Iceland Day 7: Blue Lagoon and goodbye

Our seventh and final day in Reykjavik - the feeling is bittersweet.  Though a short trip, each day was so action-packed that the trip somehow managed to feel much longer.

We catch a shuttle bus from the Hilton to Blue Lagoon - our last destination before we fly out of Reykjavik.

Guilty as charged: I took pictures of the moss along the pathway leading to Blue Lagoon.  

Iceland Day 3, Part 2: Phallological museum and hot dogs? Oh dear.

Iceland Phallological Museum

So, yes.  We went to the "dick" museum. 

It's about what you would expect.  For one thing, there were penises.  (Le gasp.)  They interchangeably jutted from the walls and floated gray, sad, and deformed in formaldehyde-filled jars. 

Iceland Day 3, Part 1: Icelandic horseback riding

Jason and I are up early and grab breakfast, groggy but giddy about the morning's activity: Icelandic horseback riding.

Riding through the Red Hills

We're picked up in the lobby by Sveinn, who helps run Islenski Hesturinn (The Icelandic Horse) with his wife, Begga.  Our hotel is the last stop for the small shuttle bus, already filled with a few others who were picked up elsewhere in Reykjavik.  We converse with an English couple sitting in front of us, sharing our travels and anticipation for the activity ahead.

Ireland Picture Post #4: The Burren

These photos are from Day 6, Galway to Doolin via the Burren, Part 1 and Part 2.  The Burren was, much like Connemara, absolutely beautiful.  It was also a stark contrast - barren where Connemara was lush.

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Dunguaire Castle, located just south of Galway

Ireland Day 7, Part 2: Inisheer

Inisheer's idyllic pastures and happy cows

As Inisheer came into sight, we spotted on its leftmost tip a lighthouse and, even more excitingly, a hulking rusted wreck of a ship.  There was plenty of opportunity to get out the zoom lens for shots of both the lighthouse and shipwreck, but we quickly decided it was a goal to get out there in person for more pictures.

A few remaining clouds scuttled across the sky as we disembarked, but they were white and soft – promising clearer skies than the storminess of before.  No sooner had we gotten our bearings on the quay than we found ourselves propositioned from all sides by dozens of men of varying ages, arrayed all along the pier in sun- and wind-bleached clothes.  

Ireland Day 7, Part 1: Doolin to Inisheer via ferry

Not gonna lie, even Seattleites don't call this "clear weather".

We have new neighbors, and they moo.  

Considering that I’m a city girl at heart, I surprisingly have a sense that I could get used to this.  The greenness of the hills out the window is simply amazing.  There’s also something pretty funny about having a conversation be punctuated from time to time by a lowing moooo in the background.  Who knows, it might get old after a while, and I might also feel differently if we were downwind.  As it is, I can’t smell the cows, just see and hear them.  All the romanticized benefits without any of the olfactory downsides!

First breakfast at the restaurant downstairs was lovely: muesli (cue immense excitement), homemade brown bread with golden Irish butter (yes, the butter is better here), creamed oatmeal with honey, and melt-in-your-mouth locally smoked salmon with a fluffy mound of scrambled eggs.

Ireland Day 6, Part 1: Galway to Doolin via the Burren

Phew – the car is fine.  Jason got it repaired this morning – it took no more than 30 minutes and only cost 30 Euro.  The rim was bent, not cracked as I’d originally worried, so it just needed to be hammered back into place.  There was a puncture in the back left tire, so the mechanic patched that up, too.  (Bless his heart, he answered my panicked call to his all-hours number at close to midnight the previous night, which, while posted on his website, he apparently doesn’t get many calls at – it sounded like it was his home phone.)  Now that we're paying more attention, there are a lot of signs for "tyre repair" and safety checks alongside the roads here.  Looks like issues with potholes and bushes are pretty common.

We had another amazing breakfast at the B&B and consulted with our hosts on the best path to take.  They gave us some great tips for restaurants and sights to see along the way, and we were off.

Ireland Day 5, Part 2: Connemara scenic drive, continued!

One of many beautiful views in the Connemara Inagh Valley

(For those who missed it, check out the first part of our Connemara drive here.)

Inside the car, there were flies everywhere – attempts to keep them out had failed spectacularly, so our descent from the Sky Road back to Clifden required methodical extermination using maps, guidebooks, and whatever else was handy.  

By the time we reached Clifden, the car's interior was finally livable.  We backtracked a bit so we’d be able to drive through the Inagh Valley on the way up to Kylemore.  The Inagh Valley is considered to be one of the most scenic parts of what's an already incredibly beautiful region.

We certainly were not disappointed, surrounded yet again by mountains rising up into mist and calm lake waters right alongside the road.  

Ireland Day 4, Part 1: Galway city

This morning began with our first ever Irish breakfast, made fresh by our hosts at the B&B: a sunny side up egg, two slices of bacon, balsamic tomatoes, and a really fantastic sausage, all on a plate artfully dotted with homemade basil oil. 

An amazing breakfast at the B&B

Ireland Day 3, Part 1: Dublin to Galway via Clonmacnoise

Up early at 7 am to pack the bags up and shuttle to the airport to pick up the rental car.  Sleeping went fairly well, except when I woke up at 2 am feeling extremely hungry (that’s 6 pm Seattle time; I guess my body was expecting dinner.)  Breakfast was yogurt we picked up at Tesco the day before, and granola we snagged in Chicago (before realizing the need for a mad rush to the international terminal).

After Jason did a few loops around the parking lot to get a feel for the car (Fiat Punto!), we hit the road, heading out along the M6 toward Galway.  I think Irish roads are somewhat given a bad rap, so I’d like to clear the air just a bit.  The highways (prefixed with “M” or “N”) are a completely reasonable width.  

M- and N- routes in Ireland -- not unlike any other highway.