Day Ten: Up and Over a Hill

Well today is my birthday and I’m going to do two things I enjoy when I’m on vacation, go on a hike and tour a massive estate. I will be saying goodbye to Galway and heading into Connemara for the night, before heading north tomorrow.

The first stop was Connemara National Park, to hike Diamond Hill, a hill/mountain that overlooks the entire area. I had done some looking into the hike and it was described as “strenuous”. Now I don’t have a problem with strenuous hikes, but when combined with a mountain it generally means “here there be lots of sprained ankles” which, today is the anniversary of me really screwing up my ankle, so hard pass on that.

The fairies are known to transform into hares in the bogs, so we are rubbing the nose and asking not to be kidnapped today, we are just visiting thank you!

I got there around 8:30 am and by 8:45 I was starting my hike. It was overcast and misting a bit so I had my hat on and carried my umbrella.

Starting off this next year right!

I hiked the lower loop and at the turn off,  decided I wasn’t done for the day, and decided to go for it! There wasn’t anyone else on the trail and I figured I could take as long as I wanted getting to the top.

So when they described strenuous, what they meant is that there is bouldering/climbing required in places as you got closer to the top, and HIGH WINDS. There was a German couple (Nina and Chris) and they were slightly ahead of me most of the way. At one point the wind kicked up so hard that Nina said she was considering turning back. I crammed my hat on my head as far down as it would go and tried to ignore how the mist had fully soaked my pants and hat by this point, and kept going. Into a cloud. Diamond Hill was tall enough that a cloud had settled on the top and was basically condensing into rain as we walked through it.

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It was really windy, slightly damp, but a lot of fun!

I got some pictures along the way and the view was amazing. I left Nina and Chris at the top to their breakfast and started down, because I figured that was where I was going to need the extra time, since going down is usually when people hurt themselves, and that is NOT happening today. I took it slow, took in the scenery, made plans for the next ten years, and made it back to the visitor center around 11 am.

My legs were burning, my hat was soaked through, and my face was cold, but no injuries! There were a TON of people starting the hike as I was coming down, so I was glad I had gotten an early start!

I walked through the visitor center and then stopped and had a scone at the cafe (I was hungry!). Next stop was Kylemore Abbey and Estate, which was an extremely short drive away.

Kylemore Abbey is a massive 1,000 acre estate with a Victorian walled garden, huge manor house, lakes, and yes, it’s also been a Benedictine convent for a group of nuns since 1920. The weather was still a bit overcast (and my hat was still soaked from all the mist this morning) so I swapped it out with the knit cap I got from Inishmore yesterday so my ears wouldn’t get cold. My face was already windburnt, so there’s nothing to be done for that.

Backup hat to the rescue!

I started off walking the 2 km or so to the gardens so I could work my way back to the house. The garden was massive. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a walled garden that big. Huge stone walls, greenhouses, the house for the Head Gardener, residences for the garden staff, as well as several other structures. Divided sections for fruit trees, aromatics, medicinal herbs, a fern walk, an oak walk… It was huge. I walked through all the restored spaces, which were really interesting to see, since most of this had fallen into disrepair until 1995 when they excavated and rebuilt the gardens (the nuns could only keep up with so much, keeping up a massive pleasure garden is secondary to actually growing food).

After walking through the gardens I stopped for some lunch in the tea room and got a tuna sandwich and a slice of Victoria sponge cake. If you’ve never had Victoria sponge, it’s like if someone took a white cake, sliced it in half, and filled the middle with cream, strawberry compote, and strawberries. It tastes like summer.

Next I walked back to the house and walked through the rooms they had open, which were really interesting, but there were only a few rooms open. There was a lot of history of the Benedictine nuns at the abbey and THAT was fascinating. I could definitely get behind the entire convent life style if it weren’t for a couple of very key provisions. Gardening and crafting all day and then spending a lot of time meditating by yourself? I’m there.

After the Abbey I was feeling beat. Nearly 30k steps in one day and I just needed to sit down. So I headed towards Westport where I planned to stay for the night, about. 45 minute easy drive. Check in was at 4 pm but they didn’t turn me away when I got there around 3 pm. So I got my bags in the room and did some sorting through my snack bag while I did a mud face mask to relax (I did say my face was wind burnt :( ).

Now, one of the things on my 40 for 40 list (that has been embargoed!) is that I wanted to listen to music in an Irish pub on my birthday, so I am off to the pub! I got to Matt Mallory’s in Westport around 7 pm and the music started up right away. I ended up getting a couple of Orchard Thieves (an Irish cider that is sweet and I have discovered I love) and I listened to the music for a while while I relaxed. Tomorrow is another driving day while I get from Westport to Londonderry, so I am trying to relax as much as I can tonight!