Ireland Trip Report: Part I
Oct. 24th, 2010 12:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
devarae~The Prep~
My husband Bob and I decide earlier this year that to celebrate his birthday and our twelfth anniversary we would take another “big” vacation: to Ireland! I had never been, and the last time he was there was thirty years ago. We decided to stick to the West coast since we only had a week, and we planned to rent a car since it would afford us more freedom to see the sites we wanted to see, at our own pace. After researching prices online, we took our plans to an agent at AAA, and she found an independent tour option through CIE tours that was cheaper than what we could do on our own (it covered flights, car rental, and lodging). Working with AAA was a smooth process and I would recommend it to anyone who either doesn’t feel comfortable doing things on their own, or who feels it is a better deal. That said, I think in the future we will make arrangements on our own, for two reasons. One is that we will probably want to find a rental property and base ourselves from one or two locations if we return. The other is that we had a bad experience with Hertz rental cars at Shannon airport and would not use them again.
~Day 1: Bunratty & Cliffs of Moher~
We arrived in Shannon, Ireland gray and early Sunday morning. It’s a nice small airport and provided us our first Irish tea and not-so-Irish-but-tasty croissants as we waited (and waited...) for our rental car. Finally we set out just after 10, having decided our first stop would be Bunratty Folk Park, since it was only a few minutes from the airport and would give us a chance to ease into driving on the other side of the road.
Bunratty Folk Park is a recreated 19th century village, adjoining 15th century Bunratty castle. We toured the castle first, navigating the many, many twisting steep staircases that take you from grand halls hung with tapestries to tiny guard chambers tucked into corners of the towers. I was particularly intrigued by these odd mermaid-antler-figurehead things that were hanging in many of the rooms:
I still don’t know what they are! Though my story-brain was coming up with some interesting ideas...
After exploring some (though not all) of the thatched houses and old schoolhouses and getting a bit woozy from the everpresent peat smoke (which smells something like roasting chestnuts, I found), we decided to head on to our next destination: the Cliffs of Moher.
It was probably not the ideal weather for it, being overcast and chilly, but it was on our way to our first night’s lodging in Fanore, so we decided to go for it. And they certainly are impressive! Here’s me with a “EEE-I’m-in-Ireland” smile in front of them:
The Cliffs were definitely a tourist destination, however, even on a gray day. Dozens of tourbusses were pulled into the parking lot, along with at least a hundred cars. There’s a massive new tourist center with restaurant and shops and multimedia display built into the side of the hill nearby, and the walkways along the cliffs are new and sturdy. I am glad that we saw the Cliffs, but I couldn’t ever escape the feeling of “TOURIST SIGHT” long enough to truly internalize their magesty. Maybe if we came back in February?
After that we headed north along more narrower-than-seems-possible roads, headed for Fanore. This was actually my favorite part of our first day, as the traffic fell off and we began seeing more of the unearthly Burren landscape:
We continued winding along the edge of the land, with an empty expanse of of rough gray stone on one side, and the choppy charcoal sea on the other, occasionally broken by bands of vibrant green grazing fields populated by cows (not sheep!). A short time later we reached the Rocky View Farmhouse, a welcoming and comfortable place for our first night. At the suggestion of our hosts, we had dinner at Vascos, two miles back along the road. This was a lovely modern-but-warm place to have our first meal (our “lunch” had been tea and scones at Bunratty). I had pumpkin-sage-spinach risotto and really excellent house-made lemonade, while Bob had lamb tagine over couscous. We were too stuffed for dessert! As we enjoyed our meal I think I finally started to relax from the stresses of driving (those roads are REALLY narrow) and the press of crowds and the tiredness of having been mostly-awake for 30-odd hours. The evening sun began breaking out from the clouds, foretelling sunnier weather for the next day. After a brief visit with a local:
we retired for the night.
~Day 2: The Burren~
I woke early, too excited to sleep and drawn by the odd gusty weather outside. Our B&B (Rocky View Farmhouse) was situated on a strip of settled land that runs along the coast, with the barren hills of the Burren rising on one side and pastures leading down to the sea on the other. The sun was rising behind the bare hills that were still topped by a ridge of thick clouds, but the wind was whipping along them, tearing up streams and tatters. I think I took about twenty pictures of the sky that morning, while out on a solo walk along the nearby roads.
It was intoxicating being out along the sea, breathing the air, drinking in this odd mix of sunlight and cloud and bare rock and lush green fields. I think I might well have just kept walking along the grassy paths between the pastures if I hadn’t eventually come to a closed gate!
After a hobbity breakfast (porridge, tea, and brown bread with really good butter for me, eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes and biscuits for Bob) we bid farewell to our very nice hosts (probably the most welcoming hosts of our trip) and headed off to explore more of the Burren.
Our first stop was Ailwee Caves, which Bob was very interested in seeing. I will admit I probably would not have chosen that stop myself, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of my trip! We skipped the Birds of Prey show and instead took a short but pleasant hike up a walking trail to the cave entrance. Along the way I spotted this:
Doesn’t it look like some sort of creature that has been turned to stone? Reminds me a bit of the Mystics in the Dark Crystal, actually... Perhaps that is why I couldn't take a non-blurry picture of it?
Perhaps because everyone else was at the Falconry demonstration, Bob and I lucked out and got on a cave tour by ourselves. Our friendly guide took us into the damp tunnels, deep into the caverns that were dimly lit by gold lights, turned on one section at a time as we progressed through. We saw wallows where bears had hibernated 1500 years ago, deep chasms, stalagmites and stalagtites, and underground waterfalls. Very cool! Not to mention good research material for a particular scene in my new writing project: the sound of dripping water, the strong mineral tang in the air, the smooth sliminess of the walls (yes, of course I had to touch them). Our guide finally led us to the human-made exit route, leaving us to find our own way out as he went off to turn off the lights again, whistling the Indiana Jones music as he went. Hee!
One of the most fun and cool things about Ireland overall was how we would stumble across ruins or other cool sites just randomly, along the side of the road. We’d been instructed by our B&B hosts to keep an eye out as we left the Caves for a couple unmarked ring forts right along the main road. And indeed there were -- and these were some of our favorite sites of the trip. The first (visible from the road) was a simple ring of earthworks, with deep gulley running along the outer edge and a flat clearing within. But trees had grown up throughout in the years since it had been used, creating a bright peaceful green space under tall trees.
I am not sure we would have found the second site had we not been looking for it. This is what it looked like from the road:
But if you followed the trail on the other side of that wall, eventually you found:
We went onward, finding our way to the considerably-more-obvious Poulnabrone site, one of the most photographed in Ireland. I liked the fact that from one side it looks like the Greek letter Pi:
After that we drove around a bit more (probably more than we should have for my sanity) to visit the Burren Perfumery (okay, but not a must-see) and the ruins of Corcomroe Abbey (ditto). I think my favorite part of the latter was the “traffic jam” that happened shortly after our arrival:
That’s a tour van trying to get in and a whole bunch of cows trying to get out. And a woman on a bike who is braver than I.
We finally stopped for dinner (lunch was chocolate digestives, cheese and crackers in the car) at a pub. My vegetable soup and brown bread were delicious, while Bob’s lasagna was “more like macaroni & cheese with tomato sauce”. I put too much faith in the claims of “homemade dessert” implying quality, and vowed not to order “apple pie” in Ireland ever again. After that we had a long dark drive around Galway that is best not remembered, into Connemara and our second night’s lodging.
To be continued!
My husband Bob and I decide earlier this year that to celebrate his birthday and our twelfth anniversary we would take another “big” vacation: to Ireland! I had never been, and the last time he was there was thirty years ago. We decided to stick to the West coast since we only had a week, and we planned to rent a car since it would afford us more freedom to see the sites we wanted to see, at our own pace. After researching prices online, we took our plans to an agent at AAA, and she found an independent tour option through CIE tours that was cheaper than what we could do on our own (it covered flights, car rental, and lodging). Working with AAA was a smooth process and I would recommend it to anyone who either doesn’t feel comfortable doing things on their own, or who feels it is a better deal. That said, I think in the future we will make arrangements on our own, for two reasons. One is that we will probably want to find a rental property and base ourselves from one or two locations if we return. The other is that we had a bad experience with Hertz rental cars at Shannon airport and would not use them again.
~Day 1: Bunratty & Cliffs of Moher~
We arrived in Shannon, Ireland gray and early Sunday morning. It’s a nice small airport and provided us our first Irish tea and not-so-Irish-but-tasty croissants as we waited (and waited...) for our rental car. Finally we set out just after 10, having decided our first stop would be Bunratty Folk Park, since it was only a few minutes from the airport and would give us a chance to ease into driving on the other side of the road.
Bunratty Folk Park is a recreated 19th century village, adjoining 15th century Bunratty castle. We toured the castle first, navigating the many, many twisting steep staircases that take you from grand halls hung with tapestries to tiny guard chambers tucked into corners of the towers. I was particularly intrigued by these odd mermaid-antler-figurehead things that were hanging in many of the rooms:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
I still don’t know what they are! Though my story-brain was coming up with some interesting ideas...
After exploring some (though not all) of the thatched houses and old schoolhouses and getting a bit woozy from the everpresent peat smoke (which smells something like roasting chestnuts, I found), we decided to head on to our next destination: the Cliffs of Moher.
It was probably not the ideal weather for it, being overcast and chilly, but it was on our way to our first night’s lodging in Fanore, so we decided to go for it. And they certainly are impressive! Here’s me with a “EEE-I’m-in-Ireland” smile in front of them:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
The Cliffs were definitely a tourist destination, however, even on a gray day. Dozens of tourbusses were pulled into the parking lot, along with at least a hundred cars. There’s a massive new tourist center with restaurant and shops and multimedia display built into the side of the hill nearby, and the walkways along the cliffs are new and sturdy. I am glad that we saw the Cliffs, but I couldn’t ever escape the feeling of “TOURIST SIGHT” long enough to truly internalize their magesty. Maybe if we came back in February?
After that we headed north along more narrower-than-seems-possible roads, headed for Fanore. This was actually my favorite part of our first day, as the traffic fell off and we began seeing more of the unearthly Burren landscape:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
We continued winding along the edge of the land, with an empty expanse of of rough gray stone on one side, and the choppy charcoal sea on the other, occasionally broken by bands of vibrant green grazing fields populated by cows (not sheep!). A short time later we reached the Rocky View Farmhouse, a welcoming and comfortable place for our first night. At the suggestion of our hosts, we had dinner at Vascos, two miles back along the road. This was a lovely modern-but-warm place to have our first meal (our “lunch” had been tea and scones at Bunratty). I had pumpkin-sage-spinach risotto and really excellent house-made lemonade, while Bob had lamb tagine over couscous. We were too stuffed for dessert! As we enjoyed our meal I think I finally started to relax from the stresses of driving (those roads are REALLY narrow) and the press of crowds and the tiredness of having been mostly-awake for 30-odd hours. The evening sun began breaking out from the clouds, foretelling sunnier weather for the next day. After a brief visit with a local:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
we retired for the night.
~Day 2: The Burren~
I woke early, too excited to sleep and drawn by the odd gusty weather outside. Our B&B (Rocky View Farmhouse) was situated on a strip of settled land that runs along the coast, with the barren hills of the Burren rising on one side and pastures leading down to the sea on the other. The sun was rising behind the bare hills that were still topped by a ridge of thick clouds, but the wind was whipping along them, tearing up streams and tatters. I think I took about twenty pictures of the sky that morning, while out on a solo walk along the nearby roads.
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
It was intoxicating being out along the sea, breathing the air, drinking in this odd mix of sunlight and cloud and bare rock and lush green fields. I think I might well have just kept walking along the grassy paths between the pastures if I hadn’t eventually come to a closed gate!
After a hobbity breakfast (porridge, tea, and brown bread with really good butter for me, eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes and biscuits for Bob) we bid farewell to our very nice hosts (probably the most welcoming hosts of our trip) and headed off to explore more of the Burren.
Our first stop was Ailwee Caves, which Bob was very interested in seeing. I will admit I probably would not have chosen that stop myself, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of my trip! We skipped the Birds of Prey show and instead took a short but pleasant hike up a walking trail to the cave entrance. Along the way I spotted this:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
Doesn’t it look like some sort of creature that has been turned to stone? Reminds me a bit of the Mystics in the Dark Crystal, actually... Perhaps that is why I couldn't take a non-blurry picture of it?
Perhaps because everyone else was at the Falconry demonstration, Bob and I lucked out and got on a cave tour by ourselves. Our friendly guide took us into the damp tunnels, deep into the caverns that were dimly lit by gold lights, turned on one section at a time as we progressed through. We saw wallows where bears had hibernated 1500 years ago, deep chasms, stalagmites and stalagtites, and underground waterfalls. Very cool! Not to mention good research material for a particular scene in my new writing project: the sound of dripping water, the strong mineral tang in the air, the smooth sliminess of the walls (yes, of course I had to touch them). Our guide finally led us to the human-made exit route, leaving us to find our own way out as he went off to turn off the lights again, whistling the Indiana Jones music as he went. Hee!
One of the most fun and cool things about Ireland overall was how we would stumble across ruins or other cool sites just randomly, along the side of the road. We’d been instructed by our B&B hosts to keep an eye out as we left the Caves for a couple unmarked ring forts right along the main road. And indeed there were -- and these were some of our favorite sites of the trip. The first (visible from the road) was a simple ring of earthworks, with deep gulley running along the outer edge and a flat clearing within. But trees had grown up throughout in the years since it had been used, creating a bright peaceful green space under tall trees.
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
I am not sure we would have found the second site had we not been looking for it. This is what it looked like from the road:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
But if you followed the trail on the other side of that wall, eventually you found:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
We went onward, finding our way to the considerably-more-obvious Poulnabrone site, one of the most photographed in Ireland. I liked the fact that from one side it looks like the Greek letter Pi:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
After that we drove around a bit more (probably more than we should have for my sanity) to visit the Burren Perfumery (okay, but not a must-see) and the ruins of Corcomroe Abbey (ditto). I think my favorite part of the latter was the “traffic jam” that happened shortly after our arrival:
 |
| From Ireland October 2010 |
That’s a tour van trying to get in and a whole bunch of cows trying to get out. And a woman on a bike who is braver than I.
We finally stopped for dinner (lunch was chocolate digestives, cheese and crackers in the car) at a pub. My vegetable soup and brown bread were delicious, while Bob’s lasagna was “more like macaroni & cheese with tomato sauce”. I put too much faith in the claims of “homemade dessert” implying quality, and vowed not to order “apple pie” in Ireland ever again. After that we had a long dark drive around Galway that is best not remembered, into Connemara and our second night’s lodging.
To be continued!
