26 December 2011
Tour de Ganty
Ganty is a small townland outside of Galway. After a run with the dogs (Yogi, Hector and Bumble), we took the bikes out for a tour to see more castles and beautiful country side. Windy but mild weather. Good to get the legs going!
Dunsandle Castle
Medieval torture devices!
A cemetery full of famous Poets
Raftery-famous Irish Poet
# posted by Nicole @ 8:41 AM
24 December 2011
We are missing half of our daylight?!
I could not believe my eyes when I (1) woke up to sunshine and (2) saw that it was 11:00am. I had slept for almost 12 hours, and straight through half of the day, which was actually sunny with blue skies. Time was a-waste-en!
A quick brekkie and then we started gathering bike gear for a trip out to the Cliffs of Moher. The drive out alone was worth the trip, with rolling green hills, gorgeous coastline and castle after castle. We got to our destination and put every bit of clothing on that we could find. We were about to battle some mighty winds and nippy air, but a breathtaking sunset, not to mention some fun but scary trails that got a bit too close to the cliff's edge for my comfort. All this was followed by a lovely hot fire, warm whiskey, chowder, and Guinness at Linanes lobster bar in the gorgeous town of Kinvara. The best pub ever.
A quick brekkie and then we started gathering bike gear for a trip out to the Cliffs of Moher. The drive out alone was worth the trip, with rolling green hills, gorgeous coastline and castle after castle. We got to our destination and put every bit of clothing on that we could find. We were about to battle some mighty winds and nippy air, but a breathtaking sunset, not to mention some fun but scary trails that got a bit too close to the cliff's edge for my comfort. All this was followed by a lovely hot fire, warm whiskey, chowder, and Guinness at Linanes lobster bar in the gorgeous town of Kinvara. The best pub ever.
Here is a photosynth panorama of the coastline we biked along.
A castle!
Me freezing my arse off but having fun on bikes!
The sun is setting behind the castle we biked from. The trail winds along the cliff's edge.
It started blowing and raining but I could not resist sticking around to take this shot. Stunning!
Warm, yummy food and beer by the fire at Linanes, Kinvara.
# posted by Nicole @ 3:25 PM
Hotel California, the Irish Way
I was not in Ireland much longer than 24 hours before I heard the Eagle's song "Hotel California" playing on the streets of Dublin, and then again in Galway. Yes, twice?! Perhaps this country of only 4 million people heard about a couple of Californians heading their way? What a welcoming!
My flight over could not have gone smoother, aided by Business Class and access to the Red Carpet lounges on either end of my SFO-LON flight, including a shower upon my arrival in London! I also managed to get some nice sleep on my flat bed complete with down duvet and pillow, some entertainment with my private remote controlled television, and relatively nice 3-course meal paired with wines. I tried my best NOT to get used to this type of treatment, since it is back to cattle class for my return flight.
After landing at the airport, it was off to Dublin, where I got a taste of my first Guinness in it's mother country. We met up with a bunch of friends who were great craic (that is Irish for "good fun"), and had fun exploring the festive streets of the city.
It was an early rise to make the 7:30 train to Galway. Unlike my flight over, in true Nicole-travel-fashion, we had to sprint in order to make it onto the train, with only seconds to spare (all because of stopping off for a coffee and missing the first trolley to the train). And then we realized that we should have slept in a bit longer so as to enjoy the train ride in the daylight, as the sun did not come up until 8:30! But what I did manage to see was some beautiful green country side, with miles of hand-built stone walls, and plenty of sheep and cows. Gorgeous. Reminded me a bit of New Zealand.
After getting picked up at the train station I saw a bit of the country (the village of Craughwell) and then had to dash off to a meeting at the Irish Marine Institute. I had a great tour of the facilities there, where they carry out state-of-the-art research on everything from Harmful Algal Blooms to Hydrothermal Vents. Most of their research is carried out off of the Celtic Explorer, a 43 million dollar ship stocked with top notch equipment for fisheries and oceanographic research. In fact, I got to see it all first hand. After our tour at the Marine Institute, we headed into Galway to have a look around and by chance saw the Celtic Explorer docked in the harbour. We went to gander at the outside of it, when I saw the unlocked stairway leading up to the ship. So we went up the stairs, knocked on the door and got a grand tour by a few of the crew on board!
After that, we headed into town and proceeded to sample the fine brews, hot ports and whiskeys of Galway, where I learned the art of navigating through crowded bars without spilling a drop; apparently, if you hold your beer in sight of those around you as you walk around the bar, it recreates a "parting of the red sea" of people, who would not want to see their golden nectar wasted. We wandered the streets of Galway, hit 5 bars (Monroes, Massimo, Front Door, Roisin Dubh, The Quays ), ate some fish and chips in McDonaghs, and met lots of friends and family, and then headed home for bed. This was my first ~24 hours in Ireland. And then I slept for the next 12.
My flight over could not have gone smoother, aided by Business Class and access to the Red Carpet lounges on either end of my SFO-LON flight, including a shower upon my arrival in London! I also managed to get some nice sleep on my flat bed complete with down duvet and pillow, some entertainment with my private remote controlled television, and relatively nice 3-course meal paired with wines. I tried my best NOT to get used to this type of treatment, since it is back to cattle class for my return flight.
After landing at the airport, it was off to Dublin, where I got a taste of my first Guinness in it's mother country. We met up with a bunch of friends who were great craic (that is Irish for "good fun"), and had fun exploring the festive streets of the city.
It was an early rise to make the 7:30 train to Galway. Unlike my flight over, in true Nicole-travel-fashion, we had to sprint in order to make it onto the train, with only seconds to spare (all because of stopping off for a coffee and missing the first trolley to the train). And then we realized that we should have slept in a bit longer so as to enjoy the train ride in the daylight, as the sun did not come up until 8:30! But what I did manage to see was some beautiful green country side, with miles of hand-built stone walls, and plenty of sheep and cows. Gorgeous. Reminded me a bit of New Zealand.
After getting picked up at the train station I saw a bit of the country (the village of Craughwell) and then had to dash off to a meeting at the Irish Marine Institute. I had a great tour of the facilities there, where they carry out state-of-the-art research on everything from Harmful Algal Blooms to Hydrothermal Vents. Most of their research is carried out off of the Celtic Explorer, a 43 million dollar ship stocked with top notch equipment for fisheries and oceanographic research. In fact, I got to see it all first hand. After our tour at the Marine Institute, we headed into Galway to have a look around and by chance saw the Celtic Explorer docked in the harbour. We went to gander at the outside of it, when I saw the unlocked stairway leading up to the ship. So we went up the stairs, knocked on the door and got a grand tour by a few of the crew on board!
After that, we headed into town and proceeded to sample the fine brews, hot ports and whiskeys of Galway, where I learned the art of navigating through crowded bars without spilling a drop; apparently, if you hold your beer in sight of those around you as you walk around the bar, it recreates a "parting of the red sea" of people, who would not want to see their golden nectar wasted. We wandered the streets of Galway, hit 5 bars (Monroes, Massimo, Front Door, Roisin Dubh, The Quays ), ate some fish and chips in McDonaghs, and met lots of friends and family, and then headed home for bed. This was my first ~24 hours in Ireland. And then I slept for the next 12.
# posted by Nicole @ 3:05 PM
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