Saturday, September 3 we left Galway and headed for Dublin. It was a rainy drive and we stopped at the Hill of Tara on the way. It is a hill and ancient ceremonial and burial site. Tradition identifies the site as the inauguration place and seat of High Kings of Ireland and also appears in Irish mythology. It dates from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. It was pretty wet and we decided to skip the other planned stop. After checking in to our airport hotel we had a late lunch/early dinner, then Jim and I returned the rent car to the airport. It’s good to have a little down time before the next part of the trip.

Friday, Sept 2 was our only full day in Galway. After getting a late start we walked into the old town and decided to take the HoHo bus to see as much as possible. It was a little disappointing, but we did see things we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. After doing some wandering around after we got off the bus we walked back to the house. It’s about a 25 minute walk. Tomorrow we return to Dublin, where we will stay in an airport hotel.

Thursday, September 1 we had a big adventure. We started it by taking a 7 minute flight to the island of Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. I was told to sit up front with the pilot. I guess I was essentially the co-pilot. Lol! I took a video of the flight from the beginning to the end, but I’m not able to post it here. If anyone wants to see it you can check it out on my Rhoe On The Go Facebook page. You don’t even have to be on Facebook to see it. It was so much fun and the fastest way to get to the island. We got there two hours before the earliest ferry arrived.

When we arrived in Inishmore we took the airport shuttle bus to town, then walked to where we were renting E-bikes for the day. I haven’t ridden a bike in a long time and have never ridden an E-bike, but now I want one. I was so thankful we had these instead of regular bikes because the island is very hilly with narrow winding roads. We rode from the eastern end of the island to the western tip.

We stopped at a small village and Marie and I hung out there while the guys hiked to Dun Aonghasa, the oldest stone Fort in Western Europe.

We continued riding on to the end of the road,

Unfortunately when we got to the end of the road my bike slipped on some loose rocks and I did a tuck and roll, gracefully (!) landing on my right side and injuring my ankle. It’s sore but I’ll be fine.

We rode back to the other end of the island. It takes an hour without any stops. Of course we made stops. By this time the island was quite busy after a few ferries had arrived and there were a lot of people walking and bike riding and tour buses were taking people around who preferred to see the island that way. Did I mention how narrow the roads are?

We returned the bikes when we got back because there was too much traffic and we were a bit saddle sore, plus my ankle hurt. We had lunch and wandered around the tiny town until it was time to get the shuttle back to the airport.

Lots of horse and buggies to take the tourists around.

Our flight back was on an even smaller plane and I was in the second row instead of the first. The view wasn’t quite as good as sitting in the front row, but was still enjoyable.

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After an early morning start and a long day we picked up food at the store and ate at home. It was a truly memorable day that we will be talking about for a long time.

Wednesday, August 31 we drove to Cong and Ashford Castle, located in County Mayo and in the Connemara region. Cong is a nice village, but not quite what we were expecting. We went on a nice nature hike here were they have both native plants and trees, but also Coast Redwoods and Sequoias. We didn’t see the sequoias and the redwoods are very young, but unmistakably redwoods.

It was a beautiful day for a nature walk.

After having some lunch we drove to Ashford Castle. We could have walked, but our legs were sore from climbing the winding staircases at Bunratty and tomorrow we are bike riding. We had to pass a guard when we arrived and we told him we were there for a falconry appointment, as suggested by someone we met on the hike. it worked and he told us where to park. So far so good. After parking we approached the castle and there was another guard. We were only allowed to cross the bridge to take pictures. Ashford Castle is enormous. It’s a very expensive hotel now and I think it’s safe to say we won’t be staying there any time soon. Or ever most likely unless we win the lottery.

After dinner at the house we walked to a local beach.

Tuesday, August 30 we left Dingle to make our way to Galway. On the drive there we stopped at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park and enjoyed looking through the buildings. The Folk Park features over 30 buildings in a “living” village and rural setting. Rural farmhouses, village shops and streets are recreated and furnished as they would have appeared in that time according to their social standing. The castle is the most complete and authentic castle in Ireland. The site where it now stands was originally a Viking trading camp in 970. The present structure from the 15th century is the last of four castles to be built on the site.

Our house in Galway is big with plenty of room to spread out. Home sweet home for 4 nights.