Again the morning greets us with a bright warm sun. Heather sleeps in and I go down for breakfast. While sitting eating, I turn away for a minute and when I look back out of the window it is pouring. So much for the bike ride. Within half an hour it stops and I’ve finished breakfast. I take some juice and coffee up for Heather. She is still sleeping soundly. As I look out the window I see a glorious rainbow. I grab the cameras and head downstairs and out to get some pictures of this Irish rainbow. It is full and stretches from one end of the island to the other. It will be a grand day. It is too windy to stay till five, so we decide to take the noon ferry back the car and resume our journey to County Clare.
We take a walk in the hour and half we have before the ferry arrives. We walk around the harbor to the shore opposite the hotel. We get to the beach and as we walk, we sink deeply in the sand. I have never walked in beach sand like this. It is so soft. Seagulls are plating, the gentle bay waves are breaking on the shore, the wind is blowing ever so softly. It is peaceful, very very peaceful. We sit for a time and reflect on it and allow the moment to seep into our souls. We see the ferry in the distance and walk back to collect our bags and to catch the ferry. We sit on the deck outside soaking in the sun and the wind. We are cleansed. It is a glorious trip thus far.
The drive from Rossaveel, the ferry port to Doolin was varied and spectacular. To Galway it was through a very affluent set of communities. The houses were beautiful and modern, the roads wide with sidewalks and lampposts. Once we arrived in Galway, we hit traffic, lots of traffic. It was slow going. The roads were well marked with many roundabouts. Suddenly the suburbia road turned rural. We were past Galway and on our way to Doolin. The landscape became friendly and filled with livestock and wasn’t stark. In fact it looked fertile and rich. Around a turn a castle appeared, an ancient fortress from bygone years. Then the coast road and we were on an adventure.
The glaciers had had fun on the coast of Ireland. They left rock and chasms and rock. The people used the rocks to build houses and roads and walls. Thousands of miles of walls over the land called the Burren. Livestock peopled these spaces separated by the walls of man. Nature simply watched and continued to flourish. The coast, the Atlantic battered the coast. Walls created spectacular displays of rock and water clashes. The water came in and spectacularly crashed against the rocks and walls of stone spraying into the air. The brutality of nature is most evident here. Seeing cattle and sheep, corralled by rocks on the edges of the cliff is awesome. They are prisoners. On the one side of the road are the mountains of rocks. On the other side is the Atlantic Ocean, grassy green fields filled with livestock. A contrast of violence.
And in contrast to all this rough, harsh landscape and walls we hear the free, sweet throated birds of Ireland. One hears them everywhere and all day long, from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun. They are an incredible contrast to the violence of nature.
We arrive at our next B&B, The Daly's House. It is on the bluff and with views of castle ruins and the Cliffs of Moher.
Went to the local pub, O’Connors Pub to eat and listen to traditional Irish music. Food and music was grand. Walking home was fun as we traversed the rocky road home in the dark. There was a little flashlight attached to the key, we discovered when we got home.
Today's Pictures
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