...is a thousand pictures. And the world's longest blog post.
Here we go!
Stage One Derry:
There's never a dull moment at Peadar O'Donnells. You're never quite sure who, or what, you might run into. On this night, its a friendly, chatty man from South Africa.
And despite living for months in Derry, I'd never seen the Peace Bridge at night, so I drug Mom and Whitney outside and to the river. Note: its past ten o'clock and still partially light outside.
Stage Two: Giant's Causeway and Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge
On Sunday, we experienced a brief taste of public transportation in Ireland, and boy, was it bitter! Even after checking for times online, nothing went as planned. Even worse, no stores are open on a Sunday, not even the Starbucks. Zero. Zilch. None. It was up to the packed PB&J to save the day! However, we did eventually make it out to the Causeway with only a few minor bumps. Getting back, however, was nightmarish.
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| Whitney trudging up the ridiculous set of stairs |
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| Mom: Halfway there! |
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| Scotland! |
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| Mom crossing the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. |
Stage Three: Journey to Connemara; Donegal and Sligo
Stage three marks the beginning of the road trip, and Mom's baptism by fire as she drives on the wrong side of the very narrow road, and my own baptism by fire with navigation. Surprisingly, we successfully steered our way to Grianan of Aileach, Glenveagh National Park, through Sligo, and on to Connemara. Not bad for day one.
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| Grianan of Aileach |
Here, Mom is sporting the latest fashions: bundled up and a rocking hair style.
Glenveagh National Park (Castle included)
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| Glencara Falls |
Stage Four: Connemara
I Spy a pony!
Rule of thumb: children are always pests, no matter the species.
Kylemore Abbey
Connemara National Park: fancy words for...a bog. But a very pretty bog.
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| Diamond Hill |
Let's stop the train for a moment. Here, Whitney and I might have gotten into a wee bit of trouble. We decided a little hill walk would be a fine way to end the day. And it was. It was also a wee bit more than we bargained for. Steep stone staircase with high winds? Bring it on! And the views were gorgeous.
Overall, a win! Don't know about the poor guy who attempted it in flip flops. We never did learn his fate.
And of course, some great trad. And the one and only time I got kicked out of the bar. Totally sober. Guess it would have been a safer bet to start a brawl.
Ballynahinch Castle: Probably one of my favorite places in Connemara. (Thus the plethora of photos.)
Mom bravely attempted to model fly fishing for us, but failed to pose for more than half a second. It took multiple tries to get her to hold still long enough for me to snap a photo. By that point, however, I was laughing too hard to hold the camera still. Enjoy this photo; it took a lot of effort.
Dogs Bay: ironically, no dogs allowed!
Stay tuned for more!
