The Gift of Ireland: More Than Sightseeing

Just returned from a week long trip to Ireland with Karen. Still trying to figure out what day and time it is. Woke up this morning half expecting to be in a bunk bed at a hostel with Karen sleeping above me. Everything in the house here feels foreign to me. Strange smells and surroundings. I wish I could have stayed longer in Ireland, particularly in Galway. As a way of transitioning back to WA, here a few shots from Ireland.

We started by spending a day walking along the River Liffey toward the W end of Dublin. We paused to eat lunch (i.e. chocolate cake) on a boardwalk on the N of the River Liffey. Boy was it tasty!! Of course we did eat more than cake. I had a pasta salad with British Chicken in a cream sauce and Karen had a 3 bean wrap.

From Dublin we traveled by rail to Galway on the W coast of Ireland.

This is a shot of the countryside just outside Galway. We stayed 3 days at a great hostel in downtown Galway City. The county is also named Galway. The W coast of Ireland is absolutely gorgeous. Galway City has a slight urban feel at the city center with surrounding residential suburbs. A short .5-.75mi walk from the city center puts you into the residential area. I know this because Karen and I went for a run around the town for some exercise. On our run we located a large field, a fort in Galway and a local park on the Galway Bay. From Galway we took two day trips: one to the Aran Islands (Inismor) and one around the area known as the Burren in County Clare S of Galway. Enjoy the video from our bike tour of Inismor.



On our way to the star highlight of our bus tour of the Burren, we stopped off at the Poulnabrone Dolmen--an ancient burial tomb dating back to 2500 BC. Here's Karen and I while we were still fresh and enjoying the bus ride. After we made it to the lunch stop around 2pm, we'd had enough of the bus ride. If only we could have procured our own rapid transportation back to Galway where we had to catch the 6pm rail back to Dublin. Our guide Paul assured us that we would be back by 5:30pm and have plenty of time. As it was, we showed up at 5:45pm at the corner of the train station and just made it onto the rail in time!

This is probably one of my favorite shots of the Cliffs of Moher. I took so many it was hard to choose, but this S looking view gives you a feel for how green the landscape is on top (even amidst the limestone surface), how sheer the cliffs are, a touch of the ocean washing up on the coastline and the expanse of the cliffs themselves. Mind you, this was taken at about the halfway point of the cliff viewing area. It was surprisingly windy that day, though we were very lucky to have the sun and a clear day. The day before was overcast, rainy and had very limited visibility.


Karen and I both fell in love with Ireland as we knew we would. When we return, we hope to spend more time on the W coast near Galway and rent a car so we can tour at our own pace. There is still much to see N and S of Galway and the lack of the side to side and lumpy bumpy tour bus ride is fine with both of us--especially with Karen. The interesting challenge of renting a car is that I have never been taught how to drive a manual and renting an automatic costs 2x as much. While Karen can drive a manual, she'd prefer to do it on the "right" side of the road and the car. Of course the greatest difficulty is just getting where you want to go based on the road signs!!

After returning to Dublin, we were in a bit of shock from the change of a more rural city to the sprawling urban of Dublin. To help remedy this we took a day trip N to Howth, a sleepy coastal town with a huge port and docks. While there we walked in the rain and strong winds (~25-30mph) to the lighthouse and then dropped into the local catholic church which happened to be open. There we paused to dry off, light some candles and rest in prayer. Afterwards, as the rain had stopped, we checked out the St. Mary's Abbey ruins and cemetery. This was the perfect day trip because it gave us a chance to balance out the busyness of Dublin and to talk and share stories from the last year.

To close, I'll add in a few random photos that are a must from our trip. First will be the inside of the catholic church in Howth where we paused for prayer and dry weather. Second is me wearing my Ireland shirt in Ireland. How could I possibly pass this one up?? Finally I add in a picture of Karen and I at the Dublin Airport before we left for the US.
As I was planning for the trip and booking hostels, I expected our vacation to be a time of sightseeing and trying to pack in as much of Ireland as we could--just in case neither of us made it back. What I realized during this trip was that we actually went to Ireland to find each other. We traveled from opposite sides of the world and different countries to meet up on a green island in the North Atlantic to remember and deepen our relationship. Sure we went to sightsee and be tourists. My 272 pictures and movies are testament to that (and that doesn't include Karen's which will fill in some missing holes from the rest of our trip). The real reason we spent all this money and actually made this idea into a reality was to find each other after nearly a year and a half apart living parallel lives in separate universes. That is the great gift of Ireland--not all the goofy things I bought for my family, friends and coworkers, but the opportunity to share life deeply with my sister Karen.