Sharon and Jaya's 2003 Trip to Ireland - Day 7

Thursday, April 24, 2003

Had a nice breakfast and a chat with Paud, the proprietor. I showed him a picture of the brown countryside. He said it was bad land, and those were rushes that had turned brown.

Jaya told him we were going to put our pictures on a website and send him the link. He gave one of his cards and asked about yoga. He said he noticed Jaya reading a book at breakfast, and thought, he wouldn't be able to sit still for 10 minutes to do that. He thought that yoga might help him relax.

We got on the road before 10 and headed up to Galway. We decided we would only stop at a couple places that were on our path. Oh―our first stop was right there in Galway, The Muckross House. We were just in time for the 10:00 tour.

Muckross House

Muckross Gardens

The Muckross house is a victorian home that has been restored and reoutfited with period furniture, lots of ornate woodwork, Waterford Crystal chandeliers. There was a game room with a billiards table, a childrens bedroom, a bathroom with modern plumbing, and a suite of rooms―a sitting room, dressing room and bedroom―that had been outfitted for Queen Victoria who only stayed there for two nights. The owners went into financial straits over this remodel, because Queen Victoria retired shortly after her visit, and they did not get the title they were expecting.

I took a few pictures in the garden―and we left about 11:15 heading north.

Glin Castle

We stopped and took pictures at Glin Castle―but we could only see it from a distance―they were closed until the end of May.

Then we drove west to Tarbert, and waited for the 1:30 car ferry across the Shannon Estuary to Kilmer. We drove the car onto the boat, which looked like a three lane parking lot when everyone was on. I bought a cup of tea and some mints at the little snack stand. We went up top and took some pictures. and had a gentleman take one of us together. It was sunny and clear, we had a nice view all around. It took about 20 minutes to cross the river. We were told this way would save us about an hour of driving, and going through Limerick could be slow from heavy traffic.

We continued north, through Ennis. We stopped at a pay phone to call the B&B, but I couldn't get through. We tried again a little later at another phone―and I also tried to call Andrew―but the phone took my money and wouldn't recognise my calling card. I guess you need to have a pre-paid card in Ireland, which I didn't have. I checked in the book, and I had been misreading the B&B's phone number. We stopped for lunch at the pub next to the Lady Gregory Hotel in Gort. I called from there and the B&B had been expecting us on the 23^rd! I know I should have called myself. At first she seemed upset, but I apologized and she calmed down a bit. She had space for us tonight, but nothing for the next night―but she said she would call her neighbors and find something for us.

I wanted to stop at Thoor Balleylee, Yeat's summer home, so I could take pictures for my mom.

Thoor Balleylee

So we asked the waitress how to get there. She told us to go down the road and turn right and then left, it would be sign posted. she said it would take 15 minutes.

We found one sign for it, pointing one direction―drove down the road for 15 minutes and found another sign pointing back the way we had come. So we turned aournd.

We stopped and took pictues of a small castle on the road, and then found the sign for Thoor Ballylee. It had been facing this direction, but not the other, so we missed it the first time.

We turned and drove another 15 minutes or so. It was on this road we saw rock walls that were very high, made from large boulders. A machine of some kind must have been used to make them. I said it looked like an American had been involved―someone from Texas probably. It was quite a contrast to the knee hight stone walls that were everywhere else.

We found Thoor Balleylee, and it was closed for the season. They opened the end of May. This had not been noted in Fromers, so I wasn't expecting it. But we got out and walked around anyway. It was lovely, trees with moss growing all around them, a stream running by, and a stone tower house, with a thatched roof cottage connected to it. The thatching had moss growing on it. It was an idyllic setting.

We drove on north and got into Galway, and found our B&B. The proprietor was very nice, and told me her friend had emailed me about the date―but of course I wasn't picking up my email. (We have seen internet cafe's but decided not to use them.) She called and found a room for us for the next night just down the street, and we told her we wanted to go to the Aran Islands, and she said, you'll want to drive over to Rossaneal to catch the ferry, and do you have your tickets? She had them there, for sale―€38 for the two of us. So that was good.

We got in the room and soon walked over to downtown Galway.

The streets were closed to the cars, all brick, and the shops were quaint, charming colorful places. We looked around, and findly settled on a tiny restaraunt on Quay Street. I had a seafood stew, that was delicious. Jaya had some pasta seafood thing. We walked back and settled in at the B&B.

Continued on Day 8.

Sharon and Jaya's 2003 Trip to Ireland