A long weekend in Éire (part II)

Okay, so here it is, the second entry in my two-part entry about my long weekend in Ireland with Ashton! I left off on Saturday, February 26th. After going out for a bit in Galway that night, we headed back to our hostel to (try to) get in a good night's sleep before our day-long bus tour of Cong and Connemara the following day.

Day Three: Cong and Connemara

At 10:00am Sunday morning, Ashton and I arrived at the bus station, happily full after a good breakfast and strong cup of coffee and eager to begin our day-long bus tour of Cong and Connemara. Connemara is the name given to the western portion of County Galway, which lies between Lough Corrib and the Atlantic. It's a really beautiful area with lots to see. Our first stop was at the ruins of Ross Errilly Friary. Built in the 14th century, this Franciscan friary is the most extensive and best preserved of all the Franciscan friaries in Ireland, despite having been burned down and subsequently rebuilt a few times throughout its history. While it appeared small from outside, the friary was actually very large with lots of hidden passages, stairways and crevices to discover. After seeing the friary, we boarded the bus again and drove to Cong, a very small village about 45 minutes northwest of Galway. The village is famous for having been the location where the movie "The Quiet man" starring John Wayne and Maureen O'hara was filmed in 1952. For this reason, just about everything in Cong (and there's really not much) is named "The Quiet Man This" and "The Quiet Man That". In Cong we were able to see traditional Irish thatched-roof cottages, the ruins of the Cong Abbey, dating back to the 7th century, and the Market Cross, a cross located in the middle of Cong's main street that was erected sometime between the 12th and 14th centuries. After Cong, we drove through some of the more scenic, quiet areas in Western Ireland. We stopped at both Lough Corrib and Lough Nafooey, two beautiful, large lakes, to take in the breathtaking scenery. We passed through small villages, like Leenane, where there were hardly any houses, just large expanses of valleys and hills that went on for miles and miles as well hoards of Irish sheep and Connemara ponies. Here are some photos from the first portion of our bus tour:

Ashton and me outside of Ross Errilly Friary.

One of the many rivers in the small village of Cong.

A traditional Irish thatched-roof cottage.

Some of the ruins of Cong Abbey.

The Market Cross.

Sheep grazing and Lough Corrib.

A Connemara pony and Lough Corrib.

This Connemara pony, Joey, and Ashton became friends. Note the similar facial expressions :)

Lough Nafooey.

Peaceful country life Leenane, Ireland.

The next place we visited was the main stop of our day-tour: Kylemore Abbey. This castle was built by Mitchell Henry for his wife Margaret and their nine children in the late 19th century after the two fell in love with the area on their honeymoon. The stunning castle was started in 1867 and completed four years later in 1871. Today, Kylemore Abbey is home to a community of nuns pertaining to the Benedictine Order. Only a few rooms of the castle are open for public viewing as the nuns use most of the Abbey for prayer and the like, but we were able to see the inner and outer halls, the drawing room, the community room, the dining room and the rear hall. The following photos are all of Kylemore Abbey.

The very majestic-looking Kylemore Abbey.

A black-and-white shot.

I'm sitting in front of Lough Pollacappul, one of the lakes on Kylemore Abbey's property.

The drawing room.

The dining room.

Kylemore Abbey's Neo-Gothic church, completed in 1881.

The small mausoleum that Mitchell Henry built for his wife after she passed away in 1874 at age 45. His cremated remains were also laid to rest in the mausoleum after he passed away years later in 1910 at age 85.

After walking through Kylemore Abbey and seeing its church, Ashton and I waited for the short shuttle ride that would take us to the Abbey's Victorian walled garden. The garden is six acres it contained twenty-one greenhouses, most of which, unfortunately, are not there today. Two of the greenhouses have been restored to their original condition along with the small Head Gardener's House. We were able to walk through the garden grounds, strolling through the herb garden, the formal flower garden and the nature trails that span the hills to the left of the Abbey. The following are some pictures from the gardens.

Entering the formal flower garden.

The Head Gardener's House.

Overlooking the kitchen garden and the herb garden.

One last photo of the grounds!

After walking through Kylemore Abbey's gardens, it was time to head back to the bus and make our way back to Galway. As you can see from my photos, it's no surprise that Connemara is one of the most scenic regions in Ireland. For me, its hills, peaks, valleys and lakes perfectly exemplify the peaceful solitude and rugged beauty to be found in western Ireland! I absolutely loved everything that I was able to see on the tour and would love to travel back to Ireland to explore even more of its beautiful western coast!

Day Four: Dublin

Since we didn't go out the night before, Ashton and I woke up around 9:30am Monday morning well-rested and ready to spend the day walking around Dublin. We started the day by walking around O'Connell Street and exploring the area near the Spire, a large, stainless steel "monument" that's just under 400 ft. tall. The monument is located on O'Connell Street and it's quite strange... it looks like a giant pin sticking out of the ground. We walked around the area for a bit, doing some shopping on the streets off of O'Connell Street near the River Liffey. We strolled along Grafton Street, one of the two main (and most expensive) shopping streets in the whole city of Dublin. Afterward, as it was such a nice day, Ashton and I headed to St. Stephen's Green, the largest of all the public parks in Dublin's main Georgian squares. St. Stephen's Square is a decent-sized park, full of ponds, trees and patches of flowers. It was crowded that afternoon, full of people strolling and students taking a break from studying; it reminded me a lot of Boston Common. After walking through the park, we made our way to the Temple Bar District, an area famous for its nightlife, live music and fun pubs. It's really popular with tourists and the most famous of all the bars in the area is Temple Bar. We made plans to head back to the Temple Bar area later that night and then we proceeded to wander around the city a little more. We saw the campus of Trinity College, Dublin and stopped for a snack of Irish tea and mixed-berry scones; they were absolutely delicious! Here are some pictures from our day spent around Dublin:

Setting out to walk around Dublin on a beautiful, sunny day!

O'Connell Street.

The River Liffey.

Doing some window shopping on Grafton Street.

Entering St. Stephen's Green.

What a lovely little park!

Irish doors!

Outside the famous Temple Bar.

Snack break! Enjoying my berry scone with fresh butter, jam and cream.

Ashton and her tea.

Trinity College, Dublin.

So collegiate-looking!

We ate a simple dinner back in Ashton's apartment before I packed up my backpack and made sure that everything was ready for my return to Spain the following morning. Backpack ready and stomach full of pasta, Ashton and I got ready and headed out for one last night together in Ireland. We did head back to the Temple Bar District, stopping to have a pint in a pub called the Quays (pronounced "keys"). After listening to some live music at the Quays, we went to Coppers, a popular club about a half an hour away from Ashton's apartment. We spent a few hours dancing and left around 3:00am. Since my plane was set to leave Dublin at 7:10am the following morning, Ashton and I didn't go to sleep after getting back to her place from Copper's. Instead, we waited around for a bit, made some coffee and toast and at 4:00am, we headed out to the airport shuttle bus stop where I waited to be picked up. I spent a few hours waiting in the airport and was able to board my plane without any problems; I was back in Granada by 2:30pm.

Once again, here's Ashton's blog entry about days three and four of my trip to Ireland. What a great long weekend I had! I can't wait to get back to Ireland and see more of the country!

A long weekend in Éire (part I)

What a wonderful trip to Ireland I had last weekend! Not only was it great to see Ashton and spend four days with her in her favorite place in the world, but I finally got to see some of the more "traditional" Irish countryside and culture in the west of the country. We spent two days in Dublin, where Ashton lives and studies, and two days out west exploring Galway, Cong and Connemara. It would be impossible for me to pick a place that was my favorite; I enjoyed all the places that we saw. Connemara was especially lovely, but Dublin had a lot of great sites to see and some of the nicest, friendliest people that I've ever met. Another wonderful thing about my trip to Ireland? Much to my surprise and delight (and to Ashton's as well!) we had four days of bright sunshine and moderate temperatures. We didn't have one day of rain the entire time I was there- something that Ashton and I had a hard time believing was possible. I took many, many photos over the course of my trip so I'll divide my entry about Ireland into two: one entry dedicated to the first two days (Friday in Dublin and Saturday in Galway) and another about the last two days (Sunday in Cong and Connemara and Monday back in Dublin).

Day One: Dublin

On Friday, February 25th I was up early (5:30am) to catch a taxi to Granada's bus station where I would catch a 7:00am bus to Málaga's airport. The morning's traveling went without a hitch and I was in Málaga's airport around 9:30am where I waited for my 12:00pm flight to Dublin to board. I had an easy, turbulence-free flight and I landed in Dublin at 2:00pm. At the airport I caught the Dublin Aircoach bus and was in the city center, O'Connell Street, just after 3:00pm where I met Ashton at the bus stop. She had just come from a trial-run for a waitressing position at a restaurant in Dublin and our timing for meeting up was perfect. We walked to her house where we freshened up a bit and had a quick snack before heading back out into the city to do a quick grocery shop. We stopped at the butcher's shop to pick up some chicken for that night's meal and I made my first Irish "boyfriend" of the trip, a friendly 60-year old Irish man named Michael. We spent ten minutes talking before I realized that he had already handed Ashton the bag of chicken and she was just standing there, waiting for our conversation to end. Irish people are just terribly friendly- always smiling and ready to chat with you. I love it- they're a wonderful group of extroverted and outgoing people! After running our errands, we headed back to Ashton's apartment where we made dinner and got ready to go out for the night. Back in December, I traveled to Barcelona for a weekend with some friends who were studying abroad in Granada. Do you all remember how we met three Irish students from Dublin and spent a few nights in Barcelona hanging out with them? Well, I contacted them before heading to Ireland and let them know about my trip to Dublin. To my delight, the three (Eoghan, Joey and Ciara) were all free Friday night and Ashton and I met up with them around 10:00pm at a bar in the city. We stayed for a few pints and afterward we followed them to a club in the city where they were meeting up with some other friends. It was great to see them again and I was very happy to have introduced Ashton to more people in Dublin. I just love how you're always meeting wonderful people while traveling!

Here are some photos from my first day in Dublin:

Ashton's apartment complex; she lives in the building to the left.

Wandering around the area near Ashton's apartment.

The River Liffey by day.

The Irish Parliament House.

The River Liffey by night.

Around 3:30am, the club closed and we all said our goodbyes before walking home. Ashton and I were exhausted after a fun night out but we were excited about the following day- our plans to travel out west to Galway!

Day Two: Galway

Saturday morning Ashton and I slept until until about 10:45am before lazily making a quick breakfast of toast and coffee. We got ready for the day, packed up our backpacks and headed out the door around 12:30pm to catch a bus to Galway. We hadn't purchased bus tickets beforehand (on account of not knowing exactly when we'd be headed out) and luckily, we were a few of the last people waiting in line able to buy tickets for the 1:00pm bus. Just a short while later, at 3:30pm, we arrived in Galway (although Galway is directly across the country from Dublin, Ireland is not that wide and it only takes 2.5 hours to get from Dublin to Galway). Cameras ready, we set out to explore the city before the sun set. First, we stumbled upon Kennedy Park, a small park in Galway's Eyre Square Centre. From there we walked along William Street, Shop Street and High Street, three of the main pedestrian-only shopping streets in Galway. On these streets one finds lots of cute shops, cafés and some of the city's most fun and popular pubs. From there we walked another five minutes or so until we reached the Spanish Arch and the River Corrib. The Spanish Arch is one of four arches, constructed in 1584, in an open quayside area where French and Spanish ships once docked with cargoes of wines, silks and other goods to sell and trade in Ireland. The Spanish Arch overlooks the River Corrib and Ashton and I spent a good half an hour enjoying the lovely scenery near the river. One special site in Galway that I had always wanted to see is also located along the River Corrib. "The Long Walk" is a promenade to the side of the Spanish Arch and it's Galway's most photographed spot. It's a lovely stretch of colorful houses and buildings along the side of the river. A think I took ten photos of the same place; it was just stunning to finally see it- and above all, on a sunny afternoon! From there Ashton and I strolled over to a walkway stretching along Galway Bay, posing to take a few photos with the ocean and Mutton Island Lighthouse in the background. By this point, it was around 5:30pm and we realized that we only had another hour or so of daylight left in the day. So, we headed back into the center of the city and booked our 1) hostel for the night and our 2) day-long tour of Cong and Connemara for the following day. We grabbed a delicious dinner of fish and chips at a small take-away restaurant on Shop Street and ate our delicious dinner on a table in the street as we people-watched and planned our evening. After a quick stop back at the hostel to freshen up and rest for a bit, Ashton and I headed over to the Kings Head for a pint. The Kings Head is one of the most popular pubs in Galway- it not only has a great atmosphere and live-music seven nights a week, but also a history dating back 800 years! We spent a few hours out that night before heading back to our hostel to get a good night's sleep before another busy day!

Here are a few photos from day two in Galway:

Kennedy Park.

St. Nicolas Church.

The Kings Head Pub behind a really neat "street-sign" in both English and Irish!

The River Corrib.

"The Long Walk," Galway's most photographed spot.

Ashton and I walked along Galway Bay for a bit; Mutton Island Lighthouse is behind me to the right.

Ashton and I in front of the Long Walk.

I'm about to devour a delicious dinner of fish and chips... a must-have while in Ireland!

All in all, Ashton and I had a wonderful first two days in Ireland together! I was so happy to have finally gotten to see Galway. Some of my closest friends from Stonehill studied abroad in Galway in the spring of 2009 and after hearing all their stories and seeing all their photos, I'd always hoped to make it there someday! For Ashton's take on our first two days in Dublin and Galway, click this link to an entry in her blog!

Stay tuned for my next entry: Connemara, Cong and more Dublin!