September, 2019
My first week in Dublin went quickly, due to the many events in the evening and sightseeing during the day. My daughter and I visited the Guinness Storehouse, where every floor gives you a lecture about the history and the process of making Guinness. Once you are on the top level, you arrive in the Gravity Bar, where you can treat yourself on a pint of Guinness, while enjoying a panoramic view over the town.
One of the famous pubs in Dublin is O’Donoghues on Merrion Row. Very authentic and visited regularly by The Dubliners, as well as many other famous people.
While the family is returning to Australia again, I pick up my rental car from the airport and start my trip to the Western Coast of Ireland. It all sounds very relaxing, but it wasn’t! Just the knowledge of having to drive on the left hand side of the road with a left manual gear, gave me sleepless nights. On top of the stress, there was an issue with my credit card and I had to call my bank in The Netherlands to solve the problem, as otherwise no car! With a delay of an hour, I finally could collect my vehicle. I first checked it thouroughly for any damages (took pictures of every scratch!), practised the gear, adjusted the chair and mirrors and took a deep breath……I checked the instructions of my Tom Tom, which I brought with me from Holland and also got the google map from my phone on. Another deep breath and off I went on the highway. For the first hour I constanly told myself “left, left, left”, but you can’t go wrong on the highway! Once out of Dublin, it is pretty relaxing driving, only in Galway I had to do some roundabouts and turns, but all went well. The roads are getting smaller after Galway and at some point I had to go right, missed it, tried to turn and couldn’t get my car into reverse. A farmer finally helped me, with a big smile on his face, while my face turned red!
By now I was driving on a road, with water on both sides and the red coloured mountain range of Connemara on the horizon. It felt like I was travelling on another planet. Sheep were just wandering in front of my car, while dark clouds were hanging against the mountains.
Without any issues I reached the small village of Letterfrack, where I got some salade, cheese and wine to get me through the evening. Gerry and Mary, the owners of the airbnb, which I booked for the coming 6 nights, wrote me very detailed instructions how to reach the house. It was just light enough to see. The narrow road went up and down and finally I arrived in paradise!
The next morning was fairly cloudy and the forecast not really promising, so I decided to go on an early hike along the coast. After a few meters, there was this tiny harbour and I enjoyed the stillness, the colours of the surroundings and the view over the water.
I continued the small road, passing a few tiny houses and a flock of sheep, until I reached the ocean. Later my landlord told me, you can hike all around the peninsula in around 5 till 6 hours. Next time! This first day I take it easy. By the time I returned, rain started pouring!
