Ireland - The Emerald Isle (Part 1)

Thanks to laptop issues and travels, I missed blogging for a quite some days now. I wanted to get this post going in the first week of August to celebrate the two year anniversary of my trip to Ireland. But better late than never, right :)

I was on a week-long trip to our office in Galway, based off the western coast of Ireland. Sight-seeing seemed pretty tough given the tight schedule, but nonetheless, the avid traveler in me had decided to make the most out of the weekends I would be there. I had looked up bus tours and since decided to go with a day tour with the Galway Tour Company. 

I landed on a saturday morning at the Shannon airport (direct flight from Boston, thank god for that!) and after a two hour bus journey reached my hotel in Galway afternoon-ish. I was delighted when I found out that it was quite centrally located; walkable distance from the bus station (lugging the baggage was an easier task now). After freshening up and a healthy lunch, I walked the main streets in Galway. Though it was the first week in August (which is a pretty glaring in the US), it was windy and cool there and I had my jacket on me all the times. In Ireland it pretty much rains all the time and anytime, so a a rain-jacket is highly recommended during your stay. 

The city layout was typical European; walking streets laden with shops, cute boutiques, restaurants, and of course Irish pubs, people drinking beers, merry-making and of course good-looking Irish lads (ahem ahem). I am glad I took the stroll out on a Saturday; I got to experience the true Irish spirit! My pit stops for sure included a shack serving fresh fish and chips and a cutsey bakery to taste the yummy goodiness. Looking at the pubs, I for sure longed for company to step in and gulp down a pint, but guess that had to be for some other time.

Sunday was reserved for the day long bus tour with the Galway Bus Company.The tour started at 9 in the morning from the Galway bus-stop and took us through the Irish countryside to Kilfenora, the village of Doolin, the Cliffs of Moher, Ballyvaughn. Must say, it was kinda weird traveling alone. So without further adieu, presenting you my pictorial travelogue..

 

First stop was the grassy lands and the historic structures at Poulnabrone dolmen in the Burren. 
It's a portal tomb dating back to the Neolithic age!

The limestone rock formations

Pretty greenery and cloudy skies - a common sight in Ireland

Directions in English and Irish language - Gaelic

Spotted this magnificent beast in the perfect backdrop of Burren. A stunning visual to experience for sure!

The Burren is home to 75% of Ireland's native flora and location of numerous ancient monuments like the Dolmen (in the pic above) and the Ballyalban Fairy Fort - home of little men with green hats and orange beards!

Famous Celtic Crosses aka Irish High Crosses at Kilfenora

 

My tour companions - our cute bus driver and his little friends 

 

Glimpses of the coastal village of Doolin. We lunched at the Gus O'Connor's, a traditional Irish pub

 

An Irish woman was strumming the Celtic Harp at one of the tourist spots in the Irish countryside. The scenery, the music and the ambiance..it was all simply magical! My trip would have been surely incomplete without this musical experience.

Irish countryside is simply breathtaking to say the least!

 

The ubiquitous 'Chicken Tikka Masla' and chips (aka french fries). This dish is served in almost every Irish pub.

I was happy when I saw it on the menu - not so much when I tasted it. We always crave for something homey and comforting after a long day at work, don't we :)

 

My antics at the 'Hat shop'..I guess I should have bought one! 

Doesn't it look stunning - of course ignoring my tired-and-end-of-long-day eyes that is!

 An 

old castle in ruins

Cute row houses in the city

Stay tuned for the part 2 of this travelogue to Cliffs of Moher (Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was filmed here) with stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean, views of Connemara and the Burren landscape including the huge Leprechaun Head carved in the rocks.

To the Danish countryside..

First of all, welcome to my new readers and thanks to all of you who left comments on my previous post. It was fun reading through them and thank you for encouraging words. I have found new friends in the blogging community and couldn’t be happier about it!!

Yesterday nite I was going through the old snaps on my hard drive and it kinda got me into a nostalgia mode…aah good ol’ days! Well, I hit on this album from my trip to Denmark – a Scandinavian treasure. I was in Denmark in 2005 summer on the client-side. I love love n absolutely love to travel…there is no other thing in this world that makes me happier than to plan my next travel …waataa a feeling it is to book tickets and then spend the rest of the time day-dreaming and making travel plans :) So ya back to the nostalgia mode :)…I lived in the suburbs of Copenhagen (capital of Denmark) and took weekend trips in and around Denmark and to Berlin, Amsterdam and Malmo in Sweden.

That was one memorable time..I was by myself (I had never travelled alone before or for that matter even lived on my own).. so you can imagine this was a life altering experience for me living in the Danish countryside. I learnt a lot about people, living alone, met different (read weird!) type of people..and of course dearly missed my family and friends.

I had curious experiences living there..got to see how people live in Europe, had my first trip to a Gurdwara, participated in my first ever walkathon (it went all around the cty of Copenhagen), pluck-n-eat juicy cherries directly from the trees, have dinner (at 9) while the sun shining high, exchanged letters with my parents (tat was soo sweet and emotional, I still have those letters and read them once in a while), walk in the freaking-freezing fall mornings, foggy n snowy winters..well you c there were too many firsts on that trip.

And of course nothing can beat this - living in a country where they don’t speak the language you do :P ..well I can’t complain much, cause the Danes are very well versed in English n spoke it very fluently (without any reservations)..the Danish are very helpful, caring and warm bunch of people..never once made me feel like an outsider. Well, I also made really good friends (we were five gals) who I cherish even now. We had some memorable dinners, shopping trips, touristy things n ya chit chatted for hours n did all things girly…fun times!!   oh ya and I was introduced to two fashionable brands - H&M and Debenhams. H&M carried superb skirts, I remember getting a couple of them - brown corduroy n black velvet. We used to hop over to this huge shopping complex called - Fields - something that was huge, huge and even more huge!! i dont think I have ever seen something like that here in the states. Fields had every shop, every European brand and super huge food court.

well, sharing with you some pics of my time spent in Denmark…the pics brought back a lot of memories and I was transported back to the summer of 2005 …I had real good time engulfed in nostalgia n reminiscing the small unseen things in the pics..!!

I plan do separate posts on my visit to Amsterdam and Berlin!..well till then, as they say in Danish “Fortsat god dag” (Have a good day!)

Copenhagen Town center

temps were always below 20C

Danish Parliament

Walking street in Copenhagen

Opera House

Copenhagen harbor 

beautiful countryside in Roskilde, a town near Copenhagen

Vikings Museum

World Famous 'Tivoli Gardens'

Danish author Hans Chistian Andersen - creator of 'The Little Mermaid' 

Tivoli Gardens

Dinner parties :)

One serene morning in Fall

Fall in Danish countryside