Sunday, 23 September 2012
Today we leave Sligo and travel to the west of Ireland in Connemara.
It is Mike’s “driver day off”. European Union law regulates driving time to 56 hours in a week for professional drivers; Mike reached his limit with us! Our “new” Mike is a driver only. So “our” Mike followed us in a van and “guided” us at the stops, so much for taking a break from us!
Our first stop is
Westport in County Mayo for a short break. A popular destination in the West of Ireland, it won the Tidy Town competition three times and the Best Place to Live in Ireland 2012. Westport is one of few “planned” towns in Ireland, with narrow fronted commercial buildings, typical of Irish Towns. The design included a river with two blocks of low stone walls, lined with trees and big flower baskets. Beautiful! There were a few shops open on Sunday morning, for some express shopping.
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| Westport |
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| Westport town center |
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Back on the coach, our next stop is a “
Fairy Tree” along the way. A part of Irish mythology, ancient fairies gathered around the Hawthorn (fairy tree) and held their rituals. These trees are across the Irish countryside, often standing alone in the center of a field. While most people do not believe in fairies, neither will they risk the bad luck believed to happen from cutting one down. Ribbons and keepsakes tied to the tree are offerings to the fairies to bring you good fortune. Janet bought red ribbon for each of us (thank you “teacher” for our supplies)! The fairy tree was off limits, so “our” Mike jumped the fence, tied on our ribbons and we made our wishes!
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| Mike tying our ribbons on fairy tree |
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| view from fairy tree |
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It was time to put on our seat belts for the bouncy ride though the “
Bogs”. Bogs are wetlands formed in Ireland over 8,000 years ago; peat bogs contain about 95% water and 5% organic matter. The acid conditions and lack of oxygen can preserve items buried in the bog for thousands of years. Peat is/has been used for fuel, heating and garden soils. Over the years, turf cutting has resulted in a significant loss of the original raised and blanket bogs. There is an effort underway to reduce the amount of peat being extracted and find alternative solutions for using it.
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| Kylemore Abbey |
Our next stop was the
Kylemore Abbey. It was a beautiful sunny day; we had time for lunch and a nice walk. The castle was in a great location for pictures, with a lake in front and forest in background. The Kylemore Castle was built as a private home in 1871, it took one hundred men four years to complete. In 1920 the Irish Benedictine Nuns purchased the Abbey castle for Catholic girl’s education and a boarding school. They were forced to close the school in 2010.
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| on a walk in Galway |
We stopped in
Galway to walk around the medieval streets of old town. There were plenty of shops to explore, pubs or street side restaurants to relax with a cup of tea and watch people. I did some “souvenir” shopping at the local store for tea (best prices). The top three brands of Irish Tea are (1) Lyons (2) Barry’s (3) Bewleys.
Tonight we stay in Galway at Clayton at Ballybritt Hotel
Mike got tickets to “Trad on the Prom” for the “yes” list of our group. The show combined Ireland’s world class music, song and dance. It’s hard to explain the incredible passion, energy and talent of each of the performers. Many have been leading roles in productions ‘River dance’, ‘The Chieftains’ and ‘Lord of the Dance’. It was a late night; got back to the hotel at 11:30 PM. I’ll take a nap on the bus tomorrow!