DAY-32: Cliffs Of Moher & The Burren
Day – 32: Saturday, September 23, 2017
Starting Location: Newmarket-on-Fergus, Ireland
Ending Location: Ballyvaughan, County Clare, Ireland
This would be a morning of rest with Mike agreeing to a pick-up at 11 AM.
Sheila and I opted for a 10 AM work-out, well a work-out for the horses that pulled our carriage for the tour of the hotel's grounds. Our wrangler/guide took us around the property amazing us with the facts and figures related to the estate.
At one point we were told about another celestial alignment using the trees and a stone lined pond. Once again, evidence that aliens have been here and gone or are amongst us. This story would need some fact checking.
Seems that the local lore would lead one to believe that somehow the pyramids of Egypt, the stones of Stonehenge and the vortices of Sedona are somehow aligned. I'll just leave it to your imagination.
After the ride, we had a quick breakfast before bringing our bags down to load onto the van. While waiting we were able to see up close one of the falconer's birds, a beautiful hawk.
Today was a very windy day, with 25+ MPH winds and higher gusts coming off the Atlantic buffeting the van and the western shoreline of Ireland. The experience resulted in somewhat of a hair style contest.
The terrain en-route became extremely rocky, the Burren as it's known is like a lava flow in a volcanic area. Little can grow there and to make even the smallest patch of arable land the removal and stacking of rocks results in a huge jigsaw puzzle of what would appear to be fences but in reality are just places to store the rocks.
Our planned stop was at the Cliffs of Moher. After working through the ticketing process we ventured up the hills to the cliffs that rise about 700 feet above the shoreline. The coast line is very rugged, evidence of a very violent interface with a raging Atlantic Ocean.
The Cliffs of Moher are one of the most visited attractions of Ireland, it's likely that we were in the company of several hundred other tourists while there.
Did I mention that it was very windy at the Cliffs of Moher?
From the cliffs we drove into Doolin, home of the ferry docks from where we would tomorrow venture to the Aran Islands. The winds and seas were so treacherous that all ferry service had been suspended for the day. That said, having checked with the ferry admin office we were assured that tomorrow would be a better day and we would definitely be going to Aran, well at least the boat would be going, whether we would go was a matter of some concern, but heh you have three Navy Captains on this trip, what could possibly go wrong!
From Doolin we continued en-route to Ballyvaughan our destination for the night at Gregan's Castle in County Clare but with the weather cold and windy why not make one more stop. Who would have ever guessed that there was another ancient burial site so close to our track. This one dates back about 100 million years, okay well maybe a few thousand years but again who were these people, where did they come from and where did they go?
Upon arrival at Gregan's Castle ...
we partook of some warming alcohol and prepared for tonight's fancy dinner, you know big plates, little food. Actually the food was good and such a dinner always generates stories to be told for years to come.
I probably should mention the cats as they will enter into our story on a future day.
After dinner we availed ourselves of the bar and for those thinking Decaf Irish Coffees are okay, just ask John the bartender for an opinion.
This would be a morning of rest with Mike agreeing to a pick-up at 11 AM.
Sheila and I opted for a 10 AM work-out, well a work-out for the horses that pulled our carriage for the tour of the hotel's grounds. Our wrangler/guide took us around the property amazing us with the facts and figures related to the estate.
At one point we were told about another celestial alignment using the trees and a stone lined pond. Once again, evidence that aliens have been here and gone or are amongst us. This story would need some fact checking.
Seems that the local lore would lead one to believe that somehow the pyramids of Egypt, the stones of Stonehenge and the vortices of Sedona are somehow aligned. I'll just leave it to your imagination.
After the ride, we had a quick breakfast before bringing our bags down to load onto the van. While waiting we were able to see up close one of the falconer's birds, a beautiful hawk.
Today was a very windy day, with 25+ MPH winds and higher gusts coming off the Atlantic buffeting the van and the western shoreline of Ireland. The experience resulted in somewhat of a hair style contest.
The terrain en-route became extremely rocky, the Burren as it's known is like a lava flow in a volcanic area. Little can grow there and to make even the smallest patch of arable land the removal and stacking of rocks results in a huge jigsaw puzzle of what would appear to be fences but in reality are just places to store the rocks.
Our planned stop was at the Cliffs of Moher. After working through the ticketing process we ventured up the hills to the cliffs that rise about 700 feet above the shoreline. The coast line is very rugged, evidence of a very violent interface with a raging Atlantic Ocean.
Someone's having a "Big Hair Day"!
 |
| World's Loneliest Busker. |
Did I mention that it was very windy at the Cliffs of Moher?
From the cliffs we drove into Doolin, home of the ferry docks from where we would tomorrow venture to the Aran Islands. The winds and seas were so treacherous that all ferry service had been suspended for the day. That said, having checked with the ferry admin office we were assured that tomorrow would be a better day and we would definitely be going to Aran, well at least the boat would be going, whether we would go was a matter of some concern, but heh you have three Navy Captains on this trip, what could possibly go wrong!From Doolin we continued en-route to Ballyvaughan our destination for the night at Gregan's Castle in County Clare but with the weather cold and windy why not make one more stop. Who would have ever guessed that there was another ancient burial site so close to our track. This one dates back about 100 million years, okay well maybe a few thousand years but again who were these people, where did they come from and where did they go?
Upon arrival at Gregan's Castle ...
we partook of some warming alcohol and prepared for tonight's fancy dinner, you know big plates, little food. Actually the food was good and such a dinner always generates stories to be told for years to come.
I probably should mention the cats as they will enter into our story on a future day.
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