How’s the serenity?

Sunday 8^th September

Today’s pedometer reading is 13.23 k’s.

We absolutely LOVED our stay at the cottage last night…the serenity was stunning. It is the only place we booked that didn’t give us an actual address. The last part of the directions to get there were a bit Irish! …drive about 4 miles until you come to the small village of Carracastle. On the right is Davys Pub and shop. This is a bad bend; you will turn left here. About 250 meters on, you will turn right at the very small crossroads. Follow this road for about 2 miles. The cottage will be on your right hand side (our yellow house is just beyond it on the left) turn into the gates and you have arrived.

We asked our host Seamus if the road we came down has a name, he rubbed his hand on his chin and said “No, not really”…hence the lack of an address!

The road is only one car width wide and we came face to face with another car along the way. Luckily he knew what to do and backed into a small spot so that we could pass.

This morning we woke to sunshine and as we ate our breakfast we watched a six or seven tiny Robin Redbreasts darting from branch to branch in a beautiful tree outside the kitchen window.  A little later, a horse and two donkeys came up to the back fence to say hello!

We had a chat with Seamus before we left, we asked him about all the red and green check flags we’ve been seeing on cars, shops, houses and in gardens, he said it was the colours of the local county football team who have made it to the All Ireland Final. He also told us about the local hurling team…apparently they are playing against Dublin at Croke Stadium in Dublin today and it’s a sellout…about 20,000 fans will be there to cheer their team on.

He sometimes watches AFL because it’s a lot like Gaelic football. He was very proud that we have quite a few Irish boys playing in our teams. We spoke about Jim Stynes and he knew all about him too.  Unfortunately I have had the news that Carlton beat the mighty Tigers yesterday…bring on 2014…we’re on the way up!

He knew that we had a new Prime Minister in Australia…so we talked politics for a bit…he was keen to hear our thoughts on Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd and if we thought the new fellow would do a good job.

We also asked him about some insects we keep seeing that look like GIANT mosquitoes but don’t appear to bite & we haven’t heard them buzzing…he said they are harmless insects they call Daddy Longlegs and that the swallows swoop in to eat them. This made a lot of sense to us…we’ve seen huge flocks of swallows swooping and obviously feeding on something, now we know all about it.

Andrew asked if they use tank water on the farm & Seamus again rubbed his chin and told us the County supplies the water from a large nearby Loch. He rubbed his chin again and said “They say they are going to put in meters and charge us for it!” as if it was the most absurd idea he’d ever heard! 

Seamus and his dog walked back to the cottage with us and waved goodbye.

The drive from Carracastle to Galway is about 95 k’s and being Sunday the churches in every small village we passed through was very busy. Many of them had parking attendants and one even had pay and display ticketing machines!

As has been the case all through our journey we have come across trucks piled high with bales of hay and tractors driving slowly through the country towns, along the country roads and even the motorways…no problem and no one gets hot under the collar.

We’re very happy with our hotel in Galway, it’s right in the heart of the action…we checked in, then spent the afternoon wandering around this beautiful city.

The Quays

Andrew wanted to return to this place for dinner!

Galway Harbour…at low tide.

We then did the River of Corrib Walk. It follows the river from the harbour up to the Salmon Weir which is next to Galway Cathedral. We couldn’t believe how fast the water flows or how crystal clear it is. We saw trout and eels swimming…it was a very pleasant  walk.

We walked back to the hotel stopping and browsing in the shops along the way. Tonight we walked back down to The Quays and had dinner in a pub. I had Irish salmon, it was delicious and Andrew had a lamb shank cooked in Guiness. He tried an Irish pale ale tonight and I had a glass of Italian wine.

 We stopped for an Ice Cream on the way home…my new friend here is Oscar Wilde.

Even though I’m not religious, tonight I’ll leave you with this…

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.