Irish Pubs

Lafayette, CO - Just Pubs.

Work is the curse of the drinking class.
- Oscar Wilde

Ireland Part 3 - Gary, Galway, Donegal, & Dublin

Lafayette, CO - This is it, the last post from our trip. Next I'll have to start working on the pictures I've taken since my return in November. Coming up will be photos from Joshua Tree, Zion, Estes Park, Ouray, & Moab. But.. for now.. let's just stick with Ireland.

Halloween night I met up with Gary in Galway. From there we zigged and zagged back and forth across the country going south to a wedding in Durrow, further south to the Rock of Cashel in Cashel, exploring the mysteries of the Hill of Tara to the north, dropping in on Gary's friend Anne in Dublin, south again to Glendalough for a short hike, then heading west to Ennis to fill the car with some giant, foam mushrooms that needed to be back in Dublin the following weekend.

Fall Colors in Glendalough

Before and after all that I got to visit Gary's digs in Milltown, County Galway. I was able to meet his parents, Gary showed me where the house he is going to build will be located, and Gary's dad gave me a full tour of the area.

The View from The Rock of Cashel

While Gary was slaving away I work I was able to rent a car and head north checking out the coast in the Counties Galway, Mayo, and Dunegal. As with my last few posts most all the interesting tidbits of this trip are in the slide show (link at the bottom of the post.)

Lough Corrib in County Galway

Coast in County Donegal

Dublin

Anyway... November 9th came around and before I knew it, I was on a plane heading home. I was a little sad to think that the trip was finished, but I was happy to be headed back to Suwei and to get started on our next adventure, moving to Colorado.

Stay Tuned.

Here is the slide show:

Ireland: Part 3

Ireland Part 2 - Doolin & The Aran Islands

Doolin

Lafayette, CO - Ok, here's part 2 of Ireland. Amazing what you can get done when you're not painting all day. Not that we're done, mind you. It's just that I had to take a break to get our income taxes done, send out the invitations for our wedding in September, plan a canoe trip in June, do some mountain biking in Moab, a little climbing in Arches National Park and put in another few days of skiing. So on Monday, I'm back on task.

Anyway, in this second installment on Ireland we'll be checking out Doolin in the County Clair & The Aran Islands. My friend Gary gave me a ride north. However, he needed to go back to work the next day, so he dropped me off at a hostel in Doolin with a short list of "must sees." Included in that list, were The Cliffs of Moher and The Aran Islands.

The Cliffs of Moher

Although October is pretty much as off season as it gets in Ireland, I did manage to find a boat out to both Inisheer (the eastern island) and the next day, Inishmaan (the middle island). Gary had told me I should spend a day out on Inishmaan or Inis Meain (Irish) as it was his favorite of the three and one of the least touristed. He said I needed to check out the walls. So, I did just that.

Inis Meain / Inishmaan

As usual there are lots more pictures and stories in the slide show. Just click on the walls ->

Ireland: Part 2

Ireland Part 1 - Kay, Oliver & The County Kerry.

Lafayette, Colorado - I'm a little ashamed. 4 months have gone by since my last entry. 4 MONTHS!!! Crazy. I hoped to keep the blog going with photos and stories from Colorado, but well...I've been busy. Suwei and I been spending a heck of a lot of time working on renovations to our house. The decision to do the painting ourselves has added quite a bit of time to the project. At this point however, the floors are just about done, we have just the master suite, the upstairs hall, and the downstairs bathroom to paint, the baseboards to install and a bit of touch up at the stairs. Oh...the back door needs replacing and I think we are going to do counter tops and light fixtures next. We're getting there. When we're not pounding away on the house, we're usually skiing. It's been a great season!

Anyway... for this post I've still got some photos from the last destination on our tour. So, to pick up where we left off...on October 26th I flew from Brussels to Shannon, Ireland, where I was met by Kay.

I'm not going to write a whole lot here as I would like to get something posted. If I wait until I'm inspired to write... well... it could take some time. Could be another 4 months. In any case I put a whole lot of info into the slide show, so check that out.

For my first few days in Ireland, I was staying with my friend Kay and her husband, Oliver in Milltown in the County Kerry. I met Kay through Gary when he invited her out to Burning Man a few years back. I met Oliver when we got to the house that evening. Gary had praised Kay as being quite the tour guide and that weekend she was able to show her prowess as Oliver drove us around both the Dingle and Iveragh Peninsulas, The Ring of Kerry, and the Skellig Ring. However, she did elect to stay in the car every time Oliver and I wanted to check out another graveyard, or if it was raining, or if the wind was blowing, or if she was sleepy. In any case it was a great tour. Here are some photos.

Colorful Boats in Killarney National Park

Ross Castle / Dingle Pub

The Dingle Peninsula

View of The Skellig Islands from Valentia Island

Gary & Kay in Killarney National Park

I promise to have Part 2 out sometime within the next four months. In the meantime, check out the slide show here:

Ireland: Part 1