Adventure Ireland

Hey all! 

I'm celebrating my recent freedom from academia and summer employment (in what some have called my mid-midlife-crisis...) by taking a 2 month hiatus to Ireland! I've reached the chronological half-way point and it's been just great so far. I've been doing a fair amount of hiking, or "hill walking", and playing lots of music. 

I'm traveling with a baby Martin guitar that was generously gifted to me just days before leaving. It fits as carry-on in all the overheads of planes, trains, and buses, and is a sturdy little composite-constructed instrument. I have had many fitful dreams in the past involving traveling with my "real" guitar (that I spent my last pennies outfitting with a mic and pickup system this spring), so it's nice not having to worry about it in hostels and luggage compartments. 

I flew into Shannon and started my trip up the west coast in Killarney. I've spent anywhere from 2-7 nights in Dingle, Dun Quin, Doolin, Galway City, Letterfrack, and am now in Westport. I've been staying in hostels and making my itinerary about a day in advance. The weather this time of year is a little iffy, and some places have closed for the winter (or gone to winter hours), but of what's available I've basically had my pick - which is working well with my day-to-day planning strategy. I think this is a much better way to go than being here for the all-out tourist season.

Here are a few pictures.

A rainbow over the Cliffs of Moher last week:

Galway city...Quay St...maybe?

The calmest waters I've seen here so far. This is a sunset on Dingle Harbour.

A view of the Blasket Islands from my walk around Slea Head (a 19 kilometer trek) - the very tip of the Dingle Peninsula. It's the most westward point in Ireland. "The next parish is Boston" they say.

This one is from Yesterday! I walked up Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park. The hostel I stayed at in Letterfrack was an old monastery built in the 1840s and was about 25 feet from the back gate of the National Park. Great little town that was having Sea Week festival that featured some great players. 

Hope you're all having a wonderful autumn (and having some great 'craic').

Take care,

Bethany