Healing Travels: 40 Days for Peace: The Connemara and the Sun Was Shining: Day 30

13 July: Monday

Another great full Irish Breakfast from our host, Caramella, at the Teach-na-Coiribe B&B and off we go! The Connemara is a beautiful western part of Ireland along the sea and is between Galway and Westport.

First stop was a craft show in Spiddle, just outside of Galway...not really a craft show, more like a permanent craft stop with real craftspeople working their crafts: weavers, leather makers, painters, potters, jewelry making, oils and lotions, and a baker. I bought a beautiful wool scarf woven by a lovely woman in her shop, some vegan lotion from a Scottish man and his family, and we bought a shortbread topped with caramel and dark chocolate from the baker who used spelt instead of wheat so they were gluten free...all we knew was that they were great!

Second stop: Roundstone: a cute little seaside town where we watched children play in the park and shared a fresh picked crab salad! Here we visited a music shop to see if Mackenzie wanted to buy an Irish drum, which she did, until we saw the price. The woman who showed us how to play the drum talked to us about how you have to hug the drum in order to play it. Then she shared that she came from Guana and had plans to go to Canada, but the Lord sent her to Ireland and when she arrived in Roundstone, she wept, because she knew that she had found her home. She said it is important to follow God's plan and He will let you know when you have found the place He wants you to be. Words of wisdom I took in with all of my heart.

Then I bought the most beautiful ring I've ever had (besides the wedding band and such!)

Onto the spot we most wanted to see in the Connemara...Dog's Tooth Bay. Honestly, it looked like the Caribbean although the water was a wee bit colder. We spent about an hour walking the beach and climbing the hill along the cow pasture overlookding the beach. The sand was so soft between my toes and the sun felt amazing after such cold, rainy days. Just beautiful...I really want to live near the ocean, it is good for my soul...but of course I am follwing God's plan and He might have a different idea.

Eager to get to our next Air B&B we headed up towards Westport in a town called Murrisk to stay at Coagh's View run by a delightful Londoner, Joseph. Wow! Did we ever love this spot. His new home was built to blend in with the local older homes and was situated across from a beach (well, crossing the road and then through two sheep gates, down a long drive...) We were greated by one of the guests who was carrying her beautiful 4 month old baby daughter, Sophia. 5 minutes later we met, Joseph. So very charming. A man who left the craziness of London and New York and is now making tables and bedframes for his B&B. We loved him from the start. He's never had any training in hospitality, but he is a natural and a perfect 'Jamie' for someone I won't mention here, but her name starts with a K and ends with an arin.

Hungry from our shared crab salad, we headed to nearby 'The Tavern' for a small chicken ceasar, 2 Clew Bay oysters (better than Galway Bay) and split a prawn linguini (best I've ever eaten) and topped it with a Westport Lager. It's really funny getting 2 or 3 oysters. I just flat out say that I can't afford more and they are like, "um, sure, okay, I think we can do that". Of course you can, duh! Then the best part, we got home and Joseph, Maggie and Zach (an adorable couple from Florida), Mackenzie and I headed down to the beach to watch the sunset... and to have some great conversation. I shared about Jim and Maggie shared about her dad and his terminal cancer. Amazing how God puts people together...

Off to a very restful sleep because tomorrow we are going to climb the Croagh Patrick...the sacred Mountain of which I will write about in our next blog.

Peace,

The Traveling Women