Seagulls are Stupid

Day 1

Dublin airport to our townhouse in Galway. The flight was without issue, but the leased airline Evelop hired by Norwegian was like sitting in a school bus for six hours. And yes, I swear the passengers sang "The wheels on the bus...". Terrible, terrible airline, Aer Lingus next time for sure.

Not only did I a rent a large Renault van for the eight of us, but I made sure it was stick shift to fully challenge my family's and my nerves. Oh boy. The Irish are good drivers thankfully. They obey the speed limit, no one in the passing lane unless passing and not aggressive. It definitely helped. The main roads and highways are in good shape.

An afternoon power nap for all of us followed by a walk around Galway. The Galway Races are this week and their annual arts festival finished Sunday, so a bustling and busy night life. Ethan and I had a pint of Guinness at Taaffe's while the rest shopped. We all met for dinner at Blake's Brassiere https://brasseriegalway.com/. The food, drink and company were all top notch. We walked our travel-weary selves back to our town house for a much needed rest. It's a great place to stay, close to all the pubs and restaurants- which by the way close at 11:00pm. I know this factoid because every drunk tourist and Irish citizen walked by my window singing, laughing, arguing, and kicking objects. I finally fell asleep. A cacophony of seagulls was my alarm at about 5:30 a.m.

Our Townhouse

They did not cease. I dressed and went for a walk to find a coffee shop and discovered seagulls skillfully tearing into trash bags outside of all the restaurants. They were battling for their breakfasts. Seagulls are stupid!

Today we took a ferry from Rossaveel, just outside of Galway to Inishmore. It's the largest of the Aran Islands. An impressive, weather-beaten landscape of limestone walls, shrubs, grass and some sturdy animals and friendly locals and summer employees. My brother, father and I walked the main town, poked our nose in a couple shops and pubs and chatted up anyone in earshot. Ethan, Sammy, Abby, Beth and Amy biked the better part of the central island and did some big time sight-seeing. As you can see by the pictures (more to come later), we were lucky weather-wise. It was warm and sunny. The rain held off until our return ferry ride. The girls bought Aran Island sweaters and trinkets.

I wish I could write well enough to describe how beautiful this place is.

We finished the day at The Universal Gastro Pub in Galway's West End. A surprisingly solid dinner. One of the best lamb I've ever eaten. We all were impressed. Abby and Samantha went out for pizza and gelato. Mike and I left Ethan, my dad and the two wives at The Crane where they listened to some Irish music. A good day. Tomorrow off to the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, and to our house in Dingle.

Inishmore

Church ruins circa 1300 AD

Galway

Comments

To America!

In the bleak Irish spring of 1880, Matthew Ryan and his wife Margaret (Caples) left their home in the area of Kilcommon, Tipperary Ireland along with their eleven (11) children ages 26 to 4. They endured a 60 mile trek by foot or by carriage or maybe a combination of both to the port of Queenstown, Cork (now called Cobh) and on March 23rd boarded the SS Helvetia, a 419 foot, tripled-masted, single-stacked clipper ship. The thirteen members of the Ryan family joined 557 other English, Irish, and Scandanavian passengers for the nearly two-week voyage across the temperamental Atlantic. The morning of April 6, 1880 was unseasonably warm in New York City. I envision my third great-grandfather, Matthew Ryan, aged 55, and his family made their way up to the main deck as the ship exited the Atlantic Ocean and slowly entered the upper bay, sailing between Staten Island and Brooklyn via the Narrows toward the Bedloe's Island, later named Liberty Isl...

The Magical Traveling Shamrock, John Wayne and our Mother.

If you travel to Ireland and you do not spend some time at the Lawcus Farm B&B and its surrounding area, then you are doing a serious disservice to an Irish experience. Now, I understand to each his own, but it should be a mandatory stop for all travelers. I know I mentioned in earlier paragraphs about this place, but we strongly believe there was a connection for our kids, for us, and for my father. The owners of the establishment are characters in themselves and put forth great effort to ensure their guests are not only treated well, but making sure your time in their country is memorable. I’ll get back to Mark, who has an uncanny resemblance to John Wayne and Ann-Marie again. Our final day in Stoneyford and the Farm started as usual with a solid breakfast. Coffees preceded a small fresh fruit cup for all, followed by homemade porridge with prunes, and granola and local honey from their abundant Jaspers. Ann-Marie take...

The Dingle

So busy, it's difficult to find time to write. We're go, go, go. and the wifi is not so good at our place. We left Galway Tuesday morning and drove a couple hours to an area of western Ireland called The Burren. It was a ridiculously foreign landscape and beautiful. Steep, sharp limestone mountains covered in scrub brush, grasses and dotted with livestock. As we drove through the emerald countryside, we saw a sign that said Birds of Prey display and Aillwee Cave. Rick Steves wrote in his travel guide that it was interesting, but not worth the fee. So, of course we decided to check it out. What the hell does he know :) Cliffs of Moher After that we stopped in Doolin and had lunch while overlooking the Atlantic. A short drive to The Cliffs of Moher. We lucked out with a sunny day. The kids attributed that to their Nana. The cliffs are worth the visit, especially if you go later (after 2pm) as we did. We drove to the S...

A Hibernian Voyage to America. Our Irish Ancestors

Search This Blog