We left Killarney early Tuesday morning. The skies were darkening a bit, but we were hoping that by heading north the weather would improve. We had our sights set on perhaps the most notable attraction in Ireland (besides the Blarney Stone) - the Cliffs of Moher...or Mohair as Keely would call them. The drive there was pretty, and got even nicer as we hit the coast and exclaimed over the sandy beaches and beautiful golf course in LeHinch. We also stopped in Adare, another cute little village (honestly, they were all starting to look the same at this point - in fact, I forgot about this one until I looked back at our pictures).
We arrived at the Cliffs and walked up to the overlook. I can honestly say that this was the most unique scenery I saw the entire time in Ireland....most everything else was reminiscent of something in the US. But not the cliffs. They are spectacular. And scary. Just watching the huge flocks of birds fly in and around the cliffs made me wonder if they ever have a fear of heights :) After visiting for a while, the rain started to move upon us. Literally it was blue skies with white clouds one minute and then pouring the next. We'd been lucky, with 6 days of sun but we were about to have the weather we knew we would get...rain off and on for the next 3 days until the sun finally broke back in again for good on Friday. At least we got use of the nice rain jackets we brought!
After the Cliffs, we ran back to the van to dry off and headed to Doolin - a quiet little town (or maybe village because it was so small) - to have lunch. We went to Gus O'Connor's pub for their famed Seafood Chowder (although only Nana had it). Oh, and more Black and Tans :) Gene was really great with his restaurant recommendations...it's really nice to have a driver that knows where to go for good food. Especially for the 7 of us, some of whom find it hard to make a decision (myself included). His guidance really took the guesswork, and what would have become stress, out of most of our decisions and helped make the trip so much smoother at times.
Next up was our drive to Galway. This drive took us on back roads through a very unique area of Ireland called The Burren. I can't say much about it, because I slept through most of that drive (I was still nursing that cold, remember). But I do know that the landscape of the Burren is marked by outcroppings of limestone that stretch over the countryside and end at the sea. What I did see was quite incredible. But what I remember most about this drive was the houses littering the countryside on the shores of Galway Bay. One was cuter than the next, and I would have lived in most any of them. There is something so unique about the homes in Ireland...they are simply decorated on the outside, no shutters, no landscaping. They are mostly white in color with splashes of color on the doors and trim. I really can't put my finger on it exactly but I just loved them. Perhaps a retirement location, because it certainly would be a quiet and calm existence!
We arrived in Galway to rain, most unfortunate since we were staying at the Galway Bay Hotel with beach access. I didn't expect warm beach weather, but sun would have been nice. For the next two days though, it was mostly rainy with a bit of clearing in the mornings and evenings. There's not much to our time in Galway, so I think I can cover it now. We shopped in Spiddal (a town up the coast road) and then spent time in the City of Galway...mostly shopping in both places. Oh, and Quinn got his hand caught in the van door - Gene felt horrible as he had closed it, but Quinn was not all that injured - he just screams bloody murder when he gets hurt. We walked to dinner both nights - eating in Lohan's and another pretty good restaurant (cant' remember the name...see, there goes my memory). I liked the set price options on menus in Ireland - they offered good prices for an appetizer, main course and dessert for one set price.
One more notable - Galway Bay Hotel had a pool and we swam both afternoons in our down time. Acton's in Kinsale and our last hotel in Bunratty also had a pool. Steam rooms are popular in Ireland - they also have saunas but the steam is a nice option. The notable about swimming is that all swimmers have to wear a cap, I suppose for hygienic reasons. In Galway, we actually had to purchase them (although we don't think that showed up on the hotel bill). So we all ended up bringing home another souvenir - a blue and white swimming cap :)
On Thursday, we were set to depart Galway for our night at Ballynahinch. But our drive there contained an activity that I found out we were driving right by - Ireland's first show mine.
No comments:
Post a Comment