Back to Ireland

We have left Northern Ireland and are now in Clifden, Ireland.     It’s a small seaside community on the Western Coast who just happen to be having their big art fair.      We stumbled upon a gallery opening before dinner and decided to check it out, despite not being dressed for the occasion.      The artist was lovely to talk with and she made sure we had a glass of wine and answered all of our questions.       Her work is interesting because she is both a photographer and oil painter.     

Our B&B hostess and her 15 year old twin sons welcomed us, along with their rescue dog.    He’s pretty old, but he lifted his head in greeting when we arrived.     Our room overlooks her gardens and even has a dwarf curly pussywillow tree outside one of our windows.    I had one in my gardens on 17^th street.     

  

Ireland has only one fjord, so we opted to take the boat cruise to check it out.    A nice break from all the driving time.     We had been wondering about all of the objects in the water as we drove down.      We now know that these are mussel farms.    There were also salmon farms in this same waterway.      They use large rings atop their farms whereas the mussel farms had long floating net buoys.  

For the rest of the day we drove back roads along the coast and enjoyed the scenery.      One of my favorite spots was at the Kylemore Abbey, which was built in 1867 as a private home for a wealthy London doctor.    It became a Benedictine monastery in 1920 for Nuns fleeing Belgium in WW1.    They established an international boarding school for Catholic girls and also established a day school for local girls.      They were forced to close the school in June 2010.     Not exactly a replica of our local high school!

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Here are some miscellaneous pictures from our drives.

We are off to the final hours of the Art Fair and dinner………

A Giant's Work

Our next destination:    Giant’s Causeway.     

This is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption;   however, the legend is more fun for those who prefer a more colorful story.      It’s the story of a legendary giant who built the Giant’s Causeway to defeat a rival in Scotland.    The giant was 54 feet tall and was called Finn McCool.      To read this legendary story, go to:   http://www.causewaycoastandglens.com/Folklore-and-Legend.T1153.aspx

Because of my balance issues I wasn’t able to walk out on the stepping stones which lessened my enjoyment of this spot.    I did, however, get to walk and walk and walk from the gift shop to the Giant’s Causeway – and back again.     No buses for us.   LOL

It's time to say good bye to Northern Ireland.    The west coast of Ireland is calling...

Signs and Sighs

This sign caused me to turn around and look again.     What do you think?

Torr Head is an overlook to the Sea and a lovely cove.     The drive is on the infamous Irish back roads which are barely wide enough for one car, but are a two way road.       Thank goodness there were already minor scratches on the car from the ever present shrubs lining the roads.

The best part of Torr Head, though, was learning that all those shrubs lining the roads (and in the fields where they are used instead of rocks as boundaries) are actually Fuschias.     Yes, the same plant we buy in the summer to put in a shady spot, although probably a different variety.     I couldn't get a good picture of the never ending blooming shrubs, but did take a close up to show you the flowers.

This is Dunseverick Castle, built up on a hill.      I definitely would have built it closer to this great beach which is right below it!

Ballintoy Harbour……….

I’ll close with a poster for an upcoming event – what an odd combination for a Festival.     Wish we had been able to stay and check it out….

Waterfalls, Yes !

Knowing my passion for waterfalls, it should be no surprise that our next destination was a place with several waterfalls, Glenariff Forest.     We took a wrong turn and ended up at the bottom of the falls rather than the park at the top.    The owner of the restaurant at the bottom told us how lucky we were.     We could park free in his lot.   The bottom falls (and park trails) were just outside his restaurant.   

There were many smaller waterfalls on our walk through this lush forest.

There is no admission fee to the park, just a parking fee so I don’t feel guilty.     Plus, he said it saved us coming down 150 steps (and back up again) from the parking lot to the upper falls.

I’m finding that all views in Northern Ireland are beautiful………..

I Did It

Next up, Carrick-a-rede swinging bridge, as promised.    The view walking to the bridge was beautiful.

Once you have crossed the bridge, you are on a small island high up over the ocean with a view directly to Scotland (on a totally clear day).

Traditionally fishermen erected the bridge to the island  to check their salmon nets.    It originally consisted of a single rope hand rail, but has been replaced by two rope hand rails for visitors safety.     

This I would return to in a heartbeat.    The beauty looking down whilst walking across the rope bridge was incredible.    I made sure I was last of the group going back so that I could stop and really take it in.   

The Challenge of Driving

Well, we are still alive and no damage to the car – YET.     Yes, RJ is driving on the “wrong” side of the road.     No problem, he has done that before in Ste Maarten and St Kitts.     Some gentle reminders and he was good.

Now, however, the poor man is dealing with a few other criteria.      For example, the steering wheel is on the “wrong” side of the front seat.        Sorry, but he’s driving like a 14 year old.    His lane changes, while usually good, are sometimes jerky and quick.     Not graceful !       Even more stressful, for me, is the fact that he doesn’t have a good feel for the middle of his lane.    No way is this man driving on a road with a passenger side drop off ! ! !      The rumble strips play constantly – unfortunately  only I can hear them so I have become the proverbial  back seat driver telling him to move over.     I lost count of the number of times he drove up onto a curb.     It’s amazing that we still have the side mirror.    

   

Did I mention the fact that this is a 6-speed straight stick?     He hasn’t driven a stick in many years.     We have stalled at many an intersection.     Fortunately, traffic is fairly light in the Ballycastle area.     I’m so glad we changed our pick-up date so that he didn’t have to drive in Dublin City Centre.

We are now in Northern Ireland, where they use the mph that we are familiar with.    Unfortunately, the car is only in kilometers.     Thank goodness we brought our Miss Garmin along.      Now, instead of watching the scenery (or our close encounter with the lane to our left) I am telling him how fast he is going.     We've been duly warned about speeding, so I am also the speed police.      What a fun job.    Only two more weeks of using a car in Ireland – plus another two in Scotland.     Hope we survive!

The good side of all this ---  it was ridiculously expensive to put a second driver on the contract so I don't have to figure all of this out ......................

Should vs Want

We are traveling and enjoying it thoroughly, so why did that nasty word hang over us this morning.     We only have one week in Dublin, we should see everything we can.      However, what we really want to do is return to that charming seaside village of Howth.      The debate was short lived, we were only in Dublin for one week, what choice did we have but to listen to our heart – yes, we went back to Howth.

I tried to take different views of this charming port so as not to bore everyone.      There are so many options in such a small area.

Lunch, well, again we listened to our heart and went back to Crabby Jo’s.      We did check out the other posted menus, but we really wanted to try their clam chowder and crab cakes.      Both were superb.      The clam chowder was something I could eat every day.    It had actual clams (in the shell) in it, salmon and various other yummy items.     Served with a slice of brown bread and you have a meal .      The crab cakes were the icing on the cake.

 We had a pleasant chat with two couples from Western  Canada at the adjacent table.      They were nervous about driving in Ireland, so are doing tours, buses and trains versus our plan of RJ driving the next two weeks.     We all agreed there are pluses and minuses to both itineraries.     The important theme was that we were all retired, healthy, traveling and having a blast doing it!

Dinner was at a fun tapa and wine place called The Port House.     We snagged an outdoor table and relaxed – oh wait, we are always relaxed!        We got the Piquillo con Pollo (roasted piquillo pepper stuffed with chicken, basil and served with a creamy pepper sauce), Calamares Rabas a la Andaluz (strips of squid in seasoned flour served with lemon and alioli) and finally Escalivada  (pan fried mixed vegetables with honey and lemon dressing).     YUM………….