Once again, a big “diolch” (thank you in Welsh) and “go raibh maith agat” (thank you in Irish) to my friend and author Susan Moger for suggesting that I “recycle” some of my older writings for my Trips & Pics travel blog posts. Speaking of Susan, her novel Of Better Blood is an excellent read and as the scourge of polio plays an important role in the book it resonates strongly especially now in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic.
John and I had plans to fly to Ireland this April 21 but as we all now know, that cannot happen with the Covid-19 pandemic. Although I can’t go to Ireland this month and probably not until next year, I can share some of my wonderful experiences from past trips abroad with you.
The contents of this blog post are from emails I wrote during our 2017 trip to Great Britain and Ireland.
So, here it goes …
Hello from Clifden, Ireland in County Galway in the area known as Connemara!
Earlier in our trip I wrote the following while we were traveling via ferry from Holyhead, Wales to Ireland …
“Greetings from onboard the Dublin Swift, an Irish fast ferry to Dublin for the next leg of our travel adventure. And in the words of the Captain … a “calm-ish” crossing … but my friend Hayley understands the slight motion sickness that comes with a “calm-ish” crossing. So, I ask my brother Jack who is a former Merchant Seaman and current Maritime Executive, how long does it take to get your sea legs? I doubt that I’ll acquire them on this 1 hour 40 minute journey!
We’ve just left Holyhead, Wales and a fabulous weekend with our friends Steve and Hayley. These are the friends we’ve yet to scare off. We had a lovely time in their company exploring part of the North Wales coast to include: Chester (well, to be factual, Chester is in England but so near to Wales) with its beautiful Tudor buildings and lovely Victorian Clock Tower, Conwy with its majestic and foreboding castle and walkable town walls and the beautiful Victorian era seaside resort of Llandudno with views of the Snowdonia Mountains as a back drop.
Traveling here is certainly a lesson in history. Hayley, thanks for your research and the history lessons! Land is in sight and if the Captain is good at his job it will be Ireland. If he’s not good at his job we will be on a travel adventure for which I have not booked B&Bs!”
Well, we did make it to Ireland and had a lovely time exploring Glendalough on the east coast which is home to the ruins of a monastic site.
Before settling in Clifden we also spent time in the Burren which is a wild and beautiful area on the west coast of Ireland, home to an annual Matchmaking Festival and to our friends at Sheedy’s Hotel and Restaurant in Lisdoonvarna.”
Readers, I will share more about our trips in future posts.
In the meantime, I hope that you and yours remain in good health. These are frightening times but everywhere we look, we see people helping others to weather this pandemic. In addition to expressing our gratitude to all those who care for the sick and keep our society operating, we thank all of the people who every day in so many little and big ways reach out with kindness and generosity to help their family, friends and neighbors. God bless you all and keep you safe.
Hello John & Teresa! So enjoyed your blogs & photographs of places I may never visit. It is almost like being there myself! Hope you have a safe & happy quarantine! All is well with us!
Thanks again, love & best wishes, Carol
Thank you for your bi-lingual thank-yous to me, Teresa, and your nice mention of my novel! Much appreciated! As always, your blog is a welcome invitation to accompany you on a wonderful travel adventure to a new and interesting place via your words and John’s pictures! I’m sorry your actual travel plans for this month were upended, along with life as we knew it “before”! But I look forward to many more virtual trips with you! Be safe!
How much “wrighting” gets done in that room with what’s in the cases behind you?
They still have phone booths in England???