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December 8, 2022

Ireland – Day Six: Cong, a Castle, Galway, & More

One member of our group had a shorter trip and had to start making the trip back to the U.S. today. As she made her way home, we made our way to Galway. It was a busy travel day. We still made some stops and saw some awesome things, but had a lot of time on the bus as we crossed the country. Luckily for us, Ireland is beautiful and the views did not disappoint!

A picture of a street in Cong that's sloping upward. There are multiple small buildings of various colors lining the road.
A cozy street in Cong, Ireland.
A view of the river in Cong with a rocky wall on the left side of the picture. Framing the right side of the picture is a piece of a tree root that's painted black and surrounded by greenery growing up around it.
The river flowing around Cong, Ireland.
A distance view of Ashford Castle.
A distance view of Ashford Castle.
A photo of the bridge to Ashford Castle with the water rippling below the bridge.
The bridge leading to Ashford Castle in Cong, Ireland.
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One of our stops for the day was Cong. This little town had an amazing castle! Our bus parked in town, then we walked to the castle. It was only a few minute walk and an easy one at that. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to walk up to the castle as there was a guard at the bridge. He maybe would have let us walk across, but I think we would have had to pay. Either way, we were able to get close to the castle, which was all we needed.

A picture taken from inside Cong Abbey, looking up at the sky through where a ceiling may have been.
A picture from inside Cong Abbey.
A photo of Cong Abbey with grass growing up to the wall of the abbey and a large tree on the right side of the photo growing right along the wall.
A photo of Cong Abbey from the walking path around the abbey.
A picture of a wall of Cong Abbey with green grass growing up to the rocky path around the wall.
A picture of Cong Abbey.
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We also walked around the abbey in Cong. Personally, I found the crumbling building to be a really neat stop. There was just something really striking about the abbey (that seemed to have been something really neat in its prime) against the vibrant and healthy green grass, the gloomy skies, and the nearby creek. Each would be beautiful on its own, but together I found it to be more than the sum of its parts, as they say.

A photo of Lough (pronounced lock) Corrib with islands visible on the lough. There are hills leading up to the lough with stone walls dividing the land into sections.
Pictured here, Lough Corrib is said to have an island for every day of the year and is the second largest lake in the Republic of Ireland.
A photo of the Irish countryside with hills and mountains in the background and a small lake.
The Irish countryside—a view that never gets old.
A street filled with people and lined by many old buildings on either side of the street.
The busy Quay Street and The Latin Quarter area of Galway.
A photo of our bed and breakfast in Galway, Ireland, with a no vacancy sign in the window.
Our bed and breakfast in Galway, Ireland.
A photo of a lemon tart with toasted meringue on top.
My lemon tart with toasted meringue on top.
A photo of an eclair with a cream toping and cut strawberry slices.
My eclair with a cream and strawberry topping.
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We also had two quick stops for some incredible views of the Irish countryside and Lough (pronounced lock) Corrib. In Galway, after getting checked in to our bed and breakfast, we walked around some of the city to find a place for supper. While in Ireland, I’ve been on the hunt for the best desserts, and found a dessert and coffee shop that was straight out of my dreams in Galway! What was this place called you might wonder? I have no idea, I got too excited and forgot that part! The dessert was good though!

As a quick continuation of the list of things that we’re getting used to, this would include driving on the left. We haven’t driven ourselves—nor do we plan to—but we keep being caught off guard by the vehicles on the left. We’ve also been surprised by seeing a lady doing her makeup while driving, someone driving while reading the paper, or a dog driving… until we realized they’re actually in the passenger seat.

We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the prices too! Things here are cheap!! With the conversion to USD we’ve been amazed! On the bus today, I sat next to a lady from Spain who was shocked by how expensive everything is. For this reason, I think Spain has moved up on the list of places to visit!

Today may have been a day with less stops, but I think we all were okay with some time to rest while on the bus. We also really enjoyed the stops that we had! Overall, it was a great day!