Aug 162 min read

Ireland, Part 3: Charmed

Updated: Aug 22

Hello Dear Readers, and welcome to Blog Post # 34! With our sabbatical drawing to its close, I'm aiming to conclude with 36 total posts. # 36 will hopefully be about our final, convoluted dogs-in-tow journey home to Massachusetts in two weeks. If you have stuck with me this long - I really appreciate you reading!

Meanwhile, we made it back to Somerton, England yesterday after our 12-day car/ferry trip to Ireland. We only scratched the surface of that beautiful country, and had too little time to see many of the scenic and interesting places Ireland is known for. I'd gladly go back to experience more of the warm Irish hospitality! Truth be told, Scotland is still my favorite, but Ireland is totally charming.

The final stage of our visit began with rented bikes and a ride along the Great Western Greenway, a bike path which goes from Westport to Achill Island in County Mayo. Taking advantage of a nice shuttle service to the most scenic part, we biked only about a third of its 49 total kilometers, but it was a great day out. The weather was cool and sunny and the path was easy to ride. We met three young expat women living in Dublin on our shuttle -- originally from the US, France, and Croatia. Running into each other along the trail was fun!

Next, we left the northern half of the country and drove around 5 hours to Ireland's southern shores, near the town of Skibbereen in County Cork. We were welcomed by some very hospitable friends to their beautiful home in the village of Glandore. On our journey south, we began to appreciate why Ireland is known for being so green!

During our time in Glandore we played bridge with some really delightful local players, visited another ancient stone circle, enjoyed the company of our hosts and soaked in the scenery. Then it was time to depart for the Rosslare ferry back to Wales and the drive home to England.

When we leased our English car we had to estimate the mileage we would drive this year (as it affected the monthly price). We went high with 15,000. As of yesterday, we'd done 17,080. Whoops! Fortunately the price for excess miles is not too bad.

I leave you for now with photos from Glandore. (Click on the flower photo for the slideshow.) Thank you for reading, and I'll be back next week with how we savor our sabbatical's final days! XO