Bang a drum

We slept in today, because last night was late. We had a relaxed, wonderful breakfast, loaded the car and left on our way. Our first stop was driving through Galway to a craft village in Spiddal. There were several neat shops, and I almost bought a t-shirt that said inappropriate things in Gaelic, since I could make up alternate meanings as the setting dictated, but decided not to :)

We continued on, driving around the coast, through some pretty barren places, and next stopped in Roundstone. There is a famous bodhran workshop there. Bodhrans are the traditional Irish percussion instrument. This shop makes the bodhrans for many of

the biggest names in trad music.

We got back into the car to drive to Kylemore Abbey, a beautiful building in a totally gorgeous setting. If you ever come to Ireland, you must visit here. This is one of those places I can totally see back in time 150 years. It is obvious why that family fell in love with the place and built their home here. Now, if only it wasn't crawling with french tourists... :)

We finished our visit, and left to make the final leg to Westport. We drove around Ireland's only fjord, and through some beautiful, isolated pastureland. We arrived in Westport, and found our B&B. After unpacking, we walked to the city centre for a great meal. Carrie and Pat had bacon and cabbage (the truly Irish meal that was translated to corned beef and cabbage by Irish-American immigrants). Pat was happy to have her ice with her diet coke, but

when she saw the size of the bottle, especially compared with the size of the pint glass her 4 ice cubes were in, was less impressed.

A walk back to the B&B, and we are uploading pics and journaling. The passage of time is an odd thing, and we barely know what day it is, but I know our time here is shortening. I'm still enjoying every minute.