Today
we travelled through a region known as the Connemara with its steep,
grass and moss covered hills and bogs. This is a prime area for
harvesting the peat or turf which the Irish burn for fuel. (See
Ulster Folk Park newsletter for photos of turf.) There are few trees
in the Connemara region but lots of lakes. Unfortunately we had
a very gloomy, rainy day for our drive and the mountain tops were
covered in clouds wo we didn't take any pictures.
We stopped at Kylemore Abbey which is a former private
residence built in 1868 but is now run by the Benedictine nuns.
We didn't have enough time to tour the Abbey but we did browse through
their very nice gift shop which had alot of nice jewelry for sale.
Our
next stop was in Galway for lunch and more shopping.The city has
a cute pedestrian mall and shopping area which, like Dublin, was
very crowded. Of course we had to take a picture of Fred in front
of Fat Freddie's Pizzaria.
The Galway Cathedral was the most beautiful church
we had visited on our trip. It was completed in 1965 but was made
to look older. The walls are of stone, the floor beautiful tile
and the ceiling redwood. Gorgeous stain glass windows provide interesting
light patterns on the alters.
The
other famous church in Galway is St. Nicholas - a Norman church
built in the 14th century. It has changed denominations at least
4 times and is currently Episcopal. It is said that St. Christopher
prayed here in 1477 before setting out for the new world.
In the evening we attended Siamsa Theater - a show
of traditional Irish music put on by a family of musicians and dancers.
Though not as glitzy as the caberet in Dublin, the two young children
in the family stole the show with their dancing.
For more pictures of Galway, see the Ireland
Photo Gallery.
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