Summer in Ireland

Next up was Galway, a small city right on the coast.

Although the place was packed, she actually enjoyed it, had a nice lunch and a walk along the river Corrib with its salmon weir and a few fishermen dotting the banks.

The Spanish gate

I don't think he is a druid, but he was keen to be in the photo

After a quick swim in the ocean, we drove on to the tiny settlement of Weir Village, where we spent the night at the end of a dead end street right next to a river with only two other motor homes. After two nights spent in parking lots, this was a welcome change, and we slept very well.

Now it was time to explore Ireland's most visited sight, the Cliffs of Moher. And I have to say, they are really impressive. 

My human took Carmelo on a 18 km hike, all but the last five along the coastline and the cliffs. It was mayhem one kilometer either side of the visitor centre and the car parks. The rest of the hike was spent almost in solitude. 

At the end point, in a small village, they had a beer outside a pub while waiting for the bus to bring them back. If they had known that it was 45 min delayed, they would have had another one.

Because of this delay, we were too late to visit the Doolin Cave, which is home to the largest stalactite in Europe. Now you are asking yourself, is that the one hanging down or standing up? I have a tip how to remember which is which. Has to be told in private, though.

Early the next morning, to beat the crowds, we visited the Poulnarbrone Dolmen, a passageway dating back over 5000 years, which makes it the oldest megalithic monument in the country. 21 people were buried underneath. 

My human spoke to an official there who told her some horrific stories of what people had done to this monument. Climbing onto it (never mind that it's clearly cordoned off), making a fire underneath, scratching their names into it and possibly the most astounding, taking a leak against it while being videoed.  

No wonder the poor guy was getting rather tired of his job. 

Afterwards, we visited Dysert o'Dea, a ruined castle with an impressive stone cross outside its graveyard. 

 

We briefly stopped in Limerick and Adare. The latter is meant to be the prettiest village in Ireland. We would disagree. The former was alright for a quick stop over and lunch, but not really anything to write home about (ups!)

No, not a kindergarden project, this was in a real art museum

The only picture taken in Adare, the prettiest village in the country

We spent the night at the trail head of yet another Greenway cycle route. Seems to be a thing here. There was a "no overnighting" sign, but we spoke to some locals there, and they ensured us it would be no problem if we stayed. So we did. Not that there was another good option in a 20 km radius.

They got on the trail early the next morning. It could be described as a 40 km long very green tunnel, truly wonderful. No spectacular views or anything, just pure oxygenation. In our humble opinion much better than the one last week, which is meant to be one of the best cycle trails in the world, if you remember.

We spent the rest of the day on a glorious beach on the Dingle Peninsula, soaking up the sun, maybe getting burned a tiny bit, having an afternoon beer (or two), swimming in the deep blue ocean. 

Ireland has been good to us these last few days, the weather has been exceptional!

The Connor Pass, Ireland's highest, brought us over to Dingle, a charming little town with a beautiful natural harbor, where we spent some time just sitting on a bench (not me), enjoying the scenery.

View from Connor Pass down to Dingle

Not a bad breakfast spot

Some 20 km down the road, we stopped in Annascaul, so my human could have lunch at the "South Pole Inn". The only restaurant she knew she would go to before we even left home some three month ago.

The pub was founded by Tom Crean, a South Pole explorer from Annascaul, who's been on three trips with Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case, reality didn't reflect expectation and the food was rather disappointing. Nice little garden, tough.

Via Inch Beach, what I think of as the Copa Cabana of Ireland, we made our way to Killarney. For it being a Thursday, the town was chockablock with people. And still one has to wonder how all these restaurants and pubs can survive, there were so many! 

Inch Beach

Views from Killarney

We are far away from Liverpool

Parking therefore was a bit of an issue, and we ended up just on a road outside a college. Since the kids are currently on holidays, we didn't think it would bother anyone. And it probably didn't, but it wasn't the greatest night we've ever had.

The whole point of coming here was so my human could ride through the Gap of Dunloe on the bike. The way to do that is to take a 2h boat ride across three lakes and the two rivers connecting them. Then you ride your bike 5 km up a steepish hill to a narrow pass between two mountains. From there it's downhill cruising, setting fire to your brakes. 

I am glad they were not mine.

Giving the brakes a break

Looking back at the Gap of Dunloe

Not bothered at all

With all this bike riding lately, it was time for a hike. And not just any hike. The objective was a 12 km track, bagging 8 summits on the way, including the three highest in the country, with Carrauntoohil taking the crown, standing at 1038 meters.

Since this wasn't the normal route to the summit, there was a blissful absence of people, at least until the two routes intersected. 

On the summit, my human got to talk to a local who told her these were the best conditions he's ever had on this mountain. And he has been up there around a dozen times. 

Punk sheep

                   Carmelo on the summit of Carrauntoohil

As they were chatting, a helicopter approached, did some circling and eventually dropped one of their crew on a ridge just below the summit. As this was her way down, she asked him what was going on. Three people were stuck on the Eastern wall of the mountain, one of them not able to move out of fear. 

On the summit, a few meters to the East, there is a very clear sign that says "turn back NOW". This probably means you should turn around right there! Still, I hope they got them down eventually.

Since all of us were pretty dusty, sandy and dirty after those past days, we treated ourselves to a night on a campground, so we could get cleaned up, emptied out and refilled with fresh water.