Ireland - Day 3 - The Far West, Connemara

"Go West, young man!" goes the saying...

The next morning we awoke early and left to head towards the opposite coast in the west of Ireland and then head south in a scenic coastal drive. Once again, we were lucky in regards to weather. It was a crisp, brisk, but sunny day! Perfect for a lovely drive through, arguably, some of the prettiest part of Ireland.

It was a splendid time (excepting the extremely expensive gas). With map in hand I helped guide P through the main highways and country roads that twist and turn - making a few miles seem greater because of the time it takes to drive it.

Patrick and I both agreed that even though it is beautiful in the northeastern sea coast where he is from, that we both preferred the more rustic, wild and unkempt beauty of the Far West. There still were fields, but it was all much different. They were larger but more sparse - mostly as part of a ranch - and filled with sheep or cows. There were also hillsides here that were different, trees were scarce and vegetation was different than the north - with massive plants of rhubarb growing as tall as me right along the roads.

As we headed towards Connemara things got even more barren. Evidently, many natives here left to London and Boston, USA as it is very poor and hard to eke out a living. Land here is made up of many lakes of all sizes, marshland and mountains in the distance. There are no green, lush fields with grazing livestock here - but, rather, fields of peat - which is the earth cut into rectangles and used to burn when cold. Please forgive that we jumped out and gathered 2 blocks of it for P's parents as they love to burn it as firewood in the winter as it emits a pleasant, earthy smell.

** NOTE - I highly recommend the excellent and tragic period Irish film, "The Field" - which took place in this country and was filmed here.**

We soon found ourselves on an incredible, scenic drive along the coast that led to a main village (I believe it was Roundstone) in the middle of all that barren nothingness. This was such a pleasant surprise as we first saw an outstanding beach with white sands and turquoise waters lapping at its shore. I was shocked to see it - it looked like it was the Caribbean! We quickly stopped the car to gaze at the view of the beach, and then my attention was turned to a field with 2 Connemara ponies - I was a major equestrian as a child and teen, and knew all about all the different breeds of horses but had never seen a Connemara pony in real life. As if things couldn't get even more pleasant for me, suddenly 2 donkeys came down the road towards us! They obviously knew tourists - and were not shy!! I was able to pet them to my hearts delight. After snapping a few photos we headed back to the car and would you believe they came with us and stuck their cute heads into the car???!! As in the door of the car! I thought they were actually going to climb into my passenger seat! We laughed so hard and I, ingeniously, remembered my digital camera can record a little bit - so I filmed them and as soon as I can figure out how to upload them onto UTube, you can bet they will be published on this blog! We were unable to contain our laughter and smiles after this so we decided to stop for lunch at a very quaint pub. Of course, P got to have his Guinness. This pub had loads of character and we imagined was full of locals mixing with any tourists in the evenings. But right now, it was empty save one loan native dressed smartly in a pant suit and jacket, with his wavy, dirty-blond hair combed back. He stood at the bar, speaking with the bartender while traditional Irish music played semi-loudly in the background. At one point I excused myself to the ladies' room and evidently the man turned to Patrick and asked him pointedly in a thick, country accent, "Dew yew like this music?"

To which Patrick replied, "Yes, I do..."

Which made the man grin - exposing a mouthful of rotting, brown or missing teeth - "I feckin' LOVE it!!!" he retorted back enthusiastically.

Such an amusing and candid exchange could only happen in such an out-of-the-way local pub. By the time I had returned, P was still chuckling and recounted me the story. The man turned towards me - not quite making eye contact - I noticed most men didn't do this in smaller towns, but he started dancing an Irish jig. Just perfect!!
Click on slideshow below!

Ireland Day 3