Beach camping in Connemara.
Hello! I’m home! The weather’s been utterly dreary in Vermont – raining and in the 60s – which is making me miss Sicily ON ANOTHER LEVEL. Yet on the other hand, it’s been nice for staying inside and slowing down. Y’all. I’m tired. 22 days of traveling – working, hiking, wandering, and 30 hours of traveling back from southern Sicily to northern Vermont – whew!
The other day I did yoga for the first time in like a month. It felt awesome, but now I’m SO sore. Besides walking, I really haven’t worked out in like 45 days. And last night I went to bed at 7:30 p.m. Haha! All worth it though! I had an awesome European vacation. Before traveling to Italy, I spent five days in Ireland catching up with my friend Eric and camping in Connemara.
I couldn’t have been a happier camper. There were loads of white sand beaches and wild (okay, maybe not wild) horses and really cute cats and lots of debriefing about Japan one year later!
Before heading off on our Connemara camping adventure, I went up to Eric’s grandparent’s beach cabin in Rush for a Sunday dinner. His grandparents – Fred and Olive (how I do love their names!) – have spent 58 summers there.
It was much chillier than London, so I borrowed an Aran Island sweater for beach time/Tower exploration. This was Eric’s brother’s sweater and I liked it so much I bought the exact same one. Ha!
The tower watch was from Napoleonic times. There were a series of them along the coast that you could see only if you climbed to the top: surveillance before technology is totally wild. I loved it, although it was a wee bit scary getting down from the tower.
The next morning we headed out to Connemara, just north of Galway, which unbeknownst to me has Caribbean-like white sand beaches with turquoise waters. It’s stunning! The first day Eric and I just walked along the coastline to Omey Island and had lunch at a local pub. Across the street from the most beautiful horses……swoon.
We camped out at Clifden Eco Beach Camping and both LOVED the place. No plastic water bottles allowed, clean facilities, gorgeous beaches.
The next day we drove around the Connemara Loop and had lunch at a local pub before going hiking in the national park, up Diamond Hill.
I hung out in Dublin for just a brief time the next morning before flying to Italy. Would have been great to stay longer! Like all my vacations, time moves too quickly. SLOW DOWN TIME! Back with Sicily pics soon.
