Cannemara on the West Coast of Ireland

First off we had a real Irish breakfast, The bacon includes the pork belly plus what looked Canadian bacon attached. Very tasty. Got some good tips from the concierge, climbed into the Mercedes and headed out - destination Clifden and the rugged Irish west coast.

Now we have heard of white knuckled driving, but picture two lanes with no shoulder on either side only about 6 inches bigger than your car for your lane and a friggin tour bus coming the other way. The fact of right hand drive versus left hand drive was not really important. Anyway, some how we muddled through.

Once we arrived at Clifden, a very interesting and picturesque town,we stopped for a cold one and bit of seafood chowder for me. below are some photos from our travels around Clifden.

We spoke to a couple bicyclists and got the 411 on a shortcut to the Sky Road. Exciting drive - pictures follow.

From Sky Drive, we head north on the coastal road toward the Kylemore Abbey. This is a fabulous place, began as a rich merchant's present to his wife in the late 1800's. It is a 16,000 acre estate with a castle and a walled Victorian garden. After twenty years or do, she died tragically at age 45, leaving him and 9 kids. Despondent, he sold the place to a Cincinnati mogul who bought it as a wedding present for his daughter. Unfortunately, her new husband, the duke of something, lost it in a poker game. Eventually, it was purchased by the Benedictine Nuns in 1922 and became a high end girl's boarding school. The nuns no longer run a school but still live there, The pictures will describe this jewel better than I ever could.

What a glorious garden - flowers, vegetables, herbs, ferns, even green houses to grow bananas!

Now I have not mentioned it, but there are sheep in every field in this part of Ireland. As we continue around the coast road making the loop to head back to Galway, we came across some sheep that were not in the field. In fact they were on the road (and a few thought they owned the road). We stopped to take a picture of this tough looking chap and he immediately started heading toward us bleating loudly. Carol was talking back at him but he kept coming. After a few quick snap shots, we decided we should just get back in the car. Please note the paint splotches on this bugger. This passes for a brand in these parts and we saw many colors and combinations of red, green, and blue.

Feeling like we had a really full and fun day.