Ireland Trip Report: Part II
Oct. 30th, 2010 05:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
devaraePart I can be found here
~Day 3: Connemara~
I will admit, one of the main reasons I was excited to be staying in the Connemara region was that we had booked two nights at this place, Ballynahinch:
And it was as gorgeous as I had dreamed! There were a few downsides (the beds were not particularly comfy, and the tap-water had a brown cast and was not hot enough for my comfort) but it was still a lovely place. When I wandered downstairs at an unseemly hour I found a cozy spot in the large sitting room (there was also a smaller library) to read and write in my travel journal, and a helpful waiter setting up for breakfast even brought me a pot of tea to sustain me for the two hours until breakfast would be served.
(That pic is from later in the day. You'll have to imagine the tea tray and the bleary-dazed-have-I-wandered-into-Pemberley expression I had that morning)
Once it got light out, I ventured out to explore the extensive grounds, exploring the "Lake Trail" that ran up along the nearby river to a spot overlooking a lake and one of the Twelve Bens (the Connemara mountain range) in the distance.
As a horticultural aside: the grounds featured some really beautiful hydrangeas, turning from pale blue to deep autumn-sky blue to purple to rust. But the thing that was absolutely everywhere was fuschia: the somewhat alien-looking flower I'm used to seeing in hanging baskets back home. Apparently it loves the climate in Ireland! We saw great hedges of it along roads, in gardens, everywhere! As with the palm trees, it was one of those elements that kept reminding me that yes, I was in a foreign country.
After my walk, Bob and I had an excellent breakfast (they had a buffet of cheeses, cereals, fruits, yogurt, baked goods, and freshly squeezed orange juice, plus hot breakfasts involving eggs and meats in various incarnations, including kippers) in the large, sunny dining room overlooking the gardens and river. Then we set off to explore!
We spent most of the day driving -- which was both good and bad. It was around this time that I think I realized I had probably scheduled too much driving on the vacation for my enjoyment. It's tough because the sites are spread out, and because some of the sites ARE the scenic drives. We drove along the coast south from our hotel through the town of Roundstone, then up the coast to Clifden, the largest city in the region. From there we went out along the "Sky Drive", said to be one of the most beautiful in Ireland. And it was indeed dramatic, rising up rather perilously above steep green fields populated by cows that seemed perfectly at ease scrambling about. The weather was clear and it felt as if we were in a world of nothing but sea, grass and sky.
We continued on to Kylemore Abbey:
A remote manor set in a lake valley in the heart of the Bens, currently owned by an order of nuns who (until just recently, I believe) run a private girls' school there (but apparently the local girls got to go for free!). Can't you just imagine a book set there? Some sort of academic mystery novel?
It's clear the facility is aware of the tourist potential now, though. There was an extensive visitor center with a reasonably good cafe (note: there was free self-serve water available in the cafeteria, complete with real glass cups, so no need to buy the bottled water). I had potato-leek soup with brown bread (very good) while Bob had some sort of beef goulash over rice with a side of carrots. Prices were comparable to pubs (~5 for soup & bread, 9 for full meal with sides). There was also a salad bar, quiches, and a number of pre-made sandwiches, as well as scones, muffins, and several cakes.
We toured the handful of rooms open to the public (all nicely decorated in period style), visited the "miniature cathedral" (decorated with different colored marble from throughout Ireland), observed another sightseer communing with a HUGE pine tree, hands pressed to its giant bole and eyes closed, read about the rare bats that roost in the cathedral's ceiling, and generally enjoyed imagining ourselves in some historical novel.
Me on my front porch (I wish!):
A mile walk (or a few-minute shuttle ride) from the Abbey is a giant walled garden that the nuns have only recently begun to restore. When it was built by the original owner, it apparently had 19 greenhouses, connected so that the ladies of the household could take their afternoon walks in warms and comfort during even the middle of winter. Can you imagine? They've restored three so far, and plan to continue with the rest as money allows. Even so, the gardens were impressive. We particularly enjoyed touring the recreated dwellings of the Head Gardener (he and his family lived right in the garden, in a quite nice house!) and Under-gardeners' bunk house (near the above, so the HG could keep an eye on them!).
By this time I was losing steam, and figured I had probably seen the highlights of my day. But as we drove onward, taking the final loop through the mountains that would take us full-circle to our hotel, I discovered I was wrong. Because I was in Rohan. I'm not sure the pictures can convey this-- on the surface it's just a bunch of golden-brown hills-- but being there, in that moment, with the sun sliding down to the west and those bare heights rising up, I had an overpowering urge to run off into them, to find out what was on the other side.
The answer was not Eomer and Eowyn, alas. It was more hills. But that didn't stop me from wanting to keep going!
Bob and I talked about it later, about the unique feel of this landscape, trying to identify what it was that drew both of us to it (aside from the fact that it looked like Rohan). Age, emptiness, potential? I'm still not sure...
We ate a decent though pricey dinner at the pub at our hotel (skipping the even-more-pricey high-cuisine dining room), and then finished the day watching Master Chef and MI5.
~Day 4: Kilmacduagh & Ennis~
After another leisurely morning hiking around the grounds (me) and sleeping in (Bob) and plying ourselves with scones and tea (both of us), we departed Connemara and headed south again toward Ennis, which I'd chosen for our fourth night purely because it seemed like a good stopping point between Connemara and Dingle, and because we could stay in another fancy house.
To break up the several-hour drive we stopped at Kilmacduagh, site of an abbey that was founded in the 7th century by a saint who (according to wikipedia) chose the spot because his girdle fell off as he was walking by. The handful of remaining structures date to the 12th century or later. The most dramatic is the tall round tower (now leaning in a Pisa-like fashion), where the monks fled during attack (the door is high above ground level - they used a ladder and pulled it in after them).
The weather that day was marked (for the first time) by dense coiling fog, but it turned out to be a blessing. I don't think I would have enjoyed Kilmacduagh half so much if it had been bright and crystal-clear. As it was, the fog veiled the modern houses across the street, and softened the looming tower and broken stone churches into something magical. I could almost imagine I was in one of those historical time-travel movies, and that if I wandered deep enough into the fog I'd come through in the 12th century.
We were also the only visitors for our entire hour-long stay, wandering freely around the wet fields and climbing through old doorways. It was definitely one of the most magical experiences of our vacation.
After that we headed onward to our fifth night's lodging at Newpark House:
which featured the BEST bed of our entire stay (most beautiful and comfiest), as well as some really lovely (though chilly) sitting rooms, and a bucolic vista out front. Though the cows looked disturbingly deranged:
After consulting with our host, we decided to take the 30 minute walk into town (not a particularly scenic walk, but it was good to stretch our legs and NOT drive). Ennis was the largest city we visited in our stay, and it was a nice change at that point. We had cocoa and tea at a bookstore cafe, did a little shopping and a lot of people watching (we arrived just as school let out, expelling a wide range of kids in several different uniforms out into the city to cluster at a fry shop, giggle and whisper in pairs overlooking the river, rush about determinedly with sketchbooks and instrument cases).
We ate at The Rowan Tree, which is both a hostel and a restaurant featuring pizza and pasta. My meal was nothing special, but the setting was lovely: lofty ceilings, warmly painted walls, big broad windows overlooking the river, and a mellow, candle-lit atmosphere.
Heading homeward again, we stopped for some provisions at the grocery store, then retired to rest up for the drive to Dingle the next day.
To be continued...
~Day 3: Connemara~
I will admit, one of the main reasons I was excited to be staying in the Connemara region was that we had booked two nights at this place, Ballynahinch:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
And it was as gorgeous as I had dreamed! There were a few downsides (the beds were not particularly comfy, and the tap-water had a brown cast and was not hot enough for my comfort) but it was still a lovely place. When I wandered downstairs at an unseemly hour I found a cozy spot in the large sitting room (there was also a smaller library) to read and write in my travel journal, and a helpful waiter setting up for breakfast even brought me a pot of tea to sustain me for the two hours until breakfast would be served.
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
(That pic is from later in the day. You'll have to imagine the tea tray and the bleary-dazed-have-I-wandered-into-Pemberley expression I had that morning)
Once it got light out, I ventured out to explore the extensive grounds, exploring the "Lake Trail" that ran up along the nearby river to a spot overlooking a lake and one of the Twelve Bens (the Connemara mountain range) in the distance.
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
As a horticultural aside: the grounds featured some really beautiful hydrangeas, turning from pale blue to deep autumn-sky blue to purple to rust. But the thing that was absolutely everywhere was fuschia: the somewhat alien-looking flower I'm used to seeing in hanging baskets back home. Apparently it loves the climate in Ireland! We saw great hedges of it along roads, in gardens, everywhere! As with the palm trees, it was one of those elements that kept reminding me that yes, I was in a foreign country.
After my walk, Bob and I had an excellent breakfast (they had a buffet of cheeses, cereals, fruits, yogurt, baked goods, and freshly squeezed orange juice, plus hot breakfasts involving eggs and meats in various incarnations, including kippers) in the large, sunny dining room overlooking the gardens and river. Then we set off to explore!
We spent most of the day driving -- which was both good and bad. It was around this time that I think I realized I had probably scheduled too much driving on the vacation for my enjoyment. It's tough because the sites are spread out, and because some of the sites ARE the scenic drives. We drove along the coast south from our hotel through the town of Roundstone, then up the coast to Clifden, the largest city in the region. From there we went out along the "Sky Drive", said to be one of the most beautiful in Ireland. And it was indeed dramatic, rising up rather perilously above steep green fields populated by cows that seemed perfectly at ease scrambling about. The weather was clear and it felt as if we were in a world of nothing but sea, grass and sky.
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
We continued on to Kylemore Abbey:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
A remote manor set in a lake valley in the heart of the Bens, currently owned by an order of nuns who (until just recently, I believe) run a private girls' school there (but apparently the local girls got to go for free!). Can't you just imagine a book set there? Some sort of academic mystery novel?
It's clear the facility is aware of the tourist potential now, though. There was an extensive visitor center with a reasonably good cafe (note: there was free self-serve water available in the cafeteria, complete with real glass cups, so no need to buy the bottled water). I had potato-leek soup with brown bread (very good) while Bob had some sort of beef goulash over rice with a side of carrots. Prices were comparable to pubs (~5 for soup & bread, 9 for full meal with sides). There was also a salad bar, quiches, and a number of pre-made sandwiches, as well as scones, muffins, and several cakes.
We toured the handful of rooms open to the public (all nicely decorated in period style), visited the "miniature cathedral" (decorated with different colored marble from throughout Ireland), observed another sightseer communing with a HUGE pine tree, hands pressed to its giant bole and eyes closed, read about the rare bats that roost in the cathedral's ceiling, and generally enjoyed imagining ourselves in some historical novel.
Me on my front porch (I wish!):
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
A mile walk (or a few-minute shuttle ride) from the Abbey is a giant walled garden that the nuns have only recently begun to restore. When it was built by the original owner, it apparently had 19 greenhouses, connected so that the ladies of the household could take their afternoon walks in warms and comfort during even the middle of winter. Can you imagine? They've restored three so far, and plan to continue with the rest as money allows. Even so, the gardens were impressive. We particularly enjoyed touring the recreated dwellings of the Head Gardener (he and his family lived right in the garden, in a quite nice house!) and Under-gardeners' bunk house (near the above, so the HG could keep an eye on them!).
By this time I was losing steam, and figured I had probably seen the highlights of my day. But as we drove onward, taking the final loop through the mountains that would take us full-circle to our hotel, I discovered I was wrong. Because I was in Rohan. I'm not sure the pictures can convey this-- on the surface it's just a bunch of golden-brown hills-- but being there, in that moment, with the sun sliding down to the west and those bare heights rising up, I had an overpowering urge to run off into them, to find out what was on the other side.
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
The answer was not Eomer and Eowyn, alas. It was more hills. But that didn't stop me from wanting to keep going!
Bob and I talked about it later, about the unique feel of this landscape, trying to identify what it was that drew both of us to it (aside from the fact that it looked like Rohan). Age, emptiness, potential? I'm still not sure...
We ate a decent though pricey dinner at the pub at our hotel (skipping the even-more-pricey high-cuisine dining room), and then finished the day watching Master Chef and MI5.
~Day 4: Kilmacduagh & Ennis~
After another leisurely morning hiking around the grounds (me) and sleeping in (Bob) and plying ourselves with scones and tea (both of us), we departed Connemara and headed south again toward Ennis, which I'd chosen for our fourth night purely because it seemed like a good stopping point between Connemara and Dingle, and because we could stay in another fancy house.
To break up the several-hour drive we stopped at Kilmacduagh, site of an abbey that was founded in the 7th century by a saint who (according to wikipedia) chose the spot because his girdle fell off as he was walking by. The handful of remaining structures date to the 12th century or later. The most dramatic is the tall round tower (now leaning in a Pisa-like fashion), where the monks fled during attack (the door is high above ground level - they used a ladder and pulled it in after them).
The weather that day was marked (for the first time) by dense coiling fog, but it turned out to be a blessing. I don't think I would have enjoyed Kilmacduagh half so much if it had been bright and crystal-clear. As it was, the fog veiled the modern houses across the street, and softened the looming tower and broken stone churches into something magical. I could almost imagine I was in one of those historical time-travel movies, and that if I wandered deep enough into the fog I'd come through in the 12th century.
We were also the only visitors for our entire hour-long stay, wandering freely around the wet fields and climbing through old doorways. It was definitely one of the most magical experiences of our vacation.
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
After that we headed onward to our fifth night's lodging at Newpark House:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
which featured the BEST bed of our entire stay (most beautiful and comfiest), as well as some really lovely (though chilly) sitting rooms, and a bucolic vista out front. Though the cows looked disturbingly deranged:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
After consulting with our host, we decided to take the 30 minute walk into town (not a particularly scenic walk, but it was good to stretch our legs and NOT drive). Ennis was the largest city we visited in our stay, and it was a nice change at that point. We had cocoa and tea at a bookstore cafe, did a little shopping and a lot of people watching (we arrived just as school let out, expelling a wide range of kids in several different uniforms out into the city to cluster at a fry shop, giggle and whisper in pairs overlooking the river, rush about determinedly with sketchbooks and instrument cases).
We ate at The Rowan Tree, which is both a hostel and a restaurant featuring pizza and pasta. My meal was nothing special, but the setting was lovely: lofty ceilings, warmly painted walls, big broad windows overlooking the river, and a mellow, candle-lit atmosphere.
Heading homeward again, we stopped for some provisions at the grocery store, then retired to rest up for the drive to Dingle the next day.
To be continued...
