We spent most of the day on the road yesterday, but once we had arrived in Clifden, we parked the car at the harbor and spent some quality time walking on the beach, admiring the boats and the playful dogs and the sheer beauty of a sunny afternoon at one of our favorite places in Ireland.
Clifden is located on the west coast about an hour away from Galway.
An artsy town, which just finished a ten-day arts festival, Clifden is in the heart of Connemara. There is also a lovely horse facility with hosts the annual National Connemara Pony Show. Beautiful and historical Kylemore Abbey is just down the road as is Connemara National Park.
While walking the beach area, we also saw the facilities for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute.
Our friend John, who with his wife Sue owns Sharamore House where we are staying, has played a major role in the RNLI, which does rescue work along the west coast of Ireland.
We'll be going out tomorrow with John on his 42-foot charter fishing boat, and we definitely know we'll be in safe and skilled hands.
Today we'll be catching a ferry about an hour away and going to another favorite spot: Inis Mor, one of the Aran Islands.
This time it's just an afternoon trip cuz someone planning our itinerary screwed up royally, scheduling two places in the same day. Fortunately, before we left, I discovered my error, and rectified it by shortening our stay on the island.
Sadly, we'll miss seeing our friend Bridie (for whom our Border Collie is named). She has business on the mainland so she won't be at The Bar on Inis Mor today.
On the happy side, we are meeting a cousin from Chicago who attends college in Galway. Lizzie was one of the five 19-20-year-olds who stayed at the Lovestead for a couple of days in July.
Her grandfather and my mother were cousins, and we've gotten to know the family over the past couple of decades.
So, it will be a fun day showing Lizzie some of the places we love on Inis Mor and, of course, spending time with her.
Our driving time yesterday was not without adventure. Willie and Debbie had a flat "tyre" just outside of Kenmare. Happily, all worked out when a friendly gentleman came along and helped them change the tire.
They drove on to Killarney where, through the rental company, they were directed to a shop where they could get the tire fixed.
Meanwhile, Bill and I stopped at a Circle K in Gort for a relief stop. Feeling drowsy from sitting in the car so long, I bought a cup of coffee. At the counter when I attempted to pick it up after paying, the paper cup reacted to the pressure of my hands by spewing coffee all over the counter and my hands.
It was hot coffee, and my thumb got the brunt of the coffee geyser. Not a bad burn, pretty superficial but still red and also a bit painful.
So, when I went to run cold water on my thumb, a nice gentleman associated with the store, sent me to the deli. There, one of the deli workers had grabbed of bottle of ointment to put on my wound.
It was a generous smothering of my thumb, and when I stood there holding the thumb with its ointment, wondering if I was to keep it open, she brought a box of Saran wrap, tore off a couple of sheets and made me a makeshift bandage.
Which, by the way, worked quite well.
Once more, I was touched by the willingness of people to go out of their way to make a bad situation better.
The ointment, which she said would go into the skin, worked well, and this morning the superficial burn is all but forgotten but not the generous help from a store staff.
Our trip yesterday also involved a stop at Muckross House near Killarney National Park where we picked up a few souvenirs.
A good day overall and a couple of great days lie ahead with the ferry trip and tomorrow's fishing trip (Bill's 50th anniversary gift which, moneywise, doesn't quite match the lawnmower he gave me, but the memories of the day will most likely last forever).
Our Irish experience is slowly winding down, but lots of fun stuff yet to come.
Stay tuned. Enjoy the photos.
Nadezlida is counting the days.
In a week or so, she'll be returning to her homeland of Bulgaria after working abroad for several years.
She was our server at Ravi's Restaurant in Clifden last night, and, as with so many fine folks we've met along the way, we learned highlights of her life story, which includes a variety of experiences working in the hospitality industry.
By the time our dinner of fish and chips and pizza (for Bill and me) ended, we felt like we had truly met another new and interesting friend.
We wish Nadezlida the best as she embarks on this new adventure in her life.
We learned that she is also a teacher of Russian.
A lovely lady, indeed.
Super Value is one of the main grocery store chains in Ireland.
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