Connemara, Kylemore and Cong

My holiday didn't start brilliantly. I had the day off on Wednesday to sort things out but ended up spending the morning in A&E. Not so fun. But thankfully they released me so I could get my packing done and was ready to fly on Thursday.

I hired a car at Shannon Airport. The drive to Galway was not fun. As soon as I turned the radio on, I heard, "Today's been one of the worse days on the N19 to Galway with 5 cars crashing due to bad weather." And the weather sucked. Rain. Sleet. Hail storms. And I am used to driving my car (created when power steering was just a dream) not a new one with power steering that beeps and yells at me and requires a series off buttons and levels to do anything. I was very happy to get to my hotel in one piece.
On Friday I did my first tour of the holiday, to Connemara (a national park), Kylemore Abbey and Cong.

Not great weather

The weather was hit and miss, with hail and rain and some sunny patches. Still driving through the Connemara National Park was very impressive no matter what the weather. The first stop, a lake where they cut peat/tuft for the fires, was very quick, cut short by the hail and freezing temperatures.

At the bog

The main stop for the day (and lunch!) was Kylemore Abbey. The Abbey is now in the hands of Benedictine Nuns.

Kylemore Abbey

There is thankfully a shuttle bus up to the walled gardens and back.

Sheep!

From the top of the gardens

Gardeners house

Veg patch

Greenhouse

Looking out over the mountains

It used to be the family home of Henry and Margaret Mitchell. They went to county Galway/Mayo for their honeymoon, and loved it so much that when they received some family money, they moved there and built the house. Unfortunately she died (aged 45) while they were on  holiday in Egypt. Henry was heart broken. He had a mausoleum and gothic church built for her. (Unfortunately they were not finished by the time they brought the body home. So he kept her in the coffin under the stairs and would bring her out and put her in the dining room when he had parties. Some say sweet. I think creepy!)

Gothic church

inside

Windows

Path back to the house.

The house passed through various people (it it huge and most couldn't afford the up-keep) until it came to the nuns. They made it into a posh prep school until a few years ago (as there are not that many nuns left). You can look around the ground floor.

Margaret Mitchell

Dining room

Outside the house

Out over the lake

On the road again

We stopped overlooking one of the loughs (same as loch or lake). And a fairy tree. It's a hawthorn I think. People tie bits of cloth on the branches (the colour depending on the wish, i.e pink when getting married, blue for kids etc). You go back a week later and if it is on the ground, withered, it means the magickal folk have granted your wish.

Fairy tree

The views over the lough were pretty awesome too.

We also stopped in Cong. It is a lovely little village and a set of my favourite books is set there. It was also used as the film set of "The Quiet Man" starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. 

Statue of John and Maureen

There is also the ruins of a pretty little abbey. I had a wonder around and ended up in the coffee shop with a really nice hot chocolate. (I was so cold and wet and it was getting dark.)

Into the Abbey

Colourful Cong

We also stopped on the way back at Ross Errily Friary. But it was pretty much dark by then. (It got dark really quickly and Mick, our guide and driver, said he wouldn't have bothered but he was already on the way there.) 

Friary in the dark

Mick dropped me off at the couch/bus station. It took me some time to find my way to the centre of town (my phone wasn't working and I forgot to pick up a map at the hotel). But I found my way to MacDonaghs for apparently Galway's best fish and chips and the best chips in Ireland. They were very nice and worth the walk.

Teide, Masca and Garachico

As there was a bank holiday here on Tuesday and I HAVE to take my vacation days (according to the department who were most insistent as they don't want to pay me for the days), I decided to book the Monday off and spend a long weekend in Puerto de la Cruz. It is in the north part of the island and only about an hour on the bus, but I got a great deal  on an apartment with an ocean view and it saved a lot of traveling (and early mornings). The apartment was very basic but the view was amazing!

Sunrise in Puerto de la Cruz, from my apartment.

The Calima was really bad Thursday to Sunday. This is dust and sand that comes over from the Sahara and descends on the Canary Islands. Everything gets dusty and the sky is really hazy. But it can make for some good photos. And some bad ones.

Snow on Teide and Calima.

I got into Puerto on Friday night and basically just got food and chilled. Especially as my apartment is at the top of a cliff. And the supermarket is of course at the bottom. (I did not do this walk again after this first time. It nearly killed me.)
For Saturday I booked a tour around the North coast of the island and Teide. The tour was full but most of the places we stopped were not so it was well timed. Unfortunately nearly everyone else on the tour was German. And my German is even more limited than my Spanish which says a lot. So I didn't get to chat with people.
It was an early morning :( but a good day.
First stop - overlook for Puerto and Teide. The Calima killed the view of both. But the tour guide  pointed out a tree called a strawberry tree. No idea why as it does not grow strawberries but these little orange fruits which ferment in your stomach when you eat them and get you drunk. There weren't any low hanging ones to try this, and I was not keen enough to climb the tree. Though some did.

Strawberry tree

Next stop was where I went last time to see the sunset. Apparently this is the area where they filmed the "Clash of the Titans", which I haven't seen.

Martian landscape

But not dead.

The rock formations here are called the Roques of Garcia and are famous for appearing, in front to Teide, on the 100 peseta.

One of the roques de Garcia

I took a walk around and headed for the quieter areas. I had been in the busier areas, which include the steps used to film 'the 10 Commandments",  another film I haven't seen.

At some point on the way there, the tour guide pointed out the Finger of God formation. It was on the other side of the bus and everyone on that side seemed very excited. I couldn't figure out what they were looking at. This is the only thing I could see which sort of resembled a finger, but it wasn't very exciting.

"Finger of God"?

I did try to recreate the image on the peseta note. But they must have been able to climb of the rocks to get that shot.

Roques of Garcia and Teide

Love seeing flowers in December

On the way to the next stop, we pulled over at a truck stop. It was in the middle of nowhere. Literally. But very popular, because the food was really good. I can't say what it is because some people (likely reading this) are getting some of them for Christmas. (I managed to get most of the Christmas shopping done this weekend.)

Best food truck around

View from the Truck stop

For lunch we headed to Masca. From here you can do the hike down to the ocean and boat back to Los Gigantes, which I debated last month but wimped out. The road to Masca is interesting. And really not built for buses.

Road to Masca

The bends were a little tight. And for nearly every corner, the driver had to do a 3 or 5 point turn to get round it. And it is very well orchestrated. Only buses can either go up or down. Not at the same time. Thankfully some buses saw us coming and waited. There is no where to pass.

Little tight!

The drop was a little disconcerting at times. Not for those with travel sickness!

And steep

Masca itself is very pretty, though small. It is only about 30 years old and I think mostly built to cater to tourists doing the hike. But we stopped for a nice lunch overlooking the valley. I was put on a table with a very sweet German couple. But the conversion was more like charades!

Poinsettia.

View down Masca valley at lunch

One place I was happily surprised we stopped at (I have been wanting to go here and didn't read the tour info properly) was Garachico. It used to be a bay but during the last eruption of the volcano (1798), it was filled with lava and created a series of natural pools along the coast. They have built walkways so you can wandered around the pools and swim if you are luckily. We didn't have enough time for that sadly.

Garachico pools

Walkway

still 

The water looked very inviting and really clear. There were a few people swimming. The weather is warm but not the ideal swimming weather.

Super clear water

Stormy

And you have to be on the ball as occasionally a large wave will come over the wall and refill the pool. And knock you about a bit if you are in it! But it did look fun. :)

Replenishing the pools

Perfect for a swim

We had a reasonable amount of time at Garachico. A little more than expected I think as the bus had to go and take a girl to the hospital. (But she was ok and we picked her up on the way back). The town is really pretty and I recommend it to anyone on Tenerife. They have preserved all of the old buildings.

To the town centre

Church

Inhabitants of a hotel

Everything is getting ready for Christmas. I admit I am still getting used to Christmas lights and palm trees.

ready for Christmas

Town square

On the way back we stopped near Icod to see the Dragon tree. It is in a botanical gardens now so we stopped at a view point. They have no idea how old it is, though at least 500 years. And is apparently part of the lily family. And important around here. Though again I am not sure why.

Dragon tree

The trip was fun but a really long day. Over the weekend I ended up just eating at the apartment every night. I saved money and frankly couldn't face the hill! But sitting with dinner, a glass of wine and the view from my balcony was not a hardship!