Burren

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Tuesday we had our first of several long field trips. We went by bus to an area called the Burren. This is a exposed, scoured rock landscape of rolling hills that covers many miles along the coast. It's like nothing else you have ever seen. Despite all the rocky ground, it has and still does serve as pasture land (apparently the cattle is prized because the mineral content of vegetation that they eat). We visited an earthen walled "ring fort", a wedge tomb and a dolmen. These are all centuries old, with the dolmen even predating the pyramids. The ring forts are also called fairy forts and are considered to magical places. The dolmen are impressive rock slab structures, leaving you wonder how could anyone construct these without heavy machinery, and more importantly, why. After a visit to a pub in the quaint (there is no other way to describe it) village of Doolin for lunch we went to sightsee at the Cliffs of Moher. It's a 600 foot drop to the ocean. I really enjoyed watching the many birds circle about and nest along the sheer walls. I brought my binoculars and noted a number of puffins.

While the visit to the Cliffs had sunny but very windy, windy enough to push you along, weather, the morning in the Burren had been wet. Mike gives short talks about the different sites we encounter (off the bus) and had to battle some driving rain while we were outside at the dolmen. We all got pretty soaked despite whatever raingear we had. But all this is part of the "Irish Experience" which is the name of the course. It has been generally rainy and blustery the whole time we have been here. However, so far it's not a depressing kind of rain - even in a cloudburst you can see patches of clear sky off to the horizon. But the weather today, Wednesday, and tomorrow is predicted that we will be socked-in with steady rain.

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Comments

[Josiedaughter]

Wow!
That's beautiful! And i don't have to stand in the rain to appreciate it, thanks Geoff! But really, it must be absolutely stunning beyond what a photo can convey... Keep up the blog, this is fun! xoxoJosie

[Burge D]

Brother, Great photos! (and text!) Thanks for posting them. Good to see you shed that blue helmet once in a while. Requesting pub life photos.