Ireland Day 4: Connemara Ponies and One Very Wrong Turn

Up early to drive to the Connemara region, the Irish speaking region on the far west coast. Connemara is also famous for Connemara Ponies, a large, sturdy horse bred in the area, but also found in the wild (wild horses?!). Zach probably wanted to put duct tape over my mouth for the number of times I said "Connemara Ponies," on this trip.  

Connemara is described as "untouched" with more sheep than people. We kept having to stop to take pictures, like of this winding river. 

When on the winding road we had our first glimpse of Irish mountains it took our breath away. 

We were terrified yet excited by every sheep we saw near the road. As Zach drove I was on sheep watch duty. 

We arrived in Clifden, a small pier town in Connemara to find the restaurant I'd planned for us to eat at was closed on Sundays. No worries, right across the parking lot was the Clifden Station House Museum. We decided to take a chance. 

It was housed in an old railway station house and I loved the sign for the ladies waiting room. One can only imagine what it was like to board the train here a hundred years ago. 

The museum was small, only one big room with a loft, but gave us a good feel for Connemara. Like many areas of Ireland there are many woolen crafts. We took these pictures for Zach's sister Denise. 

Zach was very excited to pose next to the peat wagon. 

I was actually excited to pose next to a jaunting car (something that may show up later in our trip).

Aha, more mannequins. It wouldn't be an Irish museum without mannequins. Meet Alcock and Brown pilots on the first transatlantic flight.  

The quaint city of Clifden, the largest town in Connemara. We were able to find free parking and decided to walk around and find lunch.

A picture of Moran's Pharmacy, because Zach's Irish roots are in the name Moran. 

Prior to our trip, Kirstin bought us a book with pictures of Ireland. One of these pictures was of "Anchor Beach" near Cleggan in Connemara. Zach insisted that we see this anchor, but since Anchor Beach does not appear on any maps I told him we might not be able to make it happen. This picture was taken preemptively in the event we did not locate the anchor (this turned out to be a good idea, more to follow).

Clifden bay through a gate and more views of the bay. 

A lovely Celtic cross. 

Many restaurants were closed because we were there on a Sunday, but we (and a tour bus, unfortunately) found Walsh's. We partook in much needed coffee and sandwiches, while enjoying the view. Definitely not a view you would see from a coffee shop in Chicago. 

Back on the road and on a mission to see the anchor. We put the words "Cleggan beach" into our trusty GPS and we were on our way...or so we thought. The GPS turned us down the smallest road we'd ever seen. As you can see from the pictures, only one car was going to fit on this road. I'd heard legends of these roads before, but since we'd planned on visiting mostly populated areas I didn't think we'd stumble upon one. Here we were in a foreign country and our GPS was telling us to turn, so we turned. Big mistake. I kept asking, "What are we going to do if a car comes the other way?" and to this Zach had no answer. We drove down a large hill only to be stopped by a horse trailer sitting in the middle of the road with no sign of anyone manning said horse trailer. I wish I'd gotten a picture of this moment, but as you can guess I was in full out panic mode. Our first day of back roads driving and we were stuck between a steep hill and a horse trailer. Luckily, Zach kept his wits about him and was able to back up the hill with very little assistance from this distraught passenger. We backed into an outlet no bigger than our tiny car and managed to turn around. We vowed never to turn down a street that small again (which saved us from a terrifying mountain pass near the Cliffs of Moher the next day). 

When we got back on the main road our trusty GPS said "recalculating" and found us a much wider road to Cleggan Pier. I'd planned for us to arrive around one o'clock because there was a Regatta Gala (as I called it, but it was really just a regatta) going on from Cleggan to Inishbofin, an island off the coast. I thought we might be able to see if from the pier. This was faulty planning on two points. One, you couldn't see it from the pier. Two, hundreds of people parked near the pier to take ferrys to Inishbofin. Thus, we were not able to park and look for Zach's anchor. Good thing we'd already taken an anchor picture. We were able to pause ant take a few pictures and get very close to a friendly donkey. 

For those of you who are curious, this is an internet picture of the anchor. It's pretty amazing. I would've liked to see it. 

Fearful that the days had been ruined by closed restaurants, a near death experience, and lack of anchors we continued on. There were many sheep on the road, which eased the pain a little. 

Fortunately, the day only got better and better. Enter Connemara National Park. In the planning stages of the trip I blocked out exactly one hour to stop in the park and try to catch glimpse of some Connemara Ponies. Luckily, you can't plan everything. This was one of the most awe-inspiring parts of the trip and we ended up staying almost four hours. 

Inside the visitor center it outlined three hikes, the shortest yellow trail, the longer blue trail, and the much longer red trail. This is the view from the visitor center and the red walk went over that mountain, no joke - we decided on the yellow hike. 

There she is (or he is) the majestic Connemara pony. There were two at the park. Not in the wild, but I'll take it. There were also some cute donkeys. 

On the hike I took a quick stop to take a picture next to a rock wall, because I love them. Zach took a picture next to a fence, he's indifferent to fences, but he took a picture next to one anyway. 

When we reached the end of the yellow trail, Zach kept climbing saying he just wanted to get to the next point, then the next point, then the next point. I followed thinking he was telling the truth, but we just kept going until there was no turning back...we were taking the blue trail. 

When we reached the precipice of the blue trail we turned around and saw the most beautiful views. It made it all worth it.  

If you look really closely in this picture you can see the tiny people on top of the mountain ridge. We were definitely not going to take the red trail. 

We found some rocks to rest upon for a few minutes before hiking back down the hill. 

The scenery was just as beautiful going down as it was going up. As you can see we'd come so far from the ponies at the beginning of the trail. 

Sheep!

From the park we drove a small distance to Kylemore Abbey, first a castle for a wealthy politician in the 1860s, then a monastery starting in the 1920s. 

While we were walking to the castle from the gate the sun started to come up over the mountain. What a sight. It reminded me of the Sound of Music. 

Kylemore Abbey is home to the Benedictine order of nuns. Some rooms have been restored to reflect the original decor. 

After experiencing the castle we walked the grounds to the Gothic Church.

"I still love a water feature."

We were fortunate to arrive at the Gothic Church during a concert featuring a soprano harpist.

After Kylemore Abbey it was back on the road to Galway. On the way a car was stopped in fronts of us. We looked around to see why and witnessed the most amazing low hanging rainbow. We stayed until it started to disappear.  

We arrived back in Galway in time for our reservation at The Cellar Door. It was a modern pub, also promising live music, but not delivering. Oh well, the food was good. 

Back to the Park House for an early bed time. Day 5 was to be a busy one, the Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher. 

"Mistakes are the portals of discovery." - James Joyce

Ireland Day 3: The Left Side of the Road

With Dublin under our belt it was time to explore the rest of Ireland. We took the bus back to the airport and to the Enterprise counter. There was a bit of a line and mass confusion, but about two hours later Zach was driving on the left side of the road. We were touched by an angel when we made the last minute decision to pay for a GPS. If we hadn't I think we would still be lost somewhere in Ireland. 

The car we were awarded was a tiny piece of tin called a Nissan Micra. Fortunately, Zach and I lived to tell the tale of driving this toy car in the mountains, but that comes later. 

Zach was off to a shaky start and he was very relieved when we reached our first destination - Kilbeggen Distillery in Westmeath County.

We arrived a little late for the tour, but we decided to stay and eat at the on-site restaurant, The Pantry, to give Zach a break from driving. 

When we sat down I had to tell the poor guy that he matched the tablecloth exactly. 

We had a leisurely lunch of soup and brown bread. 

After lunch we walked around some of the open areas in the distillery. 

I love a water feature!

Back on the road we saw the first of hundreds of horses and sheep we would see on our travels. Ireland is only about the size of Indiana and not counting our stop it only took us about two and a half hours to drive from one coast to the other.  

We arrived in Galway City and checked into Park House Hotel. After an hour or so of rest it was time to get out on the town. Our hotel was located roughly across the street from Eyre Square also know as John F. Kennedy Memorial Park. 

These flags line one side of the square and represent the 14 Tribes of Galway, which ruled the city in the middle ages. 

Zach standing by a statue in the park designed to represent "Galway Hookers." Hookers are boats people!

We continued through the square to High Street, which is the main pedestrian street in Galway. Located on High Street is Lynch's Castle a medieval townhouse with some very interesting stone work. The building now houses a bank, but it's amazing how well preserved it is. 

After that we walked to Thomas Dillon's Claddagh Gold, makers of the original claddagh ring. The store also has a tiny one room claddagh ring museum. 

This is a letter form Maureen O'Hara from the movie The Quiet Man, which Zach and I watched before our trip.

"World's smallest Claddagh Ring"

We continued our walk past St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, a medieval church founded in 1320. It's the largest medieval church still in use in Ireland. 

The Fishery Tower, a local landmark. 

Then, on to The Spanish Arch, Constructed in 1584, an extension of the medieval city wall. 

Galway Harbour was beautiful with row houses and boats. 

There were beautiful swans swimming in the harbor. We were able to get close and get some good pictures. 

The Wolfe Tone Bridge on The River Corrib. Love that name. 

After sightseeing we did a little shopping on High Street. Interesting story: We went into a yarn shop to ask about sheep fiber for Zach's sister Denise. The shop owner said we would never get fiber past customs and suggested organic yarn instead. When we were leaving the store, a strange man approached us and said he knew a place we could get sheep fiber. As leery tourists, we sensed we were being conned by some black market goods dealer and got out of there quick.  

We had dinner at a pub called The Front Door. That night we learned the hard way not to trust the internet for live music schedules. No music, but a nice corner table, a pleasant atmosphere, and Guinness. 

After dinner we passed The Browne doorway from the early 17th century. It it the doorway to the townhouse of the Browne family, one of the fourteen Tribes of Galway.

Tired from our travels, but not able to pass up live music, we stopped in one more pub. An Puncan was directly across the street from out hotel as you can see in the picture below. 

It was a beautiful drive across the country and a fun day exploring Galway City, but it was time for bed.

"A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything." - Irish Proverb