I recently spent a week traveling in Ireland with my parents. Coming from Irish descent, I was excited to see various parts of the country of my ancestors. Plus after so many movies where the waves are crashing onto the jagged edges of the Irish coast, I knew that touring through the southwest villages was something on my bucket list.
And I was pleasantly surprised when I spotted some kale along the way.
It’s not often that I stay somewhere and actually want to tell the entire world about it. People all have different expectations and visions for their vacations. Some want the luxury of a larger hotel or the convenience of air conditioning and some might not enjoy spending their breakfast with the chance of chatting it up with fellow guests. And that’s alright.
But if you do like to stay at Bed & Breakfasts on your travels, enjoy hiking and being close to water and engulfed in pure peace and quiet, Gallan Mor is a place to check out.
Tucked away outside the little town of Durrus on the Sheep’s Head Peninsula, Gallan Mor is operated by an ex-Londoner couple Noel and Lorna. Leaving their adult daughters in England they made the exodus to Durrus because in their words, “We knew our daughters weren’t going to leave home… so we moved our home.” For them it was a new and refreshing beginning in a piece of paradise.
The rooms are decorated simply with a few touches of antiques. The water pressure is strong and the beds soft, which is truly what you want after a long day of hiking through grass, rocks and in between, well, a lot of sheep.
Our time there has little to do with kale except that they started growing a kale plant amongst many other cabbages and were very enthusiastic about The Kale Project. I told them to keep an eye open for some seeds in the upcoming post.
Another kale surprise in Durrus was at the well-known restaurant, Good Things Cafe. After 4 days of seafood chowder, brown bread and Guinness, I was more than excited to see kale on the menu not just once, but twice. Good Things Cafe also offers cooking classes throughout the summer. Clearly we devoured the salad and crispy kale along with the other green offerings.
As I said it is not very often that I want to tell the world about a bed & breakfast or that I want to return to a place when there is still so much more to see in other parts of the world.
I do know that the peaceful energy, fresh air and gorgeous view from Gallan Mor is something that I must enjoy again and if you are planning a trip to Ireland or need a quiet weekend getaway, this is a spot to seriously think about.
Gallan Mor
Good Things Cafe
Durrus, County Cork, Ireland