Connemara Loop

Last night I wrote the blog sitting in a pub while I had dinner and then listed to a great duo who were playing in the pub. One played the guitar, the other what looked like a tea chest. They were very good. On finding out I was Australian they played “The Pub With No Beer”. They then played “Now I’m Easy”by Eric Bogle which was new to me. Eventually I had to leave to go to bed.
I’m now sitting in the lounge of the hotel listening to a guy on a piano. I’ve just gotten back after dinner and he was playing so I’ve sat down to listen while I write this.

I started today off with the Sky rd which is a scenic loop from Clifden. I then went down to the Connemara loop. The first stop was Kylemore Abbey and I’m still not sure how I managed to spend four hours there. It was originally built as a house/castle in the 1860s and after changing hands a couple of times was bought by the Benedictine Nuns in 1920. There was originally a wonderful walled garden which gradually became neglected until the mid 1990s when it was decided to restore it. I spoke to one of the gardeners who has been there since they started the restoration and he said it took them two years to just clear garden before they could even begin to plan and plant.
The garden is now beautiful. It’s set out in the original Victorian plan.

The house/Abbey itself is also gorgeous. Only a few rooms are open to the public but it was definitely worth it.

The rest of the grounds are gorgeous. I met a couple from Brisbane. When I meet Australians I tend to think “they don’t have an accent” rather than they are Australian. I have a terrible ear for accents. It’s the first time I’ve heard an Australian refer to Australia as Aussie. She asked me “are you from Aussie”. It was weird. So often the people I meet are surprised I’m travelling on my own and not even part of a tour. She appreciated it though as she wanted to go and see the garden but he didn’t. As a solo traveller I can do what I want when I want.

As I said yesterday the autumn colours are really coming out. I think I’ve run out of good weather. It again was cloudy and drizzly. The clouds covered the top of the mountains. After I finished at the Abbey I finished the loop. Sometimes I wasn’t sure whether it was the ocean or lakes that I was seeing but it was all lovely. It reminds me of the highlands in Scotland.Read more