Oh my, time is flying by! Much has happened in the past few weeks since I last posted.
Saturday, January 18th I flew into Dublin, Ireland and met up with my friend Pat. We were dispatchers together and have known each other since 1978! (Ouch, guess that makes me 'old'!!!).
Pat and I met at the airport and caught a bus to Galway, where we would be staying. When we arrived it was nearly dinner time. So, we checked into the hotel, the Forster Court Hotel, and decided to have dinner there. We had some of the local food and beer, which was delicious.
After dinner, we walked around town a bit....
Saw a couple of guys playing the didgeridoo (which is indigenous to Australia)...
I had read about and heard from a friend that we could hear some good local music at a pub called Taaffes. We went inside and I decided to try an Irish whiskey.
Unfortunately we were late for the 1st round of music, and too early for the later round of music!
After our drink, we did some more walking around...then headed back to the hotel.
We got up, ate our complimentary breakfast...and headed out for the day of exploring Galway! What a cute town! It's right on the water...so it was a bit windy!
We found The Crane Bar. A friend of mine had recommended it for good music, and we were not disappointed! We were hoping to get an Irish coffee, but they didn't make them there. The bartender recommended a hot whiskey. We both thought she said 'hospice whiskey' ......and decided to try it anyway!!! LOL! It's a mix of: a shot of whiskey, boiling hot water, slice of lemon, sugar and cloves. We timed it wrong again......and found out the music wouldn't be starting till around 22.00hrs!
We made our way back over the bridge over the raging river:
We made our way back to town and stopped here at the Hotel Meyrick for dinner.
This 'young man' was playing piano the entire time we sat there...at least an hour and a half, with no break. Lovely!
After dinner, we went back to the hotel to freshen up, then headed back over to The Crane. The music was fantastic!
The next morning we decided to go check out the small neighboring town of Salt Hill. We couldn't figure out where the buses ran, so we decided to walk...it was only a couple of miles.
First off, we stopped to look at the church across the street from our hotel....
Then, we walked to the Spanish Arch, which was originally part of a city wall constructed in 1584.
The River Corrib was still raging!
These walls of stone can be seen all over Ireland.
These women went swimming, while Pat and I watched from shore wearing our down coats! Brrrr!
Another style of stone walls in Salt Hill...
We stopped for some lunch at The Galleon Restaurant before heading back to Galway:
Yippee, we finally found a place that made a delicious Irish coffee!
I decided to buy Andrew a bottle of Irish whiskey....so we stopped in at a local liquor store in Salt Hill:
Cute Dutch flower shop in Salt Hill!
It was collllllllld out there!!!
We went back to The Crane! The music was fantastic!
Tuesday morning, 21 January, we got up early and got some breakfast. We bought tickets for a bus tour to Cannemara, Ireland with the Galway Tour Company. Our guide was Michael Rooney. He did a great job! He told us stories, sang a song for us and made a few extra stops along the way so we could take photos. I highly recommend the tour!
Our first stop was the Ross Errilly Friary, which was founded in 1351.
The next stop was the town of Cong, where the movie "A Quiet Man" starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, was filmed.
Our next stop was the Kylemore Abbey.....what a beautiful site!!!
We were running short on time...so we took the shuttle over to the Garden and just peeked in...then took the shuttle bus back just in time for our tour bus to leave!
On our way back to Galway, we stopped on the side of the road where our guide showed us where peat comes from. It comes fro the bogs and is an accumulation of decayed vegetation. It is cut away, dried and burned for fuel.
That evening we went back to The Crane Pub...where there were different musicians playing more beautiful Irish music!
We discovered, Guinness really is the beer of choice there!
The following day (Wednesday, January 22nd) was our last day in Ireland. We took the morning bus back to Dublin (the ride was about 2 1/2 hours) where we would spend the night, as we both had early flights the next morning. We did a lot of walking in Dublin! What a pretty city!
We went inside Trinity College ground to see the Book of Kells:
Unfortunately, the Bank of Ireland was closed....
Statue of Molly Malone:
St. Stephen's Green Shopping Center:
So beautiful inside!
Ha' Penny Bridge.....
History[edit]
Before the Ha'penny Bridge was built there were seven ferries, operated by a William Walsh, across the Liffey.
[2] The ferries were in a bad condition and Walsh was informed that he had to either fix them or build a bridge. Walsh chose the latter option and was granted the right to extract a
ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years.
[citation needed] Initially the toll charge was based, not on the cost of construction, but to match the charges levied by the ferries it replaced. A further condition of construction was that, if the citizens of Dublin found the bridge and toll to be "objectionable" within its first year of operation, it was to be removed at no cost to the city.
[3]
The toll was increased for a time to a Penny Ha'penny (one and a half pence), but was eventually dropped in
1919. While the toll was in operation, there were
turnstiles at either end of the bridge.
We went by the Dublin Post Office....where damage from bullets could still be seen.....Also, this plaque was seen in the window...
That evening we took it easy and headed out the next morning to the airport where we parted ways!
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