Dates: March 21-24, 2015
After leaving Northern Ireland, we stopped
in Knock for a picnic at a shrine. After a little photo opp stop for me to get
pictures of adorable lambs, we ventured to Galway.
We went through Eyre Square and the Spanish Arch, and even found a little leprechaun bridge tucked away. We explored the busy streets, filled with people watching a rugby match between Ireland and Scotland. After some yummy ice cream, we set off for Doolin, taking the Corkscrew Road. The road name was very fitting, and provided us with some great views coming into this seaside town. We explored Doolin while the sun was setting, making everything glow. This little town had 3 pubs, so between dinner and drinks, we ventured to them all. Each pub had live music as well, which we have loved listening to.
just your regular old two lane road
From Doolin, we set off on Sunday for the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs were very impressive, and we enjoyed a lot of walking along the top. Will especially loved the interpretive centre as well (there was “lots of buttons to push”).
We then headed back up the coast towards Ballyvaughan, exploring the totally new sights The Burren area provided. This craggily rock seemed to stretch out as far as the eye could see. There were huge slabs of rock, as well as tons of broken bits everywhere. We then went from Ballyvaughan towards Tralee, taking a short ferry across instead of looping around to Limerick. When we got over, we realized we had enough time to continue exploring, so we drove out to Dingle. The route along this peninsula is filled with spectacular views, and includes a pretty dodgy mountain pass (O’Connor’s Pass), which Mom did great driving along. Dingle was a quaint town, filled with cute shops and restaurants. We ate here before heading out again to Killarney. Before coming on this trip, I had reread my journal from our trip here eight years ago, and we ended up staying in the same place we had loved during that first trip. It was an even better stay than the first time! We explored the streets and then enjoyed live music at a pub for a while.
After a leisurely Monday morning walk through the streets of Killarney, we took off for a day driving the Ring of Kerry. We really took our time with a good look around this peninsula. We started off on the north side, exploring Killorglin and King Puck, a goat that is named King during a festival each year. We then visited the Kerry Bog Village museum, taking ourselves back in time to see how peat is harvested. After a beach visit, we took a road towards White beach, making two great stops along the way. One stop was for two circular stone forts that dated back to at least the 10th century. We never did stop being amazed by the fact that we could climb on something that old! One fort had cool passage ways built underground and the other had many staircases going up all around it. After spending some time there, we went over to the ruins of Ballycarbery Castle, our favourite castle that we visited. This was a castle filled with nooks and crannies to discover. We climbed all over this one, and then caught a spectacular rainbow over a nearby hill! Once we were finished at the castle, we took off for Killarney National Park, stopping for some amazing viewpoints and Torc Waterfall along the way. We finished off with another great dinner and pub night out in Killarney!
On Tuesday morning, we left the west and headed south!
The Burgess Duo
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