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Published: October 13th 2007
Happy 10 year anniversary to us!
We had a good rest last night as Eliza actually stayed in her bed! Unfortunately with the hour time change the kids were up before seven (visions of our January return haunt me now!). The dining room at the hostel didn’t open until 7:30 so we got the kids dressed and then I brought them down while Jonathan caught an extra hour. I think I now have his cold. There is a full kitchen we can make use of and free tea and coffee. I made the girls and I a pot of tea and they had chocolate chip muffins and bananas and peanut butter. Jonathan came down at 8:30 and the girls played computer games while I took a nice run. I have not run hills, rolling or otherwise, since leaving Belchertown, but it was a beautiful and peaceful run past tens of cows. We showered, packed up and headed off. One of the hostel employees gave us a great itinerary for the day all drawn out and so we set off towards Kilfenora. The pope is the bishop of this (the poorest in Ireland) diocese. The town is known for its high
Leamanegh Castle
Dating from the 15th century when O'Briens ruled the area.crosses, some dating back 800 years.
We had decided today would be a day of quick drives followed by pit stops to walk and hike in The Burren. The Burren is an ecological wonder. About 350 million years ago this whole area was at the bottom of a warm and shallow sea. As the earth changed and the continents divided this area was reworked by glaciers that cut through the hills, rounding their edges and depositing massive boulders in the countryside. We drove past Leamanegh Castle ruins (dating from the O’Brien’s family rule in this area from the late 1400’s) and found the road on our map that our host had detailed. There is no way that two cars could pass each other on this road considering that at times our car scraped the trees on the sides. Every road in this area is surrounded by four foot high stone walls which leaves little room for error in driving, though after our marathon day yesterday Jonathan was feeling quite capable. We pulled over on the side of the road and found this little known walking path. First we had to pass by a dozen cows and even more treacherous…their
Miles of Rock walls
We passed hundred of miles of amazing rock walls all through the countryside. cow pies! The kids were equally amused and disgusted. It was a terrific hike through the scrub brush and up over hills. We ended up at Cahercommaun which is another example of a portal tomb, but this one in ruins. It was a great lookout point over the area. When we finished our hike we went back to the car and made some peanut butter and honey sandwiches and munched on them along with apples and red peppers.
After lunch we reloaded the car and continued our drive. Jonathan and I have both been so impressed with the country. I have never had any real desire to see Ireland before and join the masses of Irish descendants invading. However, the charm of the country has truly won us over. Everyone is so friendly and it is such an easy place to travel with the kids. The scenery has been stark and stunning at the same time. An added bonus I think has been the way that we have been treated after people find out that we are not just in Europe on holiday but rather that we are living here and trying to experience as much as we can.
The Family at Cahercommaun
We had a terrific walk up through the hills to this sight overlooking the valley. After another 20 minutes in the car we found Poulnabrone, one of Ireland’s most photographed ancient monuments. Much like Newgrange it was built over 5000 years ago, but it was only excavated in 1989. We had expected it to be bigger from the pictures that we had seen but no matter the size, it was quite fun because of the rocks we climbed on. This area was on the floor of the ocean at one point in time and you can really see it reflected in the way the rocks have been worn. Abigail commented, quite appropriately, that the rocks were like a giant jig saw puzzle. Next we drove into Ballyvaughan where the grown ups refueled with coffee, the girls with cake and we procured the much sought after Ireland patches for the girls backpacks and a key chain for our Christmas tree. We decided not to head back to the hostel and instead follow advice and drive the coast.
Wow. It was absolutely unbelievable. We thought the earlier scenery was impressive, but when you get these massive hills covered in stones tumbling to the sea it is amazing. The drive was terrific and we found an awesome
place to pull over at one point. The girls and I hiked up one side of the road and played on the big rocks and had so much fun, while camera boy checked out the cliffs (we were warned last night that someone lost their life recently on the Cliffs of Moher which we will be checking out tomorrow). When we rejoined Jonathan we spent about a half hour running through the grass and rocks playing tag and a most adorable game of leapfrog. Too cute.
We drove back towards the hostel and passed the ruins of Ballinalacken Castle sitting on a small cliff and dating from the 15th century. We arrived in Lisdoonarva and Jonathan got gas while I went to the grocery store. When I returned we had a snack of cheese and crackers and carrots and got ready to go out to dinner. We followed the local recommendation and walked down the road to the Roadside Tavern. It was a quintessential Irish pub meal. Girls and Jonathan had stews and soups and I had smoked salmon. After a day of hiking and climbing on rocks and without napping everyone was pretty beat, especially Mom and Dad
who are not feeling 100%. Girls were all in bed at a reasonable hour and we enjoyed some wine and champagne in the bar and reminisced a little about the high points of the past 10 years.
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Wendy
non-member comment
Happy Anniversary guys! Sounds like you celebrated in style and it sounds like again, a wonderful day. See you in a week!!! :) Until then..........