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Wednesday, July 1
Last night, even though we were tired after our flight and drive from the airport, we stayed up to watch the sunset at 10:00 over the Atlantic. Ireland’s not the land of the midnight sun, but I’d never experienced a day as long as this before.
Today is the best weather until the weekend (rain and showers only PART of the day, clouds otherwise), so we drove up to the Cliffs of Moher, over to Kilfenora, through the Burren, and then circled north from Ballyvaughan through Doolin before arriving back home at 9:30. Dean is getting used to hedgerow branches scraping his window as I drive, knowing it’s a choice between that and losing the right side of the car to an oncoming truck, van or tour bus! I thought driving on the hairpin curves in Yosemite or the California coast were at times white-knucklers, but they can’t touch the roads in the Burren. A two-lane road in the States will now seem like a superhighway, and I spend most of my time praying that nobody will be coming towards me. St. Christopher was good to me today, and we made it home
Cliffs of Moher
eff, Jackie and Cyndi look over the wall to O'Brien's Tower in one piece- though we discovered that we had left a hubcap in a hedgerow somewhere.
The Cliffs of Moher were the setting for movies, “Ryan’s Daughter” and “Into the West”, among others. There is a beautiful visitor center, and slate barrier walls have been erected along the cliff path. Prior to building the barrier walls many people had fallen off the cliffs. When we arrived, clouds were in the distance, so we chose to walk the cliffs first. This turns out to be a good idea; by the time we had seen all 3 vantage points, it was raining and the fog was rolling in. Mr. O’Brien had built a stone observation tower there, and it reminded me of the watchtower fires being lit in “Lord of the Rings”.
Rick Steve’s travel guide recommended that we begin our tour of the Burren in Killfenora with lunch at Vaughn’s pub. Before we did that, we had to navigate the roads- I didn’t realize that GPS units could even register roads this small. Jeff had chosen a Vincent Price like voice for the unit, and it kept making comments like “You’re driving like you life depended on it- good”
The Burren Road
How do you drive on the left when there's only room for one car? and “There’s something strange about this place”- usually at appropriate times. This became rather un-nerving.
Vaughn’s was what you’d expect in an Irish pub- dark wood, dark interior, little booths, and a massive bar, but definitely not touristy. Father John and the two parish nuns were enjoying a cup of tea with their meal in the booth across from us, a few local men were having their pints at the bar, and Mrs. Vaughn (or whoever) was friendly and sharing “craic” (conversation) with everyone. Jeff had his first pint of Guinness in Ireland- I had mine in the Guinness beef stew I ordered. I decided that better be the closest I got to alcohol when I was driving on THESE roads.
We drove past a deserted castle and on to the Burren’s Poulnabrone Dolmen- an ancient “Druid’s table”-type tomb set in a field of limestone crags. Several other families were there when we arrived, but no tour buses, so the atmosphere was still magical. It was like using a giant rock garden as stepping-stones. Every fissure was filled with ferns, ivy or tiny wildflowers. In the winter, I’m sure it must seem more desolate and barren.
After
Poulnabrone Dolmenan
Cyndi and Dean near the most famous dolmen in the Burren. navigating more winding roads, we stopped in Doolin, a little town famous for its music. There were at least five pubs in the town, and they all had music starting at 9:30. I told the kids that we’d have to wait to see a session until we were in Galway- no way was I going to drive these roads at night! Jackie and Jeff are going to be asking Gramma Sweeney for a lesson on how to make Irish bacon (ham) and cabbage, now that both of them had it for “pub grub” today. A far cry from the nachos or chicken wings that serve as bar food in the States! We ate at another pub named O’Connor’s that had been recommended by our neighbor in Corbally.
An hour later, we were home. Jackie and Dean went for a walk, while Jeff downloaded our pictures. I sat with a cup of tea to de-stress from driving, and soon had company. Mary and Michael stopped in to see how our day had been, and invite us to a session in Kilrush tomorrow night. When I thanked them but said I was hesitant to drive after dark, Michael offered to pick
us all up in his van about 9:30. The session begins at 10:00. He was not sure when it ends. That depends on how good the music is, and how long the musicians feel like playing. It should be a great time. After they left, Jeff commented on how we’re beginning to pick up some of the brogue in our speech- it’s hard not to fall into it- now if only French would come as easily!
Jackie and Dean returned with tales of their walk to visit the cows and bulls near Joe’s cattle shed, and the black lab from down the road, which accompanied them. (Our host is not only a dentist, but a cattle farmer. We can watch the cows grazing in the fields and hills behind our house.)
Tomorrow, less driving- we hope to do the Cliff Walk in Kilkee and explore the beaches- then we‘ll be going to Galway on Friday. I still can’t believe we‘re really here!
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