MarthaA
Registered User
Posts: 2
(6/7/03 11:29 am)

Another Wonderful 2 Weeks!

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Another wonderful trip! We've been back for a week after two weeks in Ireland and my sleep pattern has just about gotten back to normal. As all of you who've spent time in Ireland know, it's hard to just describe the highlights because it seems that every minute of every day is special! But I'll try to be fairly brief. The first thing that needs mentioning is that the weather was not great. It rained most days, sometimes almost all day. But, it's Ireland...you can't predict or control the weather so you just go with it!
We flew into Shannon on Thursday and drove to Cong, spending the night in Clonbur at Ballykine House. Ann Lambe is a gracious hostess and we were very pleased with the accommodation. We ate that night at Burke's in Clonbur...wonderful food in a great atmosphere. And we were lucky enough to find traditional music right across the street at the Shaskeen Bar.
The next day we saw Ballintubber Abbey and Carrowmore as we drove to our next night's stop at Benbulben Farm in Drumcliffe. The B&B is nestled right at the base of the imposing Benbulben with a nice view of Sligo Bay. We loved the area...Glencar Lake and Falls and the Gleniff Horseshoe drive.
On Saturday we drove into Co. Fermanagh to see the Marble Arch Cave. That afternoon we arrived in Bruckless outside Killybegs in Co. Donegal where we had a self-catering cottage for the week. The week went by way too fast! Co Donegal is beautiful. Slieve League, Glencolmcille, Gap of Mamore, Glengesh Pass and the whole Inishowen Peninsula were astounding. We were a bit disappointed with the Rosses...so much housing being built. We drove into Northern Ireland to see Dunluce Castle, Giant's Causeway and the Bushmill's Distillery.
Leaving Co. Donegal we spent our next night at Foxford Lodge in Foxford. This is a wonderful B&B and I highly recommend it. At breakfast each table has it's own toaster! We got another night of music at Hennigan's. We drove from Foxford to Achill Island. The weather cooperated this day...sunshine most of the day! At a stop at Enniscrone beach we watched para-surfers and sail-boarders for about an hour which was an unexpected treat. Achill Island is magnificent. Because we had good weather we drove to the top of Minaun Heights and had a panoramic view of the whole island.
Our next night was in Kylemore. We had visited this area on our first trip in the fall of 2001 but came back in order to take the Killary Harbor cruise. The rain miraculously stopped when the cruise started so we were able to stand outside and enjoy the views of the misty mountains on either side of the fjord.
The next day we drove through the Connemara area to Rossaveal and took the 1:00 ferry to Inishmor, one of the Aran Islands. (For those who are planning....the ferry brochures say that they leave at 1:30 but it actually left at 1:00. It's a good idea to get there early just in case.) We stayed overnight, did a lot of walking and took one of the mini-van tours. Dun Aenghus met all our expectations! The next day in the American Bar we sat next to a local guy and heard his tale of a lobster adventure. A friend gave him a large lobster. On the way home with it he stopped at a pub where the lobster crawled out of the bag onto the bar. After a stop at another pub somehow the lobster got out on the road. Because of the guy's heavy accent made worse by intoxication (his, not mine!) I had difficulty following all he was saying but I think there was a part in there where he was crawling down the road with the lobster. After he got home he decided he wasn't going to cook the lobster because he doesn't really like it. So he took him down to the water. At this point I interrupted and said, "And you threw him back in!" He quickly responded, "No, No! We had become mates...I placed him carefully!" I love the Irish!
After coming off the island on the 5:00 ferry we spent the night in Spiddal and drove into Salthill for a stroll on the promenade and dinner.
The next day we drove to Bunratty seeing Quin Abbey, Knappogue Castle and the Craggaunowen Project on the way. We spent our last night at Bunratty Lodge. Mary Brown is a delight and the B&B is without a doubt the best we've stayed in ever! Because we had done the banquet at the castle on a previous trip we went to the Traditional Irish Night at the barn in Bunratty Folk Park. I highly recommend it. We enjoyed it more than the castle banquet. The next morning at breakfast we were lucky enough to meet JimC, another of Michelle's disciples! At the airport we turned in our Nissan Micra with no damage after 1654 miles! We're already planning trip #4!
I've left out so much! This was our first trip with a digital camera and we took almost 900 pictures. I've posted a few of them on the Yahoo site (There are also pictures from our previous trips.). Here's the link:
photos.yahoo.com/aldridge314

Edited by: MarthaA at: 6/7/03 2:52 pm


MaryZ
Unregistered User
(6/7/03 12:59 pm)

Another Wonderful 2 Weeks!

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Oh Lord, I love the lobster story!

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 1536
(6/7/03 10:50 pm)

Lovely Trip Report

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Hi Martha,

Welcome back and thank you for stopping by to post your trip. I enjoyed your photos. Loved the close up of the flowers and the moody photo at Gleniff Horseshoe Drive. You certainly had an off-the-beaten-path type trip and got to see lots of things that most tourists to Ireland never get to see.

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed Mary Browne's Bunratty Lodge and met another forum member there. I really should come up with little pins for my readers to wear! My husband has already had bumper stickers made up that look like Irish license plates.

Thanks again!

Michele