GALWAY

Well more one way streets than you could poke a stick at and a real challenge to get to
where you want to be however, finally we did. The inside of  the hotel was most welcome
 and after a cuppa we were a little more calm. Our first impressions were that this is a real young persons city and bars and restaurants were everywhere.
The showers and stiff breezes are continuing and so the beanies and jumpers are getting a good workout. After dinner we went for a walk and being Friday night there were people everywhere.
Next day we headed out along the coastline heading north from the city. Rough coastline, rocky headlands and rain showers were constant.  We were amazed at the number of
stone fences we saw during the day. It seems that in order to farm or graze animals the fields had to be cleared of the rocks that littered the ground.This grey rock was everywhere.  It must have been quite daunting for those early farmers and I can imagine all the family would have been involved in the task.
We drove through small quaint villages and green hills with very white sheep.  The young lambs are snowy white and look so fluffy and cuddly. They are a longhorn sheep and very hardy in this north western area of Ireland where they can forage for grasses amongst the rocky hills whilst surviving the gale force winds and bitter cold coming in from the Atlantic. The temperature gauge on the vehicle we are driving showed 11 degrees for most of the day. Our hire car is a Nissan Qashqai and is quite comfortable to drive in.  At least the heater is working well which is keeping us comfortable.
We called into the Connemara National Park on the return journey and the little cafe was a warm haven after a walk through the trees. We again met up with some ladies from Melbourne who are all avid bush walkers so seems the Australians are certainly assisting the Irish economy. The mountains and lakes in the centre of Ireland made our return journey quite pleasant. We also saw piles of peat that have been cut and stacked to dry in paddocks for use as fuel in the coming winter I think.