First few days in Ireland & St Patrick’s Day

Well we left on Wednesday morning really early on our journey to Ireland. Why does it seem like all flights leave early in the morning. Anyway we kind of took the milk run from Edmonton then to Vancouver then Toronto then Dublin. It was a pretty good trip without a lot of hiccups. We were about 1 hour late leaving Toronto but that is not to bad. The good news is that we booked these seats with Aeroplan miles and so we were able to upgrade to 1st class. That was really nice for a long legged person like myself. We are spoiled for air travel now.

A few pics of our first class seats

When we arrived in Dublin our good friends Rodney and Heather Gale picked us up at the airport.

We traveled a couple hours to their house which used to be an old monastery. They have spend a ton of time fixing this place up and making it a home. It is very cool.

The Monastery

Inside by the cozy fireplace

After a day or 2 of rest we are ready for more adventure. One of the big reasons we came here was to celebrate Cathy and Heather’s birthday. Cathy’s is March 17 and Heather’s is the 18th.  So on Saturday March 17th we went to a St Patty’s day parade in a city called Galway It is on the west coast of the island.

We were walking the streets before the parade.

A pre parade band entertaining the visitors.

Some tiny dancers.

We were along the parade route here and waiting for the parade. The parade itself was a little disappointing. But the atmosphere was a lot of fun and watching people was pretty special as well.

I took a bunch of video at the parade and just mashed it all together.

After the parade we found our way into a bistro for a lunch of fish and chips. It was so crowded because the parade had just finished that we had to be patient to get a table. After lunch we continued on our day of adventure and traveled along the coast to a place called Roundstone.

This is a typical road in Ireland no shoulder and very narrow. typically the speed limit on a road like this would be 100 km/h

Some of the scenery along the way.

You will notice in the foreground some pile of black stuff that kind of looks like wood. This is bog or turf. They dig it out of the ground and dry it and use it for fuel.

This the town of Roundstone along the coast.

There was a monastery here at one time but all that  is left of it is the bell tower.

Near the bell tower was a small pottery shop. There was a guy in there actually making the pottery with the Irish tunes in the background. I had to take a short video.

Here are a few pics around the shoreline near the bell tower. Rodney said that we were going to the beach and when we got here I assured him that I have been to a beach before and this is not one. We settled on shoreline. Oh and also it was about +1 C and windy so not beach like but beautiful.

After that we continued to travel through the Irish countryside. Mostly along the coast. The scenery is always interesting and fun to watch. There are so many stone fences and sheep and cottages and farms and more sheep. Following are a few of those pics.

There are also many churches like these. The ones like this with big steeples are either Catholic or Church of Ireland churches.

We made out way to this place which is called Kylemore Abby. There is lots to do and see around this area since this is a major Ireland tourist attraction. We did not do any of the tours because it was just closing when we were there and it was freezing cold. If you want to learn more about this castle go here. https://www.kylemoreabbey.com/

More of the Irish countryside.

These sheep are called mountain sheep we called them cartoon sheep because when you see them from far away they don’t look real with their tiny legs and huge bodies.

This is a statue of St Patrick it is on Croagh Patrick. It is a pilgrimage mountain that people have been climbing for many years and where St Patrick fasted for 40 days. Thousands of people still climb the mountain every year.

This is the view from the statue.

Evening at the base of the mountain. After this we went to a town nearby for dinner to celebrate Cathy and Heather’s birthday and then went home. An excellent St Patrick’s day in Ireland.