Westport and Sligo

Coming from the beautiful but barren Aran islands, Westport is quite different. It is still small but it is meticulously clean and full of tourists with plenty of money to spend. For example the bank machines choices to take money out STARTS at €150.  After a tour of the town we took in the Simpson's movie. Meg couldn't hold out any longer to see it. They did a good job by the way, a solid movie.

even more perfect

We stopped into a pub "Matt Molloys" for a pint. It is owned by the flutist for the Chieftains.  He showed up by the way to work the crowd and boy was it a crowd! We think the whole village showed up to partake in Sunday afternoon libations. 

Meg always thought she was holy

We headed to Sligo the next morning on our way north. The town itself is nice enough, but not much to write home about. It is best known as the birthplace of poet William Butler Yeats and a hot spot for musical pubs and trendy bars.

After lunch and a walkabout in town we headed for the wilderness as it was a glorious day!  We went to Lough (lake) Gill just outside of town where we soaked up some sun, hiked around some trails, and Meg took her fleece off for I think the second time in almost two months! (I took pictures for proof).

Our accommodations are an interesting story. While searching the internet we found a hostel that we liked so I (Kevin) clicked on "book now". But somehow I clicked on the hostel on the list below the one we actually wanted. I didn't catch it until we confirmed it. It ended up being a eco-hostel (see pictures). It is environmentally focused and has quite a unique layout. It is built in a beautiful area but in the middle of nowhere about a half hour south of Sligo. It was built to line up with the sun's solstice throughout the year as well as different spiritual locations on the surrounding mountains.  Pretty amazing accomplishment actually and certainly a unique experience. We both enjoyed the experience (if you are curious to see it I think their website is www.gyreum.com).

Perfect

Off to explore Donegal and then to Northern Ireland! 

rough isn't it... ;)

soaking it up

the Gyreum

Westport