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Published: August 6th 2007
Day 76: Friday 21st. July 2006: Misty: We dropped the car off at the ferry and had smooth sailing to Belfast where it was a quick taxi ride to the train to Dublin. Said to the cabbie we would be back in a week and see him then!!!!
Arrived in Dublin and walked to the hostel, lugged our cases up all the stairs, packed what we needed for the week into 1 case, then stored the other at the hostel. Took a walk around before settling for the night as we have a big week ahead with a Shamrockers "All Ireland Rocker".
Day 77: Saturday 22nd. July: Shamrocker Day 1: Sunny / raining: Well, we're off to see Irelnd. There are 2 other women our age so we don;t feel out of it. Hey! we stopped at Save Way to buy food for lunch and dinner tonight if we decide not to go pubbing. So we can spend as much or little as we choose each day. We left Dublin by the Liffey Valley and stopped at the Rock of Cashel - had an escorted tour around the majestic fortress which is on a hill overlooking beautiful countryside.
On to Blarney Castle where one has to climb the old stone steps to the top to kiss the Blarney stone and admire the view. A drive through the Lee Valley, the Cork and Kerry Mountains to Killarney hostel for the night. Hostel good, bathroom revolting.
Day 78: Week 12: Sunday 23rd. July: Shamrocker Day 2: Cloudy with rain: Through Killarney National Park to the Dingle Peninsular, Dingle Town and then along the Slea Head Drive, lovely Atlantic Ocean scenery and we stopped to look at the beehive huts. We walked down a very high and steep walk to the landing, into a zodiac before getting onto another ferry (fishing boat)for the boat trip across to Great Blasket Island - inhabited by seals, bird life and a few of donkeys. The scenery was stunning and the weather stayed fine and sunny and we almost had the island to ourselves. We stayed overnight in Dingle.
Day 79: Monday 24th. July: Shamrocker Day 3: Raining: We left Dingle in rain and drove via the Slieve Mish Mountains to the Ferry from Kerry before arriving at the awesome Cliffs of Moher. - with 700 foot drops to the ocean below. A
Day 76: Ireland- Dublin
Dublin - Cathedral - artistic work on the footpathlot of building and restructuring going on here to accommodate the number of tourists. Later at the Burren - a rocky limestone plateau - there were only a few people around as we stepped carefully about the rocks. As we were heading for Galway we saw some musicians having a practice session in the open so we stopped to listen - hmmmm.
Day 80: Tuesday 25th. July: Shamrocker Day 4: Sunny at times: We had a scary time along the Connemara Coastal Drive - another very narrow winding road on the cliff edge with lots of traffic in both directions trying to fit into nowhere to squeeze by each other. We boarded a proper ferry to take us to Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands where we were staying overnight at Kilronan. On the island we checked out the hostel then hired a bike - ha ha. My handle bar came loose, so Robin rode back and claimed another bike. We eventually caught up to the others at Dun Aengus- a 3000 year old fortress atop a sheer cliff that made the Cliffs of Moher look welcoming -- and believe it or not, there were children running
Day 76: Ireland- Dublin
Dublin - Cathedral - artistic work on the footpath around everywhere. After walking and looking around, Vera and I rode to the lighthouse, walking our bikes up the very steep path before deciding to take another track back to town along a stony so-called bike path that took us over stone walls and across limestone ridges again. The path ended at the edge of the cliff. We had no choice but to retrace our steps when my foot went down in a crevasse between rocks. My knee and leg swelled up immediately and I couldn't move for the pain. I had a bad time getting back to the village, took some Panadol for the pain and dowsed a Vodka and Orange and felt sorry for myself. The girls cooked tea tonight with Neil singing to the tune of his guitar - great day and evening.
Day 81: Wednesday 26th. July: Shamrocker Day 5: We caught the early ferry from Inis Mor to Rossaveal - climbed hills and had wonderful Atlantic views again. Visited W.B.Yeats tomb. Passing many villages and fishing boats on our way to a farm stay at Derrylahan - 6 of us in the house - we all cooked our meal and then shared so we
had a real smorgasbord tonight
then after tea we sat around and chatted - really very pleasant.
Day 82: Thursday 27th. July: Shamrocker Day 6: Cloudy: The view from the farm stay was beautiful and peaceful, but we had to move on to Slieve League and climb some hills come mountains. Some of us stopped half way, the others made it to the very top; moving on through towns and villages and amazing countryside to Derry / Londonderry where we had a guided tour. There is still very much an "atmosphere" here.
Day 83: Friday 28th. July: Shamrocker Day 7: Raining: Pleased to be moving on along the Antrim coast to what better vision than that of an ancient castle - Dunluce Castle - shrouded in mist and rain where again we had a guided tour in a romantic and wet setting. On to the Giant's Causeway where it continued to rain on - off as we walked around the popular tourist spot, but never mind, it was still worth the visit; on again to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. - fun walking over that but nowhere near as long as the Capilano Suspension Bridge in Vancouver though was
still on my "must see" list. We made our way to Belfast for our overnight stay.
Day 84: Saturday 29th. July: Shamrocker Day 8: Raining: We had a very disturbed night with a lot of very loud banging and shouting going on; a bit of trouble in the hostel so the police came in an armoured vehicle - mmmm - not nice; after breakfast we went on a Black Cab Tour of Belfast City - we heard about the politics and saw the areas involved with the murals and the Peace Wall amongst other places; the cabbie we had the week before who drove us from the ferry to the train was also doing a cab tour - small world. Pleased to be out of there and on our way to the Mountains of Mourne, a quick stop at an ancient tomb - Legananny Dolmen; a visit to a place called Monasterboice - a cemetery of course with high Celtic crosses - onto the River Boyne and Dublin where we started from.
We had another meal at the pub to say goodbye to everyone for making our tour around Ireland quite wonderful. Thanks also to Aiden for great commentary
of interesting facts and much fiction; to Neil for driving us everywhere and getting us home safely. Cheers to all from Jenny and Vera.
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