Sunday 13th August, 2006

Sunday 13th August, 2006

The Kylemore Abbey

This is the Kylemore abbey. It was once a castle. Today, it is being used by nuns to run a school. Unfortunately, the nuns have been unable to generate enough fund to continue running the school and the last batch of students will enter the school next year.

http://www.kylemoreabbey.com/

Here I am, with the Abbey in the distance. It was almost like being in The Sound of Music!



The Abbey has a lovely Victorian Garden attached to it. Here we are at a model of the Head Gardener's house.


Walking back from the Abbey.. the hills are alive!


The last leg of the Connemara...


After spending a lovely day at the Connemara, we returned to Galway and took a bus back to Dublin to prepare for a long week of work ahead of us! All in all, it was a wonderful trip! I can't wait to head back to the west of Ireland again, later this month! 

Sunday 13th August, 2006

Sunday 13th August, 2006

The Connemara

I learnt from the tour guide that the word 'Connemara' just means - the land by the sea. Similarly, the word 'Inishmore' (one of the three Aran Islands) actually just means 'The Big Island.' Clearly, the Irish like to keep all names simple! I also learnt that 'balle atha cliath' (the Irish name for Dublin) actually just means 'The town of the castle.'

We set out after breakfast on Sunday morning. It was a lovely day - warm and sunny!

This is a picture of one of the ridiculous Irish road signs! By walk, one can cover this road in about 1.5 minutes and it leads to the Atlantic Ocean. The sign board reads 80 kmph! EU regulations they say...


Along the way, we stopped at a site that was worst affected by the Potato Famine of 1845. Ireland lost 3/4th of its population to this famine. Here I am at one of the sites.


This is the Connemara! Low lying mountains and long winding rivers...


On our way we stopped at a small Irish village, best known for its Irish Coffee. This one pub, Gaynors, is known to serve the best Irish Coffee in Ireland. Here, is my first glass of Irish Coffee.. Creamy and Yummy!

 

Saturday 12th August, 2006

Saturday 12th August, 2006

We got back to Rosseveal, but we missed the bus back to Galway. We hitchhiked our way back to Galway city. A very kind old man had place for the three of us!


When we did get to Galway, the hostel we had booked told us that they did not have any more beds, they had only mattresses! Luckily for us, we found ourselves half an apartment for the same amount of money! Not the smartest of places, but served the purpose.

Saturday 12th August, 2006

Saturday 12th August, 2006

The Aran Islands

We got up early in the morning and walked for a half an hour to the Busarus. We got our tickets, bought our breakfast and then got on the bus to Galway.

We got to Galway at 10:30 in the morning and were very lucky to get tickets for the bus to Rosseveal. Rosseveal is the place from where the ferries for the Aran Islands leave.

Here is me on the ferry, almost reaching the Inishmore island of the Aran Islands.



On Inishmore


The cliffs, as viewed from the fortress of Dun Aonghasa


View from the Fortress: This is the Atlantic Ocean. There is nothing between here and the United States of America, which explains why it was so windy!