Travelin' About

That means 1,000 welcomes in Gaelic and we really did feel welcomed! Ireland greeted us with sunny, warm weather, very unlike what we had been prepared for. I was looking forward to a cold, foggy trip to the Cliffs of Moher – thought that would make great photography – but as we approached it, we found ourselves shedding layers and were quite surprised, and challenged, to discover bright sunlight displaying the cliffs to us in all of their glory. I set the tripod up and attempted a panoramic view. Don’t think I captured it, in it’s noontime sunlit glory, but it we did witness a spectacular vista. We drove on, frustrated by the roads. Driving was more challenging than we had ever anticipated. We were prepared for the left side of the road challenge and even the perplexity of the left side driver’s seat. We’ve both driven stick shifts, albeit not on the left, but the twisty windy roads that weren’t wide enough for the traffic…and ongoing, constant impatient cars behind us really made ...

Day 2. Great Irish breakfast (fried egg, ham, sausage, warm tomato & black & white pudding) and off to the Aran Islands. Thought we were late for the ferry but luckily we made it. The Irish don’t seem to be known for punctuality. It was a warm, gorgeous day as we ferried over to the beautiful islands. We got ourselves bikes and headed to the lighthouse. The Aran Isle (Innishmore) was absolutely spectacular! It was a very warm, sunny June 1st, I was actually overdressed with my short sleeve shirt, but the whole island was alive with color, texture and form. Stonewalls everywhere decorated by a multitude of colorful flowers and accented by cows, sheep and horses. I told Andy that if I ever have trouble sleeping, remind me of how wonderful it felt to be bike riding on the roads of the Aran Island. What a fabulous day, as we were surrounded by magnificent sights, wonderful weather and just a great sensation of finally being away on vacation. My plan was to try and get as far east ...

Day 3: Another difficult night’s sleep despite the clean place and nice bed .. it wasn ’t far off the highway & we heard car noises all night. Kathleen served a great Irish breakfast (her husband had worked for Waterford – he is an unemployed house painter now) We told her we were headed for the Ring of Kerry and she recommended, instead, that we head for Clifden (back where we had come from – west of Galway ) and Connemara and Oughterard . She said that Clifden was an hour away whereas Killarney was 3 hours. She lied. Or perhaps the problem was that we kept stopping for photo ops and to check things out. We did have a great day, seeing more magnificent sights, stopping to explore and photograph the Aughnanure Castle , Cong where the Quiet Man Bridge is located, the 12 Bens (mountains), boglands filled with sheep, and visiting the town of Clifden where we were convinced to take their scenic seaside ride (and saw the best caste ever!). We arrived at the magnificent K ylem ore ...

Andy's thought on Ireland: Stinks like cow poop Drivers all think they're Mario Andretti Good seafood Stone walls everywhere The B&B people are nice and friendly My thoughts: Gorgeous countryside Wildflowers everywhere Lots of ruins - old churches, etc. Beautiful weather (we were blessed!) Yummy brown bread!