Apr 29, 2009 - Driving in Ireland

Ok...so driving. That is a whole other experience! Lauren and I decided that I would be the first one to try. It was very, very strange getting in on the right side of the car and seeing the steering wheel. The hardest part at first was getting a feel for the left side of the car. I almost hit a fence pulling out of the parking spot at the Budget rental car parking lot. Lauren and I asked for the maximum insurance coverage just in case! From there, I just did a series of goofy things, such as trying to put my arm up on the imaginary door...

Apr 9, 2009 - Galway - what a city!

Thursday is a rainy and gray day but we have our driver take us up to the Galway area. Roger is able to get two honk in one day - he was quite proud. Galway driving was horrible so we go out to the west to Spiddle and go up and around Lough Corrib (a lake) to avoid going back though Galway. During our excursion this very desolate area of the country Roger informs that we'll be needing petrol in about 100 km. Jay starts doing the math getting a little nervous I think as he says he doesn't let his get below 1/2 tank!! Well, we come to a...

Sep 22, 2008 - Cliffs Rocks and Galway

Another Beautiful day dawned and we left Ballybunion this morning and headed for Tarbert where we arrived just in time to catch the 9:30 A.M. Ferry. We were accompanied by several busloads of American Tourists. It was a calm sail across the estuary of the River Shannon. We set off westwards and stopped at Kilkee and walked along the seaside. Christine did some beach combing and collected a bagful of "treasures". We replenished our wallet and picnic supplies and headed for the Cliffs of Moher where we spent some time in the exhibit area then...

Sep 21, 2008 - Ring of Kerry - North

We had a good chat with the very Irish owner of the B&B this morning and a satisfying breakfast before setting off for Velentia Island. Just outside of Waterville we found the road blocked by a cow that seemed to know where he was going. Eventually he went into a filed. Unfortunately, Christine's camera lens had collected condensation and the resulting photo recording the incident is somewhat foggy. We crossed the bridge at Portmagee and stopped at the Skerrig Experience and spent some time browsing the exhibits. Christine had been...

Aug 20, 2008 - InisMor, Aran Islands (20-21 August)

Another wet and misty day (it has been the wettest August on record or something) so took a bus tour of the island rather than the original plan of hiring bikes. The bus took us to the main sites of Dun Aonghasa, The Aran Seal Colony, Kilmurvey Village, Na Seacht d'Teampaill (The seven churches) and the Man of Aran Cottage. Dun Aonghasa, a 2500 year old fort standing on 300 feet cliffs was quite impressive. They certainly knew how to work stone, but after seeing so many small stone fences it was clear that they'd had some practice. The...

Aug 18, 2008 - Galway - Ireland (18-19 August)

Siobhan dropped us off to catch the bus to Sligo then taking the long journey onto Galway – the bus broke down on the way making the trip even longer. When we greeted in Galway by about 3 minutes of sunshine followed by bucketing rain we decided to give up, had a takeaway pizza back at the hotel. The following day we spent a lazy day wandering around the shops and laneways in the picturesque town of Galway.

Jun 11, 2008 - Ireland! Onto the West Coast- Galway and Tralee

Ireland, why did I go here? Only four months ago I was still employed, have never traveled anywhere that wasn't a package vacation and was debating going through with this whole thing. I knew a guy that did this, and he invited me to his house to a party, we got to talking and he gave me a run down on most countries. After chatting for a bit I asked the defacto question, what country is a not miss. Without hesitation his eyes lit up and Sentner said "Ireland, the nicest people in the world", so to be honest this is why I went here. Well,...

May 23, 2008 - Galway

Alright, so the next place we went to was Cork, up on the western coast of Ireland. We weren't really sure what there was to do there, we just heard it was a beautiful place and decided, hey lets go there! Okay, partly because we love the song Galway Girl too...it has to be good if its part of a song! :) So we woke up to a grey morning (surpise) with a lot of rain coming down. Luckily we didn't have far to go to get to the bus station, so we were only mostly soaked by the time we got to it. We had a third member of our party too, one of the...

Nov 11, 2007 - Connemara Peninsula

According to our guidebook "Connemara National Park is a lovely park spread over mountains, bogs, and wetlands. It has an excellent visitor center which offers advice on how best to see this scenic wonder." So we set out on yet another ring drive around this peninsula and to visit the national park. On the way we stopped at Augnanure Castle, just because it was there. There wasn't much left of it but a watch tower, typical of many of the castles we've passed. The national park was a major disappointment. The visitor center was not open and...

Oct 18, 2007 - Beara Peninsula Rocks, so to speak.

Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007 Dear Diary, Today was a great day. Okay, it didn't start out so great since my two German girl room mates left the bedroom window wide open and the roar of the traffic (yes, roar - the hostel is on a busy corner) awakened me at 5 a.m. I finally got up at 8. Oh well, might as well get an early start for a change, I thought. I decided not to "do" the well-trodden Ring of Kerry, but to instead take the less traveled Ring of Beara route, circling the Beara Peninsula. Kenmare sits at the head of the bay which separates...

Oct 7, 2007 - Day Five, Connemara

It's so easy to get stuck in a rut. We all have our patterns and set routines, some to get us to work or to school on time, others just to get us through the day. It's also easy to get upset when our routine is upset - the alarm doesn't go off, the toast gets burnt, someone takes your seat on the bus. Grrr! Travel changes that. While you may make the most detailed travel plans since Columbus, well, like that fateful voyage, things don't always work out the way you planned. Sometimes they work out better. Take today for instance. The plan...

Oct 3, 2007 - Whistling down the windy road in Western Ireland

What a couple of days we have had...scenic drives, golf and eating out at some odd country pubs. On Monday, we headed to the airport to pick up our trusty Corsa (Holden) tinny tiny barina (sorta thing). Luckily, it fitted all our gear in the boot and we were off (broom broom). First stop was Limerick where we drove through the town centre, like it was the middle of perth in peak hour traffic. Then we headed to Killarney where we booked into our accomodation at a country house hostel (like a haunted house out of a scary movie). We drove out...