Baltic Cruise and Ireland-Sept. 2011- Galway to Dublin

Sunday, Sept 25.

Maureen Kelly had us well fed when we left her beautiful B and B, Coolibah.  In five minutes we were on the brand new motorway with 196 Km between us and Dublin.  With 42 Km to go, we pulled off for a coffee at one of the spanking new service centres along the route. WiFi was there and free so I checked the final few Km from our location to the hotel just outside of the airport.  Google maps had us on the way with directions which we hoped would take us right to the Bewley hotel  by passing Dublin centre.

Once we got back on the motorway, some pretty intense rain began to fall. I wondered what would happen at the Solheim Cup of golf, being played just outside of Dublin.  We found our way right to the hotel and got checked in.  Tolls on the road between Galway and Dublin had amounted to about 7.00 Euros.  We rested for an hour or so then drove downtown to the Guinness Plant on some skimpy directions from the guy at the reception desk.

A pint of the good stuff

We found a place to park and got in to the Storage Area which is the official reception area for tourists.  If you haven’t been to this operation make an effort to go if you are in this neck of the woods. The whole tourist area is designed like a giant pint of Guinness inside what was once part of the operation.  It ends up with the tourist drinking a free pint on level seven of the plant which is called the Gravity Bar.

The Gravity Bar

It affords one a marvellous view over the whole city of Dublin.  I had Cynthia’s pint and my own, and got her a glass of water with a twist of lemon.  We met an elderly lady called Kit who was from new York and visiting Ireland with her niece Maura…another Maura.  Kit noticed I had forgotten our camera, (once again), and took some video of Cynthia and myself, promising to send the clip to us.  We said goodbye and made our way out of the building and back to the car.

We managed to get ourselves back to the hotel after making a couple of detours through the city centre, and decided to eat in the hotel bar.  It was OK but nothing like the sparkling pub fare we’d been used to since getting to Ireland.    We plan  to drive to Trinity College in the morning to see the book of Kells, and  do some more sight-seeing downtown before we have to return the car to the Avis counter at the airport tomorrow PM.  We watched a little of the rain-drenched Solheim Cup and bed time followed later on.  Good night and God bless.

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Baltic Cruise and Ireland-Sept. 2011- Galway Area

Cynthia was NOT happy with me this morning.  I woke her at 08.10 so we could make the 08.30 breakfast at the B and B.  Sadly though, in the semi-dark bedroom and without my glasses, I mis-read the dial on her tiny watch which, on closer inspection read 07.10.  It made for a great start to the day.  Fortunately, Mary, our host, was cooking brekky for George the bus-driver, also staying at her place.  We joined George, and Cynthia pretended to be sociable over her bacon and eggs as George cheerily outlined his upcoming day.

We had to move our camp to Maureen’s B and B after brekky as Mary was fully booked for the second night.  We thanked Mary and Sean for a great stay at their lovely home, Ashbrook House.  Sean forgave me for cracking his toilet seat the first time I sat on it, and Mary hugged us both. Maureen, at Coolibah B and B five houses down the road, was  expecting us and let us drop the bags at her lovely home before we headed out..

We hit the road for the Cliffs of Moher.

Cliffs of Moher

The spectacular drive took us through Ballyvaughan and on around the headlands.  Unfortunately, Just after we’d left Ballyvaughan, we found ourselves in the middle of a group of about 100 riders all cycling for the Cystic Fibrosis cause.  Sad to say, as they followed the pilot car, they were all over our half of the road.  They were sometimes four abreast and there was no attempt by any of them to share the road properly.  I’m afraid it’s that kind of operation which causes motorists to decry the use of cycles.  When I think back to how well organised was the cancer ride in which we participated, this one made me shudder.  It was an accident waiting to happen as motorists tried to get by the pack on narrow roads, and cyclists wobbled all over the road in front of the cars trying to pass them.  If single file cycling had been adopted, all of us would have been much happier.  Anyway, we got ahead of them.  We rounded the cliffs and the peninsula of Burren then went for a walk on the cliff-tops.  When we came back to the car, to our horror we noticed the first of the pack had caught up with us following their pilot car.  We beetled back into the car and quickly got past the leaders before Alberto Contador and the rest swarmed us.  We did not want to sit and watch their wiggling bums for another half an hour.

We stopped for a mid-morning coffee when we came back to Ballyvaughan.  The weather was still glorious so we decided to push on to see Galway.  Cynthia navigated us through the city to Salthill a suburb on the west side of the city and right on Galway Bay.  We had a Sub for lunch then headed for the city centre and Eyre Square in particular.

Eyre Square, Galway

This lovely square, which is largely pedestrianised as is most of the city centre, is a hive of activity.  As Galway is a university town, there is an amazing energy pulsing through the city centre, where young and old alike come to meet.  Musicians were playing on every corner, jugglers were out and even magicians showed off their tricks to anyone wishing to watch.  Thousands of people were on the streets. We spent an enjoyable hour people watching  before we hopped on a bus and went for a tour of this vibrant place.

After leaving Galway, we made our way back to the B and B for a rest.  Maureen and her husband Pat Kelly, made us tea for two and came to chat with us in their living room.  We passed an enjoyable time with them before heading back to O’Riordan’s Pub for our evening meal.

Now we are about to sack in ready for the trip to Dublin tomorrow.  Good night and God bless.

Baltic Cruise and Ireland-Sept. 2011-Killarney to Galway

Friday, Sept 23.

B and B in Killarney

We set off from Maura’s B and B in Killarney around 09.30.  We’d had a great two days.  Cynthia navigated us to the Dingle Peninsular and we made our first stop at the town of Dingle itself.  It was busy with locals going about their business and tourists like us filling the streets.  We browsed around, visited the church and had a coffee at the Goat Street Café before moving on.

Goat Street Cafe

Spectacular beaches and ocean views greeted us all along the peninsular.

Beautiful beaches, Dingle Peninsular

At the outmost  point of the rocky peninsular we stopped to take pictures of The Cross as the locals call it, an amazing sculpture right on the cliffs.

"The Cross"- Dingle Peninsular

We went to see the Gallarus Oratory.  It’s an amazing building 8m long X 5m wide X 5m high. The roof is formed by the gradual slope of the sides.  It’s made entirely of dry stone and has walls four feet thick.  It was built by early Christians and dates back 1300 years.  This is the only one left.  Viking invaders destroyed much of village life in this area but this building survived.  It is still completely waterproof.

The Oratory

From Gallarus we hot footed it from Dingle through fuschia hedgerows out to Tipperary, up to Limerick and just outside Galway where we are now.  The sunshine we’d enjoyed all day gave way to rain showers in the evening.

Miles of fuschia hedgerows

However, by that time we’d eaten a good evening meal and were tucked up in our B and B.  Good night and God bless.

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