Posts
The first evening we spent in the bar area of the Carna hotel. There we met several locals who had been invited to join us, and five of their kids who played as a band for us. We had a fantastic (and very unhealthy) buffet dinner and a drink, and we all chatted with each other. After dinner, we listened to some traditional Irish music, played by these kids who were 13-18 years old and really good! We learned about different types of songs, and even got to see two different Irish dance performances by some of the women there. We were taught to sing traditional Irish Sean-nos songs, which are usually about lost or unrequited love. Then we were even taught some dance shuffle steps and some group dances, which was a blast. The people there were so welcoming and friendly, it was certainly something I never could have done on my own! Below's a photo of the band that played for us. They didn't have any music or anything, and just started with a melody and improvized the rest- it was amazing!
Then on Saturday, we had a long hiking day that was equally fun and impressive. We started the day with our lovely breakfast, and then met with a local whose profession is basket-weaving. He taught us about the Sally rods used to make the baskets and the different kinds of baskets, and demonstrated the actually weaving to us by making a basket for us! We were able to try our hand at making a Celtic cross with two sticks and a thin Sally rod. I think the most impressive basket was a huge lobster pot that was completely woven. It was beautiful!
After basket-weaving lessons, we drove to some of the mountains near the coast, I'm not quite sure where. We had a guide with us who told us about the history of the hills and the specific environment. Apparently, thousands of years ago Ireland was nearly all forest, and that when humans began deforesting the island, areas like this with heavy rainfall became more acidic without the trees to absorb it. This, I was told, was then trapped under the ground, which was covered with moss, and turned the soil into peat, creating many peat bogs. Near the base of the mountain we climbed, we were able to stand on a peat bog and see how the ground just shakes underneath you when you bounce on it. We also heard some horror stories about what happens when you jump on a peat bog and it splits. Supposedly bodies are often found from really far back of people who are guessed to have accidentally fallen through the bog. I think it's a great start to some kind of magical underworld tale.
We continued up the mountain, which was very slippery and often very difficult to find footing. I was so glad I had worn my rain boots (I'm sorry, I should call them my wellingtons) because you could hear the sloshing the whole time up, and down, the mountain. About half of the way up we got to see a 4,000 year old tomb that was just resting there on this mountain side. It was simple, but very cool, and as always, it was mystifying that such an old artifact wasn't protected or guarded or anything. Being the art history nerd that I am, I had to get my photo with it though!
The way down was even trickier, and I also fell a few times. When we got down all the way, we hopped on the bus for a short ride to the town of Roundstone, which is supposedly the most photographed and painted town. Ironically, I didn't get a chance to take any good photos of the place. We stopped there for a pub lunch, and I think we were all so tired that anything would have tasted wonderful, but the place was great. After we finished, we rode again to another trail, this time up to a castle. The path was beautiful, and thankfully, not wet or slippery. It ran alongside some body of water (in this area it's hard to tell what's a small bay to the sea and what's a river) that looked as black as onyx. The plants were majestic too, and, I admit, it looked a bit like home. We saw a small round castle on the water on an artificial island, as well as the castle on the hill, which was a restaurant that looked charming.
After this finishing hike, we were driven back to our B&B's around about 7 PM or so. We had an hour to ourselves, and then we went for a more formal and private dinner at the hotel again. It was lovely, and the food amazing. I've been continually impressed that every single place I've eaten in this country has at least one vegetarian option. I had fried stuffed mushrooms (amazing!), a rice and veggie stir-fry, and the chocolate gateau (which truly deserved the snooty name-it was fabulous!). I loved the mix of having our own entrees, but family-style side dishes of potatoes and vegetables. It actually felt kind of nice too that it started raining around dinnertime. We had the most perfect crystal-clear calm day for our walking, but a cozy raining evening.
The next morning, since the weather was again very nice for us, we went to the horse farm of one of the men who joined us the first night. He showed us four different Connemara ponies of different ages, all of whom were beautiful creatures. We learned that the Connemara pony, after living in the hilly, slippery surrounding area for centuries, had adapted to become very fast and exceptional jumpers. We were given a show of two of the horses abilities, and one of them jumped over a 5 foot pole! After the demonstration, we were invited inside for coffee, tea, and fresh scones. I think they were meant to just be hospitable and to encourage a chat, but when we all came in, suddenly we were devouring the scones. I think each of us had at least two (they were homemade, warm out of the oven, and unbelievably good!) and a few pieces of fruit, as well as coffee and tea. Our guests must have thought we hadn't eaten in a week! They were so sweet to us, and invited us over to tea if we ever came back. I'd love to be able to take them up on that sometime! The couple even gave us the rest of the scones in a bag to take with us. From there we went to the train station again to return home.
I had a few hours to kill in Galway City before my train, so I did some shopping, and hung out in the main park, and stopped by the cathedral. It was beautiful, and I was struck by how different it was from what I'd seen in Paris last summer. It looked much more Byzantine, like it came out of Eastern Europe. I got bored and it was a little rainy, so I sat and sketched for a while, listening to the organist play.
