Enter Ruth Zombie and her amazing art work. Robby had been talking about getting a fairy on her back shoulder area for years, but I think she just kept chickening out or just couldn't decide on the exact design, so she never got it. But, she had an idea in mind and so she worked with Ruth to perfect it and voila, she now has a beautiful steampunk fairy dragging a bee on a leash and looking all high and might on her left shoulder blade.
I had considered getting a Phoenix on my foot for the longest time, but lately I was thinking a weeping willow type tree. It's so hard to decide, but I googled a bunch of images and from four different pictures I found, Ruth created a brilliant gnarled tree losing its leaves with my added touch of a Japanese tree spirit from Princess Mononoke, I named him Glow. (pictures on Facebook)
So that our birthday experience, as well as seeing the Donegal Castle. Couldn't escape a town without seeing the castle now could we?
Eli, our cousin, decided that he was brave enough to spend a few days with Robby and I and do we picked him up from Galway Bus Station the following morning. He lives in England and so a small three day weekend in Ireland was a perfect escape for him. We toured the main square and then headed to our adorable B&B just outside of town. Patricia, the woman running Woodberry Cootage, couldn't have been any sweeter - offering tea and coffee the instant we stepped into her airy, large house. We grabbed some water and sat in the backyard taking in the sunshine and relaxing a bit before a lovely dinner at O'Grady's on the Pier.
Eli wanted to take us to a nice restaurant for our birthday and he succeed. Nothing like watching people splashing about in the water as the sun slowly set over a rocky jetty while you enjoy scrumptious, fresh mussels and drink a chilled glass of wine. Very serene and peaceful. We wandered the beach line after dinner before Eli and I headed to an Irish Pub to experience a little bit of Irish music and for Eli indulge with a Guinness (they're better in Ireland than the US, but still not a beer for me). The music turned out to be Irishmen singing American covers semi badly, but sounding kind of cool because of their accents. Overall, a lovely evening.
Day two of Eli's journey with Robby and I. He still hadn't killed us, but he did get to listen to us bicker a bit. Kind of entertaining from a viewers point of view- Robby's friends love to watch us fight while eating popcorn, but not so good if you're stuck with us for an extended period of time. Anyhow, I had booked us a ferry ride to Inis Mohr, the biggest of the Aran Islands. Said to have some of t he most majestic views and a small enough island that you could bike around in a few hours - exactly what we ended up doing.
We stepped off the ferry and onto the jankiest bikes ever. I made it about a quarter of a mile before every time I pushed down on the pedal it would switch gears. Seems bikes hate me as much as computers. I switched my bike out and we headed for the Fort at the other end of the island. Now, it's been ages since I've ridden a bike, so I was a little rusty and I'm completely out of shape, so essentially the mini hills killed me. I wanted to walk the stupid bike, especially I because I was afraid to change the gears for fear that they would stick, but I kept pedaling. I have no idea why most of my friends consider biking to be an enjoyable sport.
The fort was great, set high on the tallest hill of the island with a 700 meter drop to the crashing waves below. I laid on the edge to get some photos and enjoy the view. For some reason being super high and looking down at the water is soothing to me. To Eli and Robby, they seemed to think I had a
death wish, whimps.
Eventually I left the edge and we biked back to the ferry. We were in Carey County and near Carremara - a large expanse of terrain with beautiful beaches, quaint little towns, green hills, and stone walls. I think that we drove every main road around and through the region, hitting sunset along Sky Drive- a road over looking the water.
Day 3 with Eli- the a cliffs of Moher, one of the most touristy places inn Ireland, but we still had to go there. They are a series of cliffs that stretch for about seven miles and have some of the most magnificent views. You can even see the Aran Islands from the on a good day, like that evening. We started out "mini" hike up the left trail of the cliffs because there was supposedly a lighthouse near by. After 20 minutes of walking, we saw said light house, but it was still quite a ways away. So much for a small walk, we ended up at the edge of the cliffs two+ miles down. I stopped about every two minutes to snap another photo and peer over the edge while Eli and Robby eventually gave up stopping to wait for me or even yelling at me to "step away from the edge". It truly was stunning.
With Cliffs of Moher checked off our list, we headed to Awilee Cave, some guy's dog fell through the ground and went he went to rescue the puppy, he discovered a large area of underground caves that bears used to live in. Apparently Ireland decided to cash in on the natural wonder and added a cheese making shop down the hill as well as a bird habitats you could pay to see. Go tourism. Anyhow, I thought the caves were cool, especially the waterfall at the end and they were blessedly cold. The weather in Scotland and Ireland has been freakish - in the high 80's and 90's with humidity. I brought lots of hoodies and pants, expecting rain and chill. Maybe Cali weather followed us?
We ended the tour of Ennis County with a seafood chowder at a pub in Doolin while listening to locals sing Irish ballads. Pretty impressive, they just took over a table in the middle of the room, brought out their instruments and started to play. The guy next to them decided to add the lyrics.
We finished the night in an Irish pub in downtown Galway. We couldn't leave Galway without experiencing true Irish pub culture - a pint and live music. Eli kept telling us that you headed to a pub, talk with the locals and if they like you, after the pub closes you head to the local's house to enjoy more song and dance with whiskey and Guinness. We didn't happen to meet any hospitable locals that evening, but the music was nice and the whiskey was delicious.
Today, our last day with Eli, was a quiet half day of walking around Galway City Center, browsing the shops and indulging in delicious food and gelato. We wandered Salthill, apparently a hotspot for Ireland, but really a tiny beach town that might have been something years ago, but is now more of a geriatrics hub with a side of families trying to cool off in the shallow waves of the rocky beach. Not too lovely, but I guess locals will take what they can get, epesically in the hot weather.
Eli hopped on his bus back to the Dublin airport and we headed to Killarney for the evening. Along the journey we stopped at Bunratty Castle and Folk Village. The castle is used today for reenactment dinner shows of a 1700 dinner feast in the evenings and houses original furniture from the castle eras to show tourists what it looked like to live in a castle during the 15th-19th centuries.
The folk village consists of original houses and buildings from the 1600's to the 1800's gattered from all over the country and dropped next to Bunratty Castle to create a village of past eras. We wondered through the old homesteads, shops and forests, experiencing history. An interesting and amazing place, even if we had to run through the town as we of course showed up an hour and a half before close.
Well that is roughly a few days written in two hours and a semi long blog. I guess enough for this entry? Nite dear readers.
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