Where Is Joey Today?

Em wrote a continuation for this blog at the bottom...

Heuston we have a conundrum

I checked out from Avalon House, and picked Em up from the airport on time which is remarkable given my narrow window and her having no checked baggage. At the airport we got our train tickets to Galway (open ended) and the bus fare to get to the Heuston station. Once we arrived there was a long queque (line), so I suggested that we go to the Guinness Brewery tour and take the next train, only thing is, that next train was only an hour and 20 minutes later, which is barley enough time even if you hop to it; it takes 90 minutes at yeast.

The train after that one, gets to Galway leaving us 25 minutes to get to the hostel, to then take the direct shuttle to Connemara (the Killary Fjord). We thought Galway should be small enough that we could swing it, but if we missed it we would be stuck in Galway.

Toura-loo-ra-loo-ra-ing St James Gate

Given that I had already been through the tour, and Em's interest in beer is not as much as mine we were able to go through a bit faster. I thought she would like the very beginning (the water fall) and the very end (Gravity Bar panorama of Dublin) but she really enjoyed it all. She even had a full pint of Guinness. I am very proud of her ::single tear::

So after that we went back to the train station to get the Galway train (which we almost missed because the locker room wasn't manned). The scenery between the two cities is pretty nice even if we took most the opportunity to sleep most of the way.

Once at the Galway station, we asked about getting to the Sleepzone Hostel. Right across from Eyre Square, which is right across from the station. We got a little turned around and a car pulls up and says "You look lost, can we help you find something?" (I think what tipped him off was the fact that the wind and rain had flipped the umbrella inside out and I was pouring out the excess water that had been collecting in the hemisphere above my head)

Em said that I looked like quite a tool. Anyway the Irish are great and the two pointed us right to where we needed to go and before we knew it we were off to Connemara.

We'reherea Gal./Connemara

Our hostel is right on the Killary Fjord in the Galway / Connemara area. I have to agree with my fellow backpackers that this may be the best situated hostel in Europe even if it is in the middle of nowhere. In fact, this location was on the list of "49 unforgettable places to visit" but the fact that Rome/The Vatican isn't there makes me wonder why they didn't spring for the even 50.

We found out that getting out of the town is difficult and that the most popular way of doing so (outside the summer high season) is to hitchhike. Apparently it is quite safe so we may end up doing that.


How about this for a view?

Here's Emmy:

Counting sheep when you're trying to... hitchhike...

After leaving SleepZone in Killary we walked down their 1 kilometer "driveway" to the main road. We were hoping to catch a ride from someone on the way to Westport. On the way, we passed probably 20 sheep relatively close to the road. Joey and I saw these sheep yesterday when we were on the bus to SleepZone, but what was cool about being on foot was we got to hear them.

(Note to Aunt Laura: They sound exactly like "Kiwi", my stuffed sheep that baaahs when you flip it over, that you got me from New Zealand!!)

So it's just the sound of our shoes dragging across the gravel road, trickling streams, the occasional car whizzing by, and the sheep talking to each other.

We ended up walking about 4 miles before we reached a town called Leenan where we ate lunch and finally got a ride- The people that picked us up were very nice!

We then checked in to the Oldmill Holiday Hostel in Westport and walked around the metropolis (compared to Kilary and Leenan). Now we are off to eat dinner at an Irish Pub! Slainte!

"My blog is so baaa-d", Em said sheepishly :-)