The Sanders Family Travels Abroad for a Year

Good to have you along for our year long adventures in Ireland and other countries. We are working, playing, and schooling amongst our neighbors in Carna, Ireland.

Please use control + to enlarge the blog, the photos look much better this way. As of March 2011, google has improved the presentation of the blog, the photos show much better now.

Carna is along the west coast on Ireland, a little over an hour's drive from Gallway. It is a pretty rural area, and it is rugged and beautiful, physically and culturally.

We will keep you updated with our life, as we settle into a coastal home and integrate into the community. Greg is working in a Family Practice clinic, mentored by Gerard Hooke, whom Greg worked with a few years ago, for many years, in Arlington, Washington state. Gerard and his wife Amanda have settled into this area a few years ago, and are beloved by the community. The clinic was started by Michael Casey, who worked here solo for many years. He now has 3 clinics in Galway county, where he shares his time.

Our 3 children are in the local schools,where the classes are taught in the Irish language, with some English as well. We are exploring Ireland, on weekend drives. Also, periodically we are hopping over to the mainland Europe, for longer adventures.



Thursday, March 31, 2011

Connamara Loop Redux

Thatched roof cottages, Tullycross

Kylemore Abby



Wall around Abby gardens

Neo-Gothic Church, Kylemore grounds

Connamara countryside


Leenane


Gaynor's Pub featured in The Field movie



Tamara Fitzpatrick RN, Irish American, Killary fjord


Beach near Rosroe




Fisherman and his dog







Coast near Tullycross

Baby lambs

Thatched roof houses, Tullycross



Daffodils, Kylemore

Kylemore Abby


Garden, Kylemore



Old garden tools. Kylemore





Gardner's residence, Kylemore




View from Kylemore




Inside the Abby



Neo-Gothic Church, Kylemore


Different shades of Irish marble, some from Connamara

Inside Gothic church




Magnolia blossoms

Connamara


Bionn adharca fada ar na ba thar lear.
Cattle in far away lands have long horns. (The grass is always greener on the other side.)

Tamara Fitzpatrick, Irish by blood, American by birth, is a good family friend and the Nurse Manager of the SeaMar Clinic, where I work, in the states. She came over for her first trip to Ireland, and stayed with us for a week. We travelled the Connamara Loop again, so I have posted some photos of that trip. It started sunny, then became cloudy. We could detect a faint touch of green (perhaps the 1st of 40 shades?) in the mountains, hinting at what is in store for the Spring flora transition.

We enjoyed the town of Leenane, where the owner of Gaylord's pub came outside and gave us his cards depecting the transformation of the town during the Hollywood production of the Field, with actor John Hurt. I have subsequently discovered that some scenes from the recent film Leapyear were shot in Connamera. We discovered 2 more great coastal beaches just south of Killarny fijord (near Rosroe and Glassillaun), where I hope to return with the children. We had lunch in the Angler's Pub, in Tullycross, then capped a good trip at the Kylemore Abby, where we went inside the grounds, touring the Abby, garden and Neo- Gothic church. The forests and grounds are loaded with Rhododendrons, so a trip back in May will be planned. If you were a nun, this would be a great place to live. At one time, Madonna had registered her child to attend the private school here, far from the bustle of life in London.

The next day, Tamara and Justine went to Inish Mor, one of the Aran Islands, in good weather, where they enjoyed touring the old ruins. Subsequently, they toured the Cliffs of Moher, on the route I covered in a prior blog.
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