Moher please
Spectacular scenery and lively cities
Saturday 9 Jul 11 - Saturday 9 Jul 11
18 °C
On the advice of the hostel owner, we woke up early the following morning, a bright, sunny morning for a change, to beat the crowds to the Cliffs of Moher. And also on his advice, instead of joining the people going to the cliffs via the car park, we parked our car at the side of a nearby road, climbed over a fence and were able to get right up to the cliff face.
It was a bit too close, if anything, with a fifty metre vertical drop to one side, at times just half a pace away – you can see why they don’t advertise it! But we certainly got better views, as shown by the photos. And at one stage our path was blocked by a wandering herd of sheep, another thing you won’t find by the visitors’ centre.
We did have to walk a fair way along the road to get back to the car, though, but that was OK, because we were just going to be sitting in the car for the next hour or so as we drove to the Burren. This is a limestone desolate, rocky area by the sea, and a complete contrast to the rest of the lush, green countryside. We went for a bit of a walk, with Matty twisting her ankle, so back in the car we went to Ballyvaughan, a small town nearby (and another great Irish name).
There we stopped for some brunch in a great tea garden, called, funnily enough, The Tea Garden, where we compensated for our lack of brekky with a huge meal followed by a cake. Not a whole cake, obviously, but a couple of slices.
Back in the car once again, and we continued to travel north along the west coast towards Galway, reaching our destination in the late afternoon.
Our B&B was right in the middle of town, and Mary and Donie were brilliantly energetic and amusing Irish hosts. Their tiny dogs, Rambo and Millie, were just as energetic, and demanded our attention whenever we walked through the door, attention that the girls were all too happy to give.
The view from the back garden of St Martin's B&B, Galway
We went for a walk around Galway city, a very lively, vibrant city, with a collection of street performers lining the main strip, a large market selling everything from olives to jewellery to second-hand books, a number of busy squares and a couple of piers. You could spend all day wandering the streets and not get bored.
Keywest, one of Galway's many street-performing bands
Fat Tony stands outside a barber shop
Dad and Mat at a Galway market
A man tries to wake his dog, but tragically, it has turned to sand
A drink at Taaffe’s where we watched a bit of Gaelic football and hurling (which is a really cool sport), and then a dinner at a small Irish restaurant (Irish stews all round), and we finally succumbed to fatigue and illness and went to bed.
Posted by sammyhez Wednesday 21 Sep 11 20:05 Archived in Ireland Tagged irelandgalwaydoolin
