I crafted an Epic plan to see two Epic sights on our way to an obscure final destination. Why? Why?! Because the day will come when we cannot make such epic journeys, but today is not that day! We hope...
We woke up in Dingle, County Kerry and our next B&B is in Cong, County Mayo. Two Counties (Clare and Galway) and the River Shannon stand between us. With an early start, good weather, and a bit of Irish luck, I hope to have enough time (and for Ron to have enough nerve) to swing all the way back out to the coast and catch the Cliffs of Moher. And maybe, just maybe, swing back inland and drive through The Burren and still make Cong before nightfall. The Cliffs of Moher is a reference I recognize. The Burren I know nothing about but it made our Ireland "wish list" on the recommendation of countless friends and fellow travelers.
Early breakfast. Check. Good weather. Check. Driver. Check. We left Dingle and headed east and north back across the peninsula up to Tralee, then turned north to the edge of the River Shannon. A short ferry ride took us across, and we saved 80 km by not driving around the river and through Limerick.
Next stop: The Cliffs of Moher! We headed north and stayed on the "big road" (Ron uses "big road" to refer to roads with a marked center line separating on-coming traffic) as long as possible before jumping onto the coastal road (often narrowing to a single lane). The view was magnificent. For five miles, the dramatic Cliffs of Moher soar as high as 650 feet above the Atlantic. The Visitors Center is pretty much in the middle, with tons of parking, paved walkways, and great signage. We arrived at noon and took our picnic lunch with us as we set off to explore. We couldn't see the Visitors Center at first, as it is actually built into the cliffs. The path diverged, and we had to make a choice: visitors center or cliffs. Cliffs, of course!
My photos fail to capture the grandeur and scope of this natural wonder - like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone, it truly has to be experienced.
The tiny specks on the ridge near the Castle are people. There is a path with a fairly substantial stone fence to allow visitors to walk the cliffs. From the walkway can be seen the remains of the footpath where so many lost their footing and their lives.
Back in the car. Heat, check! The Garmin seems to know how to get us to The Burren, so we trust the technology, and pull back onto the road.
The Burren, literally the "rocky place" is a ten-square-mile limestone plateau. It is so barren that a surveyor in the 1650s described it as "a savage land, yielding neither water enough to drown a man, nor a tree to hang him, nor soil enough to bury him". The Burren is in fact an extremely diverse ecosystem. But it looks like the surface of the moon, or maybe Mars, and is often used as the backdrop for sci-fi extraplanetary movies.
The Burren is a hiker's paradise, and we decide we have time for a short ramble. Ron laughs as we pass through an opening marking the trailhead of several trails: even the gates are narrow here!
Feeling a bit smug that my epic plan has gone to plan, I confidently program the Garmin for our final destination of the day, and press "start". Oh my. This is not how it looked on the map.
We can feel the brush pressing against us on both sides of the car. And overhead. Please, no farm trucks! We soon realize we are the only ones here. Well, almost.
Our trusty Garmin leads us to a "big road" and we follow the coast of Galway Bay inland, up to Galway (the city), and then north through Galway (the County). Each turn brings us onto smaller and smaller roads as we cross into County Mayo and see the sign for Cong. The address for our B&B is simply "Abbey Street". The directions are "across from the Cong Abbey". Our hosts run the Hungry Monk Art & Craft Gallery, and our cottage is behind the gallery, through a tiny alley and small garden. Thankfully, it is still daylight when we arrive. Thankfully, the Abbey is, well, an abbey so hard to miss!
Home sweet home.
Car Talk
Road report. Mostly paved. Almost wide enough for one, small car.
Driver report. The Irish are kind, courteous drivers and make a great effort to avoid head-on collisions. We have yet to see, or be in, a crash.
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