Look out Ireland!!

In case you haven't heard, or read, Annie and I are off to Ireland this year!!! Right now it doesn't seem real (other than the charges already appearing on my Mastercard!!) Last week Annie and I spent the better part of 3 or 4 days checking out places to stay, trains, flights, spots we didn't want to miss (the Blarney Stone!) etc.

There is so much to see and do in Dublin!

Skeletal remains anyone?  

Guess what I'll be bringing home?

As it stands now we will have a few days in Dublin, then we travel by train to Galway where we catch a bus to the ferry which will take us to Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands where we stay for a couple of nights. We will cycle our way around the island visiting Dun Aonghusa, a circular fort perched on top of a cliff among other medieval sites!

Annie - we have to eat in Druid Lane (Galway)! 

The cliffs are magnificent!

Galway is the 4th largest city in Ireland.

This shows the trip from Galway to Inverin where we take
the ferry to Inis Mor

Dun Aonghusa - a circular stone fort

From there we will be taken by taxi to where our walk begins - Oughterard, on the mainland. Over the next 7 days we will walk 122km of The Western Way ending up in Westport. We spend the night in Westport and then take a train back to beautiful Galway where we spend a few nights and explore the city and western Ireland.

After Galway we head to Cork which is on the east coast. Staying in Cork for a couple of days gives us time to visit nearby Blarney Castle home of the infamous Blarney Stone! From Cork it's about 3.5 hours back to Dublin.

This map shows our trek beginning in Oughterard (bottom right)
to Westport in the middle. You can see the trail continues on.

I'd better keep doing my yoga!!

Cork looks AMAZING! 

and VERY colourful!

So far I've paid for my flight - I got a great price - $709.00(Cdn) with one brief stopover on my way over at Heathrow and then non-stop on the way home. I paid for very comprehensive insurance this time around - it costs more but puts my mind at ease. I know of two hikers who had to cancel their trips last fall due to injuries. And I've paid for our Galway B&B which was $102 (plus fees) for a total of $342 Cdn. Of course that's split between the two of us so it's not so bad. We were firm in wanting 2 beds to rest our weary bones on :) And we get breakfast included :) :)

Two beds! 

Quaint!

Pretty post!

We are busily saving our pennies and are travelling the last week of August and first 2 weeks (approx) of September. Why is it though that the euro is rising?!? Grrrrr! Despite that I'm very excited in our upcoming adventure! We wanted more of a balance this time around between hiking and having the time to explore more. I think it's going to be fantastic!!