Saturday, 10/15/2011 - Galway back to Shannon Airport via the Burren, Cliffs of Moher and Bunratty Castle
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| The limestone strata of the Burren |
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| This portal tomb's top slab weighs in at over 5,000# |
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| Inside the restaurant of the Cliffs of Moher Visitor's Center |
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| View of the trails of the Cliffs of Moher |
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| Rose viewed from O'Brien's Tower by the slate barriers nearby |
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| Brave or foolhardy? |
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| On top of O'Brien's Tower |
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| A tad breezy |
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| With erosion and soft ground near the edge - Dangerous! |
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| Didn't take many photos of the 3 of us |
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| The original Durty Nelly's Pub |
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| Inside Durty Nelly's |
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| Would turn out to be my last Guinness in Ireland |
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| Bunratty Castle |
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| Who knew there was another Blarney Woollen Mills outlet next to Bunratty? |
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| Durty Nelly's is quite expansive at the base of Bunratty Castle |
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| Pausing during our stroll back from the folk park |
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| The girls by Bunratty |
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| Last sunset in Ireland for us viewed from the round-a-bout in Shannon Airport |
No surprises here, we were up early again. This wake-up was a tad sad - our last full day in Ireland and still lots to do/see/visit! There's a light rain this morning... the Irish would characterize the climate as a 'soft day.' Last night we'd discussed getting up really early to get a head start on the day and find someplace along the way to the Cliffs for our breakfast. After further consideration and experiencing how 'early' and 'timely' various establishments open in these parts, we decided to have continental breakfast here in the Carlton before checking out. :-)
Side note: This is a really belated note... I traveled to Ireland 8 days ago with a nice, black Calvin Klein jacket. It took me until Day 4, in Wicklow County, to realize I no longer had a jacket. The only place I could vaguely recall even remembering it was back at Oisin and Susan's home in Waterford. So, Rosie rang Oisin and Susan and asked if they'd seen it. At first they said no but, if they came across it, they'd call back. Wasn't too long and Oisin called back. My jacket had been buried beneath many other jackets and was still there. Oisin believed he could overnight the jacket to the Carlton Hotel in Galway and that it should arrive there before we checked back in on Friday, 10/14. When we did check back in on Friday, the package had not yet arrived... long story short, the front desk called us up later that evening and said they had my package in hand!! Once again, saved by Oisin! It's a nice jacket. :-)
Checked out and on the road by 0830. Our route this morning would take us back out the M6 -> N18 -> N67 (this is the road we hit the Irish traffic jam!) -> R480. The R480 doesn't really have a name but, Mom thought it was called the corkscrew road... it was that winding on the climb up to the top of the Burren. The Burren's famous for the plethora of flat, limestone rocks of varying sizes littering the region. They're all over the place. Our first destination was on top of the Burren to visit a ruin called the 'Polunabrone'. It is here that an ancient limestone above ground portal tomb was constructed way back in the day. The relic wasn't nearly as large as my expectations had led me to believe - certainly not Stonehenge size - but, nonetheless, very interesting to visit. We were not alone on our visit. There were 2 large tourist buses loaded with Germans who'd come to see the landmark while we were there.
We weren't there long and jumped back on the R480 to the R481, which would take us to and through the city of Ennistymon. Stopped in Ennistymon's supermarket to find and buy some tins of candy and cookies to bring back to the States - we were successful. Continued our journey west to the little village of Liscannor where we jumped onto the R478 which eventually took us past Lahinch, a famous Golf Links course, to the Cliffs of Moher, our primary goal of the day.
After 55miles and one portal limestone tomb later, we arrived at the visitors parking area adjacent to the Cliffs
at ~1100. You buy your pass into the park area when you purchase your parking tickets. $6 Euro/adult, $4 Euro/senior. Initially, having never been there, I was underwhelmed with the Visitor's Center... I didn't see a center anywhere, certainly not where we parked our cars. We didn't know what to expect at the Cliffs, so we took some time to dress for foul weather. Rosie's past experience at the Cliffs included very high winds. Today was shaping up to be a very nice day. The weather had improved the entire trip down and you could actually imagine seeing some blue sky and sun!
We left the parking lot and crossed the road over to what turned out to be the Visitor Center area. This was new to the Roses too. Sometime in the not-to-distant past, the Irish had built a new Visitor Center into the side of the Cliffs - not unlike hobbit homes! There were 6 holes dug into the side of the Cliffs: 1 large entrance, the actual Visitor Center complete with a restaurant and cafe, restrooms, and several souvenir areas, all protected from foul weather; 5 smaller holes in the hill for specific vendors. Very cool!
Entered the Visitor Center first in order to take biology breaks, check out the digs and have some lunch before we scaled the paths to view the Cliffs and to visit O'Brien's Tower. We choose the restaurant located on what appears to be the 2nd level of the hobbit-like center to have lunch. The girls went lite, I tucked into a ham & cheese panini sandwich, with a side of Irish potato salad and puree'd vegetable soup - delish! Headed outside just after noon - the weather was perfect! Clearing, little to no wind, not to cold... gorgeous, we got lucky.
The major physical change to the Cliffs of Moher is that all of the paths are lined with large, flat plates of slate set on their ends to form a barrier fence with the intent of preventing visitors from approaching the edges of the Cliffs. It's not like back in the day when Rosie visited with her Grandfather and he encouraged her to creep out on her belly onto the limestone ledges to the very edge of the Cliffs to look over with gale force winds blowing up into her face. Much too dangerous now-a-days according to officials due to natural erosion. Signs are posted periodically along the slate fence warning visitors not to scale the barrier onto the grassy edges, very dangerous. Apparently, many of the young visitors to the Cliffs cannot read or interpret graphic signs on what not to do. There were quite a few brave, young, 'eejits' (Irish for Idiots), male & female, eager to ignore the safety warnings and climb over the barrier beneath the shadow of O'Brien's Tower to edge out to 'feet tingling' proximity of the soft ledge just for that 1 cool 'hey, look what I did and where I am' photo opportunity! Accidents waiting to happen.
The 3 of us and many others scaled the path up to O'Brien's Tower, off to the right, to enjoy the view and take lots of photos. Rosie and I also scaled the 40 steps up to the top of the tower for more photo ops and to just take in the view and enjoy the moment (cost us $2 Euro each to gain access). The views breath-taking and on this particular day, spectacular! The folks running the site have gotten very tourist savvy. There's a little gift shop in the base of the tower just in case you may have missed all the 'gradu' in the main Visitor Center. :-)
Left the tower area and strolled back down the path to the area Rosie remembers climbing out on to before there were barriers or rules to abide by. Still appears as if the limestone ledge could support a lot of weight but, there's definitely been erosion underneath the slabs and it would be risky. While Rose and Rosie took pause at this location, I climbed up as far as you're 'officially' allowed to up the opposite side. I say officially
because there are signs at the end of the climb posted on the slate fence stating 'private property', 'stay out',
'no entry', etc., and still, many visitors ignore the postings and trek further up the cliff face. There's little to no security guards anywhere to be seen. Oh well, can't solve the problems of tourist sites in a day.... Another superb day! Glad we didn't miss visiting the Cliffs of Moher... well worth the trip.
Ended our visit to the Cliffs with one last stop in the Visitor's Center to pick up the odd souvenir. Walked back to the car and left the parking area, backtracked on the R478 through Ennistymon and onto the N85 to Ennis. Picked up the M18/N18 east to Shannon and arrived ~42 miles and an hour later at Shannon Airport. Drove up to the Park Inn by Radisson on premises and checked in. We took just enough time to unload the rental and drop off our bags in the room, #120, before we headed back out for the short trip to Bunratty Castle and surrounding venues.
Looking at Bunratty Castle... it's big, gray, squarish and still occupied - at least for special events and tours. So, the first place we hit - the Blarney Woollen Mills store branch just outside of the castle ground. :-) The girls did some shopping and I bought some t-shirts. From there we walked past the original 'Durty Nelly's' pub and restaurant to the Folk Park attached to the castle. Went in to buy tickets but, the time was 1545 and the castle closed for a private event (wedding reception) at 1630, so we decided to pass on the visit - not enough time this time 'round. Did some lite shopping at the gift shop on premises and walked over to Durty Nelly's for a drink. Wasn't nearly as bad as it was rumored to be... certainly dark but had alot of character! Singapore has a Durty Nelly's - enjoyed a cool frosty one there too. One Guinness and 2 teas later, we left to find a good spot for dinner.
On the drive to Bunratty, we had passed a couple of interesting looking places for chow on the left. Backtracked and pulled into a place called J.P. Clarke's - looked as good as any. We stumbled onto a fabulous restaurant from all the awards and newspaper clippings we saw inside. Got a table and enjoyed a really good last dinner in Ireland. Filled up the rental on the way back to the hotel and arrived back in our room by 1930. While Mom relaxed Rosie and I went off for a nightcap in the hotel's bar. Rosie had a diet coke, I enjoyed an Irish Coffee. We called it a night!
That's a wrap here in Ireland, blog followers... We have a 0530 wake-up call to make a 0900 flight out of Shannon back to Newark.
Will have 1 more small posting to close out this blog, for good.
Fuji
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| Dunguaire Castle in Kinvarra on the way to the Burrens |
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| Irish traffic jam in the Burren |
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| This limestone rock feature called: Poulnabrone was a portal tomb in the Burren |
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| Another view. Not nearly as big as I imagined |
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| The girls on their way up towards O'Brian's Tower, Cliffs of Moher |
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| The Cliffs of Moher |
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| Near O'Brian;s Tower |
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| Nice view |
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| I was hard to miss... |
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| O'Brian's Tower |
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| Cliffs of Moher from O'Brian's Tower |
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| Another pretty shot of the Roses |
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| Cliffs as seen from the now cordoned off ledge Rosie laid on as a youth |
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| Where no one is allowed to go anymore... too dangerous with errosion |
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| O'Brian's Tower as seen from opposite side |
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| Very cool Visitor Center and shops at Moher - like Hobbit holes |
