County Clare -- to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher and WEASIL!

18 May 2012

536

R. Linda:

I rolled out of bed quite literally. I felt like . . . Dragon must feel when she rolls herself out of bed every morning. I know I am being a terrible son-in-law, but well . . . you know.

So I did go down for breakfast and I managed a few cups of coffee and I did have half a breakfast roll, a tiny one. I truly was not hungry. We set off for Galway Bay, me with me belt in two notches by morning, but I still couldn't snap me jeans, HOWEVER, I did manage to get me fly all the up even if me gut was hanging over the edges like a tyre . . . ok two tyres.

Now there be nothing much in Galway put a pretty bay and the city isn't particularly anything to write home about. Our driver took us past the "cateedral" on which no one commented, but I decided since we were here I said to our driver, "How about we drive by where the Che Guevara Lynch memorial is going to be?"

"Seriously?" Tonya quipped up not happy with me suggestion.

"Oh dat isn't official yet it isn't. It be all because his motter be a Lynch and da Lynches are all frum Galway dey be. Oh, an sum fella frum New Jersey hadda idea." He said.

Silence reigned over the three people from New Jersey. No one said anything as I tried to figure out whether that was true or our driver was just having us on. Then Tonya remembered she wasn't from New Jersey, "Oh that's okay I'm from Canada anyway."

Once we got to Galway City we were dumped on the sidewalk with the proverbial, "Stretch your legs, have a bite to eat, I'll meet you here in an hour." We looked about and said, "How about 20 minutes instead?" Just enough time for a potty break and then back on the road.

 

Galley down by the water

We walked about but there wasn't much to see or do, so we were back at the van probably before our twenty minutes of sightseeing Galway City was up. We piled back in, and I should say I lumbered in and I swear the van springs creaked with the weight of me and it sort of tipped to the left side (my side). Once I shifted me weight to the middle and all four tyres were grounded, off we set for the Burren, exhaust pipe hitting the pavement from the extra weight. Now while I have not travelled the west much at all, I have been to the Burren. It be an Ireland of another view it be. It be limestone mostly and you can't grow anything, some find a patch or two for sheep (the lime makes the grass sweet), but mostly it be a wild place. We headed up into the foothills of County Clare and suddenly we pulled over.

"Photo opportunity fer ya." Our driver said. "Behind us are the white horses."

Now I had no idea what he was talking about, I looked around and no horses of any colour did I see. I even whispered to me parents if they knew what we were supposed to be seeing. They didn't.

Well, the driver had to get out of the van and point them out. Now really, I took a good look at these "drawings" for they were not living animals, and they seem like someone painted them in modern times, they certainly did not look ice age to me. Here they are, what do you think?

We couldn't get up to these but they looked too modern and painted

Back in the van, we got and onward up twisty corkscrew roads that were called corkscrew and the further up we went, the more the limestone dominated the landscape. At times it looked like snow.

The Burren -- the limestone looked like a dusting of snow

We got to a place called Poll na Bron which is a portal tomb or dolman which be made from the native limestone from the Neolithic period. It was found that there were at least 22 people buried underneath the dolman, whether they were still there or had been removed I do not know, but the place be calm and peaceful.

                                                                                        

Poll na Bron

It took some time to get to the dolman and some time to get from the Burren to the coast. Our next stop was heavily anticipated by the Abdullah family, Cliffs of Moher and for me, the dread meeting up with Weasil. Now the day had been a medium one, yes it was, the clouds came out and then the sun came out for short periods, and the wind was up. As we got to the cliffs it became a soft day of light misty rain. This was not good because the fog rolled into the cliffs at the drop of a hat and you can't see two feet in front of you. Now this site be touted as one of the new seven wonders so to drive all the way there, you want to see them. We lucked out, and after a bit the rain stopped, the clouds lifted and the sun was glorious.

Here are a few shots.

                                                                                  

As the rain moved out

 

And the sun appeared

We got great shots -- That is O'Brien's Tower and below is the sea stack named Branaunmore (that's the rock formation at the bottom left)

It was as the sun came out, and as I was leaning over a bit of fencing to take the above picture, a hand slapped down on me back hard, nearly sending me toppling over the edge. And who else would do such a thing? This person:

                                                                                    

There he was in all his glory. The young whippersnapper there to make me need a holiday from me holiday. I was like REALLY? Don't you have someplace to be? Like with your OWN family. No, no, I be HIS bestest friendie in the whole wide worldie and hey Gabie how about some cliffy hanging?

Yeah right. I told him no, but don't let me stop you . . . and it didn't.

I tell ya THIS be not allowed, but ... in the world of Weasil -- anything goes

 

None of us could watch this crazy feat of lunacy so we went up to O'Brien's Tower where thankfully we couldn't watch him lose his grip and fall to the sea stack below. When we thought he was either smashed to smithereens or gone, we headed back to the other side of the cliffs before heading back to our van and a speedy get-away.

Before he fell off we left because we couldn't take it anymore. Unfortunately, later he found us and he was in one piece. I dunno.

Gabe
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