We took a trip to Galway. From there we explored the Cliffs of Moher, Connemara, and the Aran Islands. What great fun.

The young man at the hostel printed a letter for me, he laughed when he saw that it was addressed to my bank in Norway. He banks with them too and is actually Norwegian. The world is so small.

The Cliffs of Moher are amazing and a tourist magnet. I can’t imagine going there in the summer with hordes of tourists.

On the way to the Cliffs you pass through an area called The Burren, meaning “rocky place”. The burren would be the botanist’s and geologist’s heaven.

                                                       Blackhead Mountain 🙂

Connemara, Galways hinterland, was another lovely trip. It’s basically a combination of bogs, lakes, mountains, and magic. Absolutely beautiful also as well (one of the bus drivers liked saying both ‘also’ and ‘as well’). The bus driver surprised us with Irish music at this stop (picture below) and my eyes got a bit teary. I am really in Ireland!

Kylemore Abbey

I especially loved the day on Inishmore, the largest of the three islands that make up the Aran Islands. We had typical Irish weather, barely made the ferry ride (I’m getting sick just thinking about that), and loved every minute of it. At night time we went to a local pub and brought the German fellow that we met at the hostel. Soon enough one of the locals sat with us, one guy from Australia, and one from the U.S. Half of us were drying their shoes near the fireplace. It was just magical.

Esther and Monique