Brief Stint in Dublin
What a great time we had in Belfast! On May 30th, we left Belfast for Dublin via bus - cost £13 for the 2.5 hour ride. When we arrived at the bus station in Dublin, we took out our Ipod's to look up the directions to our hostel. We followed the directions exactly but felt like we were walking in a circle. We took out our Ipod's again to confirm we were reading the directions correctly and before we could analyze the directions further, a nice gentleman stopped by to ask us if we needed help. We let him know where we were going and he guided us in the right direction (the directions provided by the hostel were incorrect).
We were only spending one night in Dublin prior to heading to Galway, so after we checked into our hostel, we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city and took in a movie (Hangover II) at the Savoy Cinema that night. While walking around during the day, we would occasionally take out our map to see where we were. Each time, someone would ask us if we needed help. Wow, I was so impressed. What a bunch of genuinely nice people in Dublin! Seriously, so nice! Canadians are always being called nice and polite, but I think Dubliners (is that what people from Dublin are called??) take the cake for being nice.
We did end up going back to Dublin for a few more nights prior to leaving Ireland, so I'll post more about Dublin in a future blog post. I just have to say that if you ever go to Dublin, please go see a movie at the Savoy Cinema. It was the most beautiful cinema I have ever been in. It felt like I was at the Centre for Performing Arts or the Queen E. to watch a performance. The ushers were dressed in black dress pants, nice crisp white button shirts complete with a tie. The theatre had comfy posh seats that were lined with a deep red velvet and the screen was protected by an equally intense coloured red curtain. Spotless theatre - no gum residue on the seats, no popcorn crunching beneath my feet and no stickiness from spilled pop. I wish all my movie experiences were this nice - I'd feel better about paying the $13 CDN admission fee.
Galway
We arrived in Galway (pronounced GAUL-way like gall stones, not GAL-way) on May 31st via bus from Dublin (cost €10). The directions to our hostel were point on and after a 10 minute walk from the coach station, we were at our hostel doors.
Galway is a beautiful city! It's surrounded by water and has a really cool city centre. The Latin Quarter of the city is a pedestrian only area and contains many pubs and shops. Galway is also where the Claddagh ring originated from. Here are some pics from Galway:
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Aran Islands (Inis Mor)
On June 1st, we took a ferry to Inis Mor, the largest of the 3 Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. Oh wow, the 45 minute ferry ride was brutal for me. The water was so choppy that I got extremely sea sick despite taking 2 Gravols 1 hour in advance of the ferry ride. Ever since I went to Australia in 2006, something in my body changed and I have been subject to motion sickness since. I used to love and still love roller coasters, airplane turbulence and riding the waves while in a boat, but something in my body does not like it at all! Even being on a train or in the back seat of a car can bring on nausea for me - weird, eh? Despite the motion/sea sickness, I still ride coasters until I feel like I am going to upchuck, still go on boats, etc. I just take some Gravol ahead of time and pray that the nausea doesn't get to me. Unfortunately, the nausea got to me about 15 minutes into the ferry ride. There I was, sitting nicely and talking to Matt about the rough seas and how I was doing well with it. Then I said I need to turn and face forward and just concentrate on something that isn't moving. Shortly thereafter, I flew out of my seat and walked as fast as I could - looking like a drunken sailor as the seas were so rough - to the toilets and lost my breakfast. I then went back to my seat to get my toothbrush and tooth paste out of my bag to freshen my breath up and before I could find both items, I had to race back to the toilets again. Ohhh, I was not feeling good. My eyes were watering and I was probably ghost white. I decided to go to the back of the boat, outside onto the small deck, hold on tight, breathe deeply and shut my eyes until we arrived at the port. I was relieved once we docked and I could leave the boat for dry land.
On Inis Mor, our plan was to walk to Dun Aonghasa. As we were walking, the tourist drivers on the island kept stopping to tell us that we would never make it. At first, we thought it was a ploy to get our money and pay for the ride, but after being stopped so many times, we decided to bite the bullet and pay €10 for the tour of the small island that takes us to Dun Aonghasa and some other sites around the island.
While driving around the island with our Gaelic speaking driver, we kept our eyes on the scenery. The island is full of stones lined up to show the division of property - very odd but neat looking. Once we arrived at the cliffs, I had to pay an admission to actually walk up to them. It was an extremely overcast day and visibility was poor. I was praying for it to clear up and just as I was leaving the cliffs, the visibility improved substantially and I went and re-took all my photos!
Here are some pics from Inis Mor:
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The Burren & Cliffs of Moher
On June 2nd, we visited the Cliffs of Moher and we were blessed with a beautiful day (considering the prior few days had been overcast & rainy). I woke up to blue skies, no wind, and sun! Because of the awesome weather, we got great views of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher.
The Burren area is beautiful...I'm beginning to think that everything in Ireland is beautiful :) The Burren is close to 300 sq km and enclosed by several villages. The hills are composed of limestone pavement with criss crossing cracks known as "grikes" which leave isolated rocks which are known as "clints". The region is very diverse - it supports arctic, Mediterranean and alpine plants, side by side due to its unusual environment.
I had a nice & peaceful lunch while in the Burren area. I sat on some limestone, listened to my Ipod and just took in the scenery.
Here are some pics of the Burren:
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After the Burren, we went to the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are spectacular. They tower 210 metres above the ocean - huge!
Here are some pics:
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Long enough post! I'm going to eat dinner now. That took ages to upload all those pics. I hope you enjoyed!
What a great time we had in Belfast! On May 30th, we left Belfast for Dublin via bus - cost £13 for the 2.5 hour ride. When we arrived at the bus station in Dublin, we took out our Ipod's to look up the directions to our hostel. We followed the directions exactly but felt like we were walking in a circle. We took out our Ipod's again to confirm we were reading the directions correctly and before we could analyze the directions further, a nice gentleman stopped by to ask us if we needed help. We let him know where we were going and he guided us in the right direction (the directions provided by the hostel were incorrect).
We were only spending one night in Dublin prior to heading to Galway, so after we checked into our hostel, we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city and took in a movie (Hangover II) at the Savoy Cinema that night. While walking around during the day, we would occasionally take out our map to see where we were. Each time, someone would ask us if we needed help. Wow, I was so impressed. What a bunch of genuinely nice people in Dublin! Seriously, so nice! Canadians are always being called nice and polite, but I think Dubliners (is that what people from Dublin are called??) take the cake for being nice.
We did end up going back to Dublin for a few more nights prior to leaving Ireland, so I'll post more about Dublin in a future blog post. I just have to say that if you ever go to Dublin, please go see a movie at the Savoy Cinema. It was the most beautiful cinema I have ever been in. It felt like I was at the Centre for Performing Arts or the Queen E. to watch a performance. The ushers were dressed in black dress pants, nice crisp white button shirts complete with a tie. The theatre had comfy posh seats that were lined with a deep red velvet and the screen was protected by an equally intense coloured red curtain. Spotless theatre - no gum residue on the seats, no popcorn crunching beneath my feet and no stickiness from spilled pop. I wish all my movie experiences were this nice - I'd feel better about paying the $13 CDN admission fee.
Galway
We arrived in Galway (pronounced GAUL-way like gall stones, not GAL-way) on May 31st via bus from Dublin (cost €10). The directions to our hostel were point on and after a 10 minute walk from the coach station, we were at our hostel doors.
Galway is a beautiful city! It's surrounded by water and has a really cool city centre. The Latin Quarter of the city is a pedestrian only area and contains many pubs and shops. Galway is also where the Claddagh ring originated from. Here are some pics from Galway:
Cute bike parked in the lane advertising for a store
Low tide!
Galway felt so safe. At night, many people just casually hang out by the water.
Latin Quarter
Lots of Irish food to be consumed in the Latin Quarter
Beautiful Galway
Wouldn't you like to spend the afternoon sitting on this bench, overlooking the water?
Loving Galway!
On June 1st, we took a ferry to Inis Mor, the largest of the 3 Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. Oh wow, the 45 minute ferry ride was brutal for me. The water was so choppy that I got extremely sea sick despite taking 2 Gravols 1 hour in advance of the ferry ride. Ever since I went to Australia in 2006, something in my body changed and I have been subject to motion sickness since. I used to love and still love roller coasters, airplane turbulence and riding the waves while in a boat, but something in my body does not like it at all! Even being on a train or in the back seat of a car can bring on nausea for me - weird, eh? Despite the motion/sea sickness, I still ride coasters until I feel like I am going to upchuck, still go on boats, etc. I just take some Gravol ahead of time and pray that the nausea doesn't get to me. Unfortunately, the nausea got to me about 15 minutes into the ferry ride. There I was, sitting nicely and talking to Matt about the rough seas and how I was doing well with it. Then I said I need to turn and face forward and just concentrate on something that isn't moving. Shortly thereafter, I flew out of my seat and walked as fast as I could - looking like a drunken sailor as the seas were so rough - to the toilets and lost my breakfast. I then went back to my seat to get my toothbrush and tooth paste out of my bag to freshen my breath up and before I could find both items, I had to race back to the toilets again. Ohhh, I was not feeling good. My eyes were watering and I was probably ghost white. I decided to go to the back of the boat, outside onto the small deck, hold on tight, breathe deeply and shut my eyes until we arrived at the port. I was relieved once we docked and I could leave the boat for dry land.
On Inis Mor, our plan was to walk to Dun Aonghasa. As we were walking, the tourist drivers on the island kept stopping to tell us that we would never make it. At first, we thought it was a ploy to get our money and pay for the ride, but after being stopped so many times, we decided to bite the bullet and pay €10 for the tour of the small island that takes us to Dun Aonghasa and some other sites around the island.
While driving around the island with our Gaelic speaking driver, we kept our eyes on the scenery. The island is full of stones lined up to show the division of property - very odd but neat looking. Once we arrived at the cliffs, I had to pay an admission to actually walk up to them. It was an extremely overcast day and visibility was poor. I was praying for it to clear up and just as I was leaving the cliffs, the visibility improved substantially and I went and re-took all my photos!
Here are some pics from Inis Mor:
The entire island is like this - rocks neatly stacked around the perimeter of property to clearly display the division.
Peering over the 330 ft cliffs. This picture was taken by my new friend, Sue, from Edmonton. We met at the cliffs and chatted for over an hour, then on the calm ferry ride back for another 45 minutes. We tried to meet up in Dublin but it didn't work! Maybe another time in the near future!
View of the cliffs once the visibility improved!
Tiny little cottage - maybe for the wee little leprechauns?
On June 2nd, we visited the Cliffs of Moher and we were blessed with a beautiful day (considering the prior few days had been overcast & rainy). I woke up to blue skies, no wind, and sun! Because of the awesome weather, we got great views of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher.
The Burren area is beautiful...I'm beginning to think that everything in Ireland is beautiful :) The Burren is close to 300 sq km and enclosed by several villages. The hills are composed of limestone pavement with criss crossing cracks known as "grikes" which leave isolated rocks which are known as "clints". The region is very diverse - it supports arctic, Mediterranean and alpine plants, side by side due to its unusual environment.
I had a nice & peaceful lunch while in the Burren area. I sat on some limestone, listened to my Ipod and just took in the scenery.
Here are some pics of the Burren:
Area where I ate my lunch in solitude :)
All limestone hills in the background
Oh look, another castle!
After the Burren, we went to the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are spectacular. They tower 210 metres above the ocean - huge!
Here are some pics:
Ok a word from the other side........
ReplyDeleteSo well i have comments about Dublin but i will save it for the second post. So Galway! Had some awesome time! The latin quarter was the first night i decided to see what the nightlife was all about. I met a dutch guy in the hostel who met a aussie and then ended up talking to a french man! So a Canadian, a Dutchman, an Aussie and a Frenchman walk into the bar......... The 3 of them say to the Canadian "what do you mean you dont drink, why are you in Ireland!"
Needless to say it was a goodnight and we met aussies, americans, and some wierdos from vancouver! Very strange.
As for the arran islands. It wasnt something i had planned to go on. But i decided what the heck. I think i had more fun than Jane on the boat ride. As her face turned green! As the water got rough i was starting to wonder who was going to jump up first. Then a few people start making the run to the back of the boat. The bow probably want the best place for Jane but i was having a blast when Jane finally made the run i think about 8 people followed her! It was very funny for a select few of us that do have our sea legs! Thanks Mom and Dad for raising me in the water!
When we got the island we started to walk and was told that i was going to have to spend another 10€ to get to the otherside, oiling the hinges on my wallet i paid. When i saw the weather and was told i would have to pay to see the cliffs. I thought thats enough. I am going to see the cliffs of moher tomorrow. I might as well just wait. But glad i went for the boat ride and island tour!
The Cliffs of Moher were awesome! I dont think we could have asked for better! A definate must see if your in this area! The pictures dont do it any justice!