Westport Country Lodge Hotel

... twinned” with Achill, and the woman wanted to know how anyone from Achill would wind up in Cleveland.

We continued our drive along the north coast of the island and into the hamlet of Bunnacurry. We decided to look for a b&b, and we saw one as we drove by. The Hillside B&B was next to the Achill Hill Lodge, and I found they were joint ventures. Instead of putting us in her “old fashioned” home, Bernie took us into the lodge that is owned ...

... Villanova students didnt get to climb all the way to the top because it takes about 2 and a half hours to get up and we just didnt have the time. However we did climb up for about 30 minutes and were rewarded with a fantastic view of the surrounding county. It really was a great hike because it got the blood pumping (havent been doing too much exercise since I got here..) and you climbed alongside a very picturesque little stream all the ...

... and given 7,000 acres. Still a lot, but not nearly as much or as good of land as they had. The Inside was furnished as it would have been in the 1900's (we werent allowed to take pictures inside) and got to see how the landlord would conduct business with his tenants...by hiding behind a secret bookcase and having an agent do everything! The grounds were absolutely beautiful too. There is a large lake ...

... priests of this church have never stopped preaching. They would tell the king that they had shut it down, but every day they still held mass. When The church was in too poor shape to use they held mass in the fields. The priests even had to dress like women at times to go out and bless graves and such in public...now thats perseverance! It was a good first stop on our weekend journey

click on the pictures to view captions about them!

Guess who's is here??? The positive thinker...ME..sister Katie...I get clean clothes tonight..although I can honestly say I wish it had been Dad's that had arrived.. I can wear Care's clothes and he looks funny in them.

Great time today...I am definitely going to look into being adopted by the Irish..Love THEM.

Got to hear Irish music and see the countryside. Eating an drinking our way...just like the Irish have done for years..all 3 sisters tried ...

... 70 and so sweet. She started to pull the first pint and Jim stopped her to ask if she took credit cards or US dollars. She said "oh no dear, we do not." When we said we had not changed money yet she said, "Just have one now and bring the money back later." Now, who in the US would say that? We of course did not take her up on the offer. We got directions to a market, purchased some supplies and stopped at a place that ...

My bag has been packed. And re-packed. And unpacked. And squished.
I've informed the hotel of my late arrival.
I've got (some) foreign cash.
My electrical batteries are charged.
My print outs are in a waterproof folder in a waterproof bag.


Agh!

... distance. By now time was ticking and we had decided that we weren't going to make it to the top of Mweelrea. Neither of us wanted to go back the way we came so we made our way down in the direction Delphi adventure centre and back along the river towards Doolough. That route presented its own problems and we ended up taking off our boots and socks and wading through the river to get across on to the road. A long and tiring day. Mweelrea summit will have to wait for another time.

... did not work out for me this weekend. I ended up seeing " Night at the Museam" and the new Mel Gibbson movie becuase it was too windy and rainy to climb. The weekend was not a complete waste, we ended up meeting a group of Irish kayakers that go around on the weekend kayaking down rivers. This coming weekend I am going to Dublin with Fairfield University coordinator. So that should be fun. Okay well I will keep all of you updated.

... of the hills on our right to the waterline on our left. There was next to no greenery in sight, no way for the barren and windswept terrain to be used to grow crops or for grazing livestock. That people were desperate enough to even try to farm here was real proof to me of the reality of the struggles and desperation to survive on the land during the potato famine.

We stopped for the night in Westport, the ...