Thu, 26 Jun 2003

author Tim	location Belcarra, Castlebar, Mayo, Ireland
posted 21:52 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/Ireland/Ireland 1 ( all photos )

Galway, Connemara ( 15 photos )
The horrible weather today has meant that we did little other than drive around the place, winding up the coast.
Driving in the direction of Galway, we went through the strange landscape of The Burren. Formed by tectonic activity pushing the sea-bed up to form ragged landscapes, there were lots and lots of rocks around the place, used as dry-stone fences, and also used in the 5000 year-old Poulnabrone Dolmen.
This apparently is one of the most famous images of Ireland, although we are yet to see any. You could describe it as just a bunch of rocks, although the place has been carefully excavated after the covering earth gradually eroded. It's a sad sign of the times that there needs to be a sign saying "do not climb on this." I guess the alternative is Stonehenge-like fencing off. Not sure which is worse.
After a quick cafe-stop in Ballyvaughan, we drove into Galway for fuel and an evil McDonalds snack. Not much more looking around as we had some miles to cover and plenty to see, plus the weather was urging us back into the dry haven that is Rosie.
Most of the rest of the day was driving through Connemara - a Gaelic-speaking district of almost total isolation, hugely separated tiny villages, and heavy fog.
The most interesting stop of the day was tucked away in the middle of nowhere - Roundstone Music, Craft and Fashion. This little place is the world centre for Irish musical instruments, having supplied such famous events as Riverdance, and you could watch their specialty bodhrans being made, read all about it and of course buy one made to order. Also on display were flutes, whistles, and plenty of instruments that we don't really need but which would be fun nonetheless.
From there, we drove through the misty mountain passes towards a less-interesting nowhere town Belcarra, where we are staying at the nice and cheap (well, we think - there was noone here to actually pay so we just drove in and set up) Carra Caravan and Camping Park. The weather has slowly calmed down, but it is still a night in watching DVDs that we have planned.

author Tim	location Doolin, Claire, Ireland
posted 10:17 BST	section Europe2002/Europe/Ireland/Ireland 1 ( all photos )

Kerry and Claire ( 15 photos )
Today we awake to do it all again, however there aren't so many things we want to see and plenty of distance to cover as we drive further up the West coast, so it could be a big driving today methinks. Plus the weather is terrible, raining the hardest it has since we arrived.

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