The final days of our Ireland adventure were spent exploring the GORGEOUS West coast of the country. We left Killarney, took a fun ferry ride across the river Shannon and then lost our way a bit heading to the Cliffs of Moher. Serendipity led us to Kilkee, an Adorable seaside town whose locals claimed that their own cliffs were just as nice, if not nicer than Moher's. After taking a great hour long hike along them, I think I'd have to agree with that. What Moher has in size, Kilkee makes up for with more variety and quantity.It was at the Cliffs of Moher where we had another "small world of Ireland" encounter. Walking up the trail, I ran into a nice couple from New Zealand who sat across from us on our Ring of Kerry bus tour! They were then heading to Galway as we were, but first we had some other sidetrips to make. Our first stop was St. Bridget's Well, right at the foot of Moher. This is known as a healing well where people come and leave religious objects like images of the Virgin Mary or Rosary beads (not to mention gym shorts - I wish I was kidding!)
The Burren was next up. Talk about amazing views and landscape. Feels like your on the surface of the moon with all limestone. We were able to also see one of the more famous Dolmen portal tombs and then did some serious off-the-beaten-path trekking to find some other burial sites that the Dolmen docent told us about.
We then made it safely to Galway where we had an amazing seafood dinner followed by Frank's (my 2nd favorite B&B owner) wonderful breakfast the next morning. Definitely best breakfast of the trip! Two words: potato waffles! And now four more words: Con-ne-mar-a. OMG! Now that is some seriously gorgeous countryside we drove through on the way to Sligo. Stopped for lunch in the great town of Clifden and ate at the tasty Two Dog Cafe (also home to the Westernmost Internet Cafe in Europe - I bought the t-shirt!). En route to Sligo we stopped in at the Kylemore Abbey - home to the Benedictine nuns of Ireland, but also home to a very pricey admissions fee, so we just took exterior photos!
Our final day was spent in Sligo - aka Yeats country! We saw Yeats' grave as well as some beautiful coastlines and castles. Alas our journey then came to an end as we headed to Knock airport to fly back to London. Not to knock Knock, but well, you have to pay 10 GBP at their "redevelopment fund" counter before you can get on the plane!
Speaking of develop, the final set of photos has been developed on Snapfish. Some of the shots may look familiar to you if you're a fan of the "Today" show. Turns out that the week after our trip, Matt Lauer took his "Where in the World" series to Cliffs of Moher/Galway, etc. Can't believe we just missed him!
So now it's back to reality and back to school. Can't believe I'm already half-way through my final semester! This year is Flying by.
The Burren was next up. Talk about amazing views and landscape. Feels like your on the surface of the moon with all limestone. We were able to also see one of the more famous Dolmen portal tombs and then did some serious off-the-beaten-path trekking to find some other burial sites that the Dolmen docent told us about.
We then made it safely to Galway where we had an amazing seafood dinner followed by Frank's (my 2nd favorite B&B owner) wonderful breakfast the next morning. Definitely best breakfast of the trip! Two words: potato waffles! And now four more words: Con-ne-mar-a. OMG! Now that is some seriously gorgeous countryside we drove through on the way to Sligo. Stopped for lunch in the great town of Clifden and ate at the tasty Two Dog Cafe (also home to the Westernmost Internet Cafe in Europe - I bought the t-shirt!). En route to Sligo we stopped in at the Kylemore Abbey - home to the Benedictine nuns of Ireland, but also home to a very pricey admissions fee, so we just took exterior photos!
Our final day was spent in Sligo - aka Yeats country! We saw Yeats' grave as well as some beautiful coastlines and castles. Alas our journey then came to an end as we headed to Knock airport to fly back to London. Not to knock Knock, but well, you have to pay 10 GBP at their "redevelopment fund" counter before you can get on the plane!
Speaking of develop, the final set of photos has been developed on Snapfish. Some of the shots may look familiar to you if you're a fan of the "Today" show. Turns out that the week after our trip, Matt Lauer took his "Where in the World" series to Cliffs of Moher/Galway, etc. Can't believe we just missed him!
So now it's back to reality and back to school. Can't believe I'm already half-way through my final semester! This year is Flying by.
