Fuji Go Bragh...: Saturday, 10/15/2011 - Shannon Airport, County Clare, Ireland

Friday, 10/14/2011 - Day 8: Clifden to Galway via Maam Cross and Spiddal

Up early... I know, what's new with that? :-)

You know, overall this trip, we've collectively been very good about limiting the amount of souvenirs/gifts we've purchased. Having said that, I knew we needed to mail some stuff back to the US because we just didn't have room to carry what we had. Most notably, the 3 largest teapots. I finally convinced the Rose's, they reluctantly agreed to do so, of the merit of mailing back some of our purchases to the States. There was a Post nearby and after breakfast, Rosie and I went and queued up at the office for a 0830 opening. Needed to first assess how much help the Irish Post Office could provide us... turns out, not much except where to go to gather up what we needed to ship. I'm not sure of all the services they provide but, they will mail stuff including packages, have stamps and, unless I miss observed this, cash checks for pensioners (retirees).

They recommended we go 2 doors down to a Paper Store to purchase a shipping box, tape, etc. We did so only to find out that this particular Paper Store was sold out of boxes. So, we headed down to the Super Market and found the manager. After some explaining by Rosie, she cottoned on that we needed a box without holes in it to make stuff in. With box, tape and paper in hand, went back up to the room and packed up the 3 teapots, some clothing we wouldn't need, some souvenirs and books, wrapped it all in brown paper and walked the parcel back to the Post. The cost of shipping maybe 10-15 pounds = $75 Euros, a bargain as far as I was concerned. :-)

Checked out of the hotel and were on our way to Maam Cross, home of a Quiet Man replica cottage, by 0915. Not a whole lot going on in Maam Cross. I believe you could drive right through it without noticing much. The largest structure right at the crossroads of N59/R336 is the Tourist welcome center. When we pulled in to the parking lot, there was a bus load of tourists just getting ready to leave. You could miss the Quiet Man cottage it's so non-descript now-a-days. Needs a ton of renovation including a paint job. The
day was a bit damp and the whole of the cottage looked dark, unkempt and neglected. Not a very good attraction as it currently stands. It's also very creepy inside with the 4 mannequins of the primary actors of the movie. Really was sad and a bit depressing. We decided to take a tea/scone break inside the Visitor's center. The facility is fairly new and modern and is the best part of the whole attraction. Enjoyed our refreshment break, piled back in the car and headed south on the R336 towards Spiddal and Standun's Shop.

Pretty drive. Roads fine. Lots of bog and quite a few Connemara Ponies. Once we reached Spiddal, stopped at Standun's where Rose has some good memories of shopping. Didn't stay long and continued on our journey back to Galway via the town of Barna, home to Rose's childhood friend Josie, and through Salthill a seaside resort community with a long promenade (boardwalk). Salthill was a pass through on the way to visit Rose's Mom, Nora Ryan's, gravesite in New Cemetery in the Bohermore area of Galway... not far from her childhood home. Her brother Vinny is also buried there.

Left the cemetery for the Carlton Hotel and checked back in to the same room we had days back, 2010C, for the night. We had some time to relax before heading out to the Galway Cathedral to meet Rose's childhood friends, so I blogged some... Rosie bought me a Guinness - delicious! Needed to leave the hotel by 1530 to easily make a 1600 rendezvous with her friend Josie, sister Beta and friend Angela. Both Rose and Rosie were quite upset when they saw the change in Josie - they hid their emotions well though. Josie, I was told later, was supposed to be a rugged, strong woman who raised all of her siblings when her mother died living a very hard life uncomplainingly... not the frail. aged person before them. Lost in this is the fact that the Galway Cathedral is beautiful!

We all went into the Cathedral for some quiet time and prayer before the women decided we should walk over to a coffee shop, O'Connell's, on the other side of the Corrib River. Beta and Angela didn't seem to give a second thought to Josie having to walk the whole way with only Rose assisting her! In all fairness, I believe Beta and Angela let Rose walk with/help Josie just to let them catch up. She appeared to do fine. We were worried it would tax her too much - couldn't tell if it did or not. We had some tea and biscuits with the friends, took photos and had a good chat. Bid our farewells after about 30mins of visiting. They went home and we went shopping in Galway. I could tell the meeting with Josie was good and very sad for both Roses. I believe just getting out and doing some shopping on a good weather evening in Galway did their spirits well.

Browsed through a couple of favorite stores among others: Feller's Jewelry and O'Maille's. Both some gifts someplace and ended up having a lite dinner in McDonagh's Seaford Shop. The fish and chips were great. After dinner the last shop we hit was Eason's book store, a favorite. I even bought a Commando comic book... can't believe they still publish them! By the time we ended our evening out and drove back to the Carlton, it was ~1945.

We want an early start to our last full day in Ireland.

Slan,

Fuji