even though several spots were closed for the off season... We stayed in a bed and breakfast that I thought was in Doolin (a music town) so we drove there - only to reread the directions stating that our b&b was five miles away - but the landscape, again, was beautiful, so we didn't mind the extra drive. I will try to go back and make sure I add pictures from November 15 next.
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