Delphi, Connemara, two years in a row.

It is said that you should not return to the same place in the hope of a repeat of past positive experiences. And I know that holidays are supposed to be a time for adventure, new destinations, stepping outside of the comfort zone and all that.

 However, the dramatic beauty that is Delphi, Connemara in the West of Ireland, despite the gloomy overhang of cloud and drizzle, proved to be an irresistible magnet.

 So it was a case of playing it safe, with the same view from the front door,

 the same darlings (well, probably new ones) eating us alive, thanks to the combination of heavy foliage and twenty plus degree Centigrade temperature,

 and the same mountains giving perfect symettry in flat lakes.

The main adventure this year though was a trip by ferry to Clare Island,  fifteen minutes from the mainland and the former home of

Grace_O'Malley

infamous pirate queen, also known as, Granuaile.

The weather forecast on the day was for a hurricane.

 Instead, we got this.

Mistakes like that I can live with.

Together with a dozen barrels of beer (not for us), and ninety fellow ferry travellers, we sailed to the island,

and cycled in search of Anna's coffee shop,

only to discover it was closed due to a funeral, the first drowning on the island in sixty three years. The proprietress, Anna, on her way to the funeral, still kindly served us. She then left for the funeral, while we sat in the sun outside her house, leaving her door OPEN in case we needed anything else and asked us (absolute strangers) to lock up behind us..... the trust was refreshingly unexpected.


The rest of the day  was spent on a beach that could have been on a Greek island.

It was enough to make you want to cartwheel.