The Cliffs

September 5, Ballyvaughn. Early this morning, American Airlines delivered us most professionally to Shannon airport. After two unsuccessful attempts to depart the airport in our rental car, both involving going the wrong way on one-way streets, we made our break and headed northwest to the mouth of Galway Bay at Milltown Malbay south of the Cliffs of Moher.

We moved slowly up the Wild Atlantic Way taking in this beautiful--if today cloudy and a bit rainy--country until we reached Doolin for lunch at Gus O'Connor's Pub. Our first meal: a most delicious fish and chips and an equally good fish chowder.

We don't want to be too negative about the weather. It was beautiful in it's own way, and there were sun bursts and blue momentary skies.

After lunch we went back down to the cliffs and hiked along them, joining the hundreds. An amazing spectacle, those majestic cliffs. Twice during our walk the wind became fiercely strong, stronger than either of us have ever experienced! It can be said of those winds: she persisted! Cece flung herself onto the ground as did others, and with Gus' new girth leaning on top of her, we were guaranteed not to be blown away. We actually worried that others might.

Tonight we had dinner at Gregan's Castle. Folks had said it was world class, but we weren't really prepared for how totally delicious and innovative our meal was. Wow! Thank you, Clay, David and others.

Cece turns out to be great at driving on the road's wrong side. She avoided all vehicles coming at us hard on the right, with only minimal damage to the road-hugging vegetation on the left.

Tomorrow, the Burren.

A lovely first day!

The first pub

The first beer

"they go to the Cliffs of Moher, rising out of the mist..."

the lovely Gregans Castle

the great gray rock of the Burren

Hiking the Burren

September 6, Ballyvaughn. We set out to do the Burren but we failed. This magnificent region of northern Clare deserves much more than a day. We were surprised; we did not expect such stark beauty.

These Vermont-size mountains of exposed and seemingly lifeless limestone march north to Galway Bay and around its eastern rim. We began by driving west of Ballyvaughn along the Bay's shore to Black Head where we hiked for an hour or so in a region where the Burren plunges into the sea. We saw there, plainly, that the rock crevices were full, not devoid, of life--smaller things and cattle and sheep grazing away as they would in a major way in winter. We are north of Labrador here but it hardly ever freezes in the winter.

Toward lunchtime, we headed to Cassidy's Pub in Carron, near the Burren National Park. After some fortifying pub food, we met up with the well-known Burren guide Tony Kirby. Like yesterday the weather was threatening--fifty shades of gray--but we walked with Tony for three hours through impossible but starkly beautiful terrain. Tony has written at least two guidebooks to the Burren (meaning stone, not barren), and we learned a lot about the region, including about wintering beef cattle on these high, mostly limestone hills.

Dinner tonight at Monk's in Ballyvaughn town. We have had a lot of good oysters in our lives--indeed, we once had a place in Chincoteague--but these Galway Bay oysters at Monk's were the best ever, strangely enough.

the Burren meets the sea

blending in

with Tony Kirby on Burren walkabout