I'd like to say the final day of our sojourn broke with bright sunlight and the promise of perfect traveling weather. But most of the day will be cloudy, foggy, rainy -- what you would probably think of as Irish weather.
The sun does break out during lunch, but honestly, the weather's been so good during our trip that almost everywhere we've gone, some local person has remarked about how nice it's been. I'm sure they say that to all the tourists, but we're happy to take credit. We certainly can't complain about this day's weather.
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| Poulnabrone, in the Burren |
The first part of our trip will be through the Connemara region, Note that I said region and not county. Most, or all, of Connemara lies in County Galway. The two items our guide, Sean, mention in connection with this area are marble and the 1950s movie The Quiet Man, which starred John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, portions of which were filmed in County Galway and Connemara.
Our first stop of the day will be at the Connemara Marble visitor center in the town of Moycullen. Our bus will park across the street from the center, and because enough traffic passes through town on this highway, we will be watched over by crossing guards, a first for the trip. In most of the places we've been, drivers have been most considerate of pedestrians, stopping for tourists and locals alike, who simply wander across the street when ready. Even in the bigger cities of Dublin and Belfast, which have marked crossings and automated crossing signs, we saw groups of people walk across the road without bothering to push the button for a "Walk" signal.
A man at the center gives us a talk about Connemara marble, which comes in a number of colors. (Should my hard drive be recovered, I'll post the video here.) The coolest slabs are black spotted with white markings. If you look closely at the white spots, you notice that most of them are fossils. Marble quarried in the are was used in the cathedral at nearby Galway. We make a short stop at the cathedral after our center visit to see the magnificent marble floors. Unfortunately, church services are about to be held, so we're only able to spend a short amount of time at the church.
The guy giving the talk also mentions that Connemara marble was used in the state Capitol building in Pennsylvania.
Although our sheet of daily activities indicates we'll have time to wander about Galway on our own, we're not given the opportunity. Go figure.
From Moycullen we drive to an area known as the Burren. Limestone dominates the landscape, and the interesting feature here is that the exposed limestone contains huge cracks, giving the impressions of large, flat stones scattered about the countryside. One of the well-known sites in the Burren is Poulnabrone, a portal dolmen, or type of gravesite, dating to the Neolithic era.
Large slabs of rock rise perpendicular to the earth and are capped by another large stone. Archaeological digs at the site unearthed the remains of about 30 adults and children who had been buried under the portal along with personal items.
The site contains a number of interpretive signs that explain the geology of the Burren and the discoveries that have been made there, but once again our guide is keen to keep us on schedule, so we really don't have time to do much reading or exploring. Though not as impressive as I imagine Stonehenge to be, I'm still impressed that the Neolithic inhabitants of the area managed to build this structure. Of course, being a fan of the show Ancient Aliens, I immediately jump to the idea that ET must have had some role here.
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| Pier at Ballyvaughn. |
We'll stop in the coastal town of Ballyvaughn for lunch. The sun's appearance means that as soon as we've consumed our meal, we head outside to take pictures. A concrete pier extends from the shore, and a group swims down near its end. I'm guessing that had to be cold.
The piece de resistance of the day is a stop at the Cliffs of Moher. The magnificent cliffs rise some 700 feet above the sea and stretch across 5 miles of the Atlantic coast. A number of trails lead to various viewing spots, and you can see a trio of islands called the Aran Islands off in the distance. Fog has set in, and we'll be rained on a bit, but the weather enhances the experience. I'd have to admit that the whole thing would be spectacular on a bright, sunny day as well.
We take one of the trails that leads near the cliffs' edge. Walls have been built to keep people from venturing too close to the edge, but numerous tourists ignore the wall, which is a bit less than waist high, and clamber over it to have their picture taken as near the edge as they dare go. As you might expect when people are being stupid like that, some folks in the past have misjudged and fallen to their death.
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| Cliffs of Moher |
As a side note, the cliffs are movie stars. They show up in a Harry Potter movie, The Half-blood Prince, among others, but that's the one most people are likely to have actually heard of.
From there we travel to our final destination, the town of Shannon. We'll stay in a hotel across the road from Bunratty Castle. The castle was built in the 15th century and now functions as a living heritage museum. We won't be wandering the grounds, but we do walk down to have a look. Like most living history places, the castle grounds contain buildings of the period and demonstrations are staged at various times.
One of the main attractions at the castle takes place in the evenings -- a medieval "feast" complete with entertainment. (Again, I'll post video if it's recovered.) We're welcomed to the castle by staff in period garb and ushered into a large room where we are served mead and listen to a singer. The mead is potent and served in very small cups. I try it -- you catch the flavor of honey at the beginning of a sip, but this stuff is way stronger than beer, so I only drink about half. Sharon doesn't like the taste at all and has no more than the sip I urged her to take to see if she can taste the honey -- she can't.
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| Sign on the wall meant to keep you away from the edge so you don't do what the figure in the sign does. |
Some of our crew seem to think it's pretty good and consume two or three drinks. Red and white wine will be served with the meal, so by the end of the evening, some members of the group will be feeling no pain.
After 20 or 30 minutes, we're lead into a larger hall where dinner will be served. The meal is good. Home-baked bread, parsnip soup, spare ribs, chicken. But the only utensil we're supplied with is a knife. You eat with your hands and drink your soup from the bowl. The bread was wonderful -- I could have eaten that all night. Water is provided for those who don't want or need any more alcohol.
The servers are also our entertainment. Between serving courses, brief explanations are given about the dining habits and foods of the time, and after the main course is served, they sing a variety of songs, including, of course, "Londonderry Air," better known as "Danny Boy."
Also during the festivities, the staff pick on one of the audience members, trumping up some charge against him and tossing him into a small cell at the side of the room. This night they pick a very short Scotsman who's apparently there with a group of fellow retired RAF officers. He'd come over during the serving of mead and visited with us, which is how I knew he was retired RAF. To be set free from his confinement, he's call upon to sing, which he does with gusto and a fine tenor voice, and is joined by the members of his group on the chorus of the song.
The evening proves to be a grand topper to our time in Ireland. We walk back to our hotel, which involves crossing a highway without the benefit of a light or a crossing guard, but it's after 11, so there's not a lot of worry involved.
In the morning we'll board a bus for the airport and head for home. Our time was brief but full of the kind of moments that make for great memories. We wish we could have stayed longer but are grateful for the time spent.
I'll have one more blog with some random thoughts and a couple of more pictures, If you've muddled through these ramblings, thanks for taking the time to join our journey, if only vicariously.
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