A sunny day in Ireland

So we woke up yesterday morning to a perfect sunny day. As if to make up for the dismal weather we had when we did the Ring of Kerry we had the perfect day for exploring Connemara National Park. We had a relatively early start and hit the road west of Galway for a couple of hours and managed to get a glance at some really beautiful lakes. The day was so clear (relatively speaking) and calm that the lakes had glass like reflections and were really stunningly beautiful.

We stopped for a quick morning tea in Clifden before passing through to Letterfrack (say that with Father Jacks accent). In Letterfrack we stopped and hiked/ran (we'll us girls hiked Sam and Nick ran) up Diamond Hill. It was pretty steep going and I feel a little sorry for the people that made the stone stairway but it was very worth it. The view from the top was absolutely stunning and gave us 360 degree views of the National Park and well past the coastline. I think the locals who were also walking the track with us thought the boys were pretty ridiculous to be running the track. Sam and Nick told us that at one point when they were running down again an older gentlemen literally pointed and laughed out loud at them as they ran past, while his poor wife cried out in fear as they bolted past. So at the least they were a bit of a novelty, I guess its a good thing that Nick managed to keep his pants on in the car park today - that might have taken things too far.

Rather than backtracking the way we came we followed the highway around some fjords and looped back in a ring to Galway. We also stopped off to have a quick look at Kylemore Abbey, which looked spectacular nestled in against the surrounding mountains.

Once we returned to Galway, we caught up with Bella and Rodney (who had arrived back from Cardiff). We had a well earned dinner that Bella had prepared before celebrating our last night in Ireland the way the Irish do... at the pub. 

This morning we got all packed up and headed out for a quick brunch with Bella, Rodney and the Kids before once again heading back on the road back to Dublin. After a sad goodbye to Nick and Amanda (who we may see again in London in a few weeks) we checked in at the airport for our next destination Barcelona. Ireland has been heaps of fun, a great mix of beautiful scenery, interesting history, architecture and Guinness. We would certainly recommend anyone to make the trip.