A Couple of Days in Galway

We had our great full Irish breakfast and headed out per out host Ida's direction toward Klymore Abby. We took her scenic route suggestion through a flatland area with free range sheep wandering the roadways. We went through the peat bog area where they had freshly stacked and cut peat drying to be used for fuel.


We visited the Klymore Abby in a beautiful setting on a mountainside by a lake. We took our usual 500 pictures of the abby and surrounding countryside. We walked to the gothic church built in remembrance of a man's wife. We decided to pass on the nearby national park as it was getting late and the weather was getting Irish. That is to say a wet mist blowing at 30 to 40 knots.

We make the trek home and stopped at the John Wayne bridge. There is some question as to its authenticity but near the bridge they have a photo of "The Duke" with the same background as can be seen from the bridge. They didn't have Photoshop in those days but they still managed to make King Kong look real. In any case I had my picture taken with a tweed hat that made me look so much like John Wayne I had to look close to see I was shorter, carrying a digital camera and aside from the hat looked nothing like The Duke.

We took a few hundred pictures of sheep on the way back and got to our B&B by 1730 (military time is very prevalent here), We walked the "15 minutes" to dinner near the water. That water is Galway Bay.

The next day we decided to go back south and try the Cliffs of Moher. The weather had improved and we got to the cliffs after an hour and and forty five minute drive. The GPS estimate is much less than that but assumes you can do 62 mph (100kph) on a narrow mountain road with construction, small towns, farm equipment and stray sheep in your path. If I had done the posted 100kph my little black Suzuki would have looked like a Q-Tip after our first sheep encounter.

The cliffs were nice but Sue and I agreed that the pictures of the coastline on the Barra peninsula were more spectacular. Dunguaire castle was an easy diversion on the way home and is billed as the most photographed castle in Ireland. Since it is right next to a roadway travelled by tour busses I can see why. You could easily get a great shot through a bus window. Sue and I, of course, spent an hour photographing the castle from every angle.

We got safely home to our B&B, had our requisite glass of wine and/or shot of Irish whiskey, and went out for dinner. We were about 30 feet down the street from our warm abode when the Irish mist kicked in with a vengeance. Sue popped my umbrella since she lost hers after one of several thousand bumps on the jaunty ride the week before, and it managed to flip inside out more than once on our walk to dinner.

The pub we had selected was closed until 1930, to keep out the elderly looking for the EB Special we assumed. We changed our plans and returned to an Italian place we had used before. After a traditional Irish dinner of pizza and French wine we braved the elements for the walk home.

This is being written in the sitting room with my portable keyboard in my lap and the iPad on a piano stool. Since the piano was not in use and already had another chair wedged under it I thought I was safe to set up shop. As it turns out I saw only one other couple on their way up to their rooms since I began writing this. Sue is upstairs getting a head start on a good night's sleep. I will now join her. More later......