Driving the coast of Western Ireland was one of the highlights of our holiday {I love that the Irish use the word 'holiday' for vacation. It's so charming to me.}. The long & narrow roads dipped up & down the mountainous shoreline of the Atlantic ocean, with the main highway that overlooked the sights called the 'Wild Atlantic Way'. We drove down the colorful flower-filled road to coastal towns & small sandy beaches, often getting off the beaten path & getting lost in the best of ways. It was impossible to spend a lengthy amount of time at each charming village we came upon, so we tried to soak up every moment possible while traveling from place to place. The weather was cool for most of our trip & we stopped frequently to enjoy a cup of soup or a hearty warm meal at roadside Irish pubs.
One of my favorite places that we discovered was called Rossbeigh Beach. The shore seemed to stretch on & on into the sea & a large peninsula of land extended into the water. We walked into the cold shallow waves that blanketed the sand & watched the golden sun drop below the ocean; the water creating a reflection of the painted sky above.