The Burren, County Clare

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20 May, Friday 

The Burren, County Clare

We decided last night to stay another night at Ennis and do at least a bit of "justice" to seeing The Burren. Joan fixed a full Irish breakfast for the Mikes. It was a very nice breakfast with the four of us, lots of laughter.  Mike's bag was supposedly in the Shannon airport and would be delivered to Lakeside sometime today. When trying to confirm that, I ended up in another endless loop of messages at baggage.
We were both off to the Burren in separate vehicles, Kennedys left a bit before we did. It had been cloudy, but cleared shortly before we left, so we went to Cliffs of Moher first. Another beautiful drive with views of the River Shannon as the car climbed toward the cliffs that are set on the Atlantic Ocean. Sheep, cows and old ruins abound. 

A stunning sight, cliffs that rise 650 feet from a crashing Atlantic.  What a view. It is probably always  windy, although it was sunny with brief periods of relative calm. The visitor center is underground, with entrances in the grassy hill, looking like a dwarf or rabbit hole from a Disney flik - all very well done and tidy.
Crashing waves exhibiting the force of the ocean is always mesmerizing. For hours I could watch all the different areas of the lifts as each wave creates a different painting as it crashes into the ungiving cliffs.  Persistence of the waves over time, of course, creates a slightly different coastline. 
At the suggestion of the guide at Quin Abbey, we took the coastal road around to Doolin and on to Ballyvaughan. 
Mike stopped at Doolin to check on boat rides. He was pretty "safe" - it was too windy and turbulent to sail. It was interesting to walk a bit along the coastline here, very rough and rocky.  Doolin is  wee village of scattered homes and pubs and a few stores, with many BnBs.  Famous for it's music, it is a rustic setting and comes alive at night. It would be fun to spend a few nights with a couple of friends and check out the music.
The coastal drive - although overrun with tour buses - was amazing. We watched the inland change to a barren Burren, and then back to beautiful coastline of Galway Bay close to Ballyvaughan. 
Since my musical grandfather Davidson taught me to sing Galway Bay as a 7 or 8 year old, I have wanted to see Galway Bay and visit Galway.  We did not have time to go to Galway as I decided I had higher sightseeing priorities, but at least drove along the bay for bit - satisfied my childhood yearning for this trip.
The first pub was very busy and crowded with at least 3 tour buses, so we passed on that one.  Typical of driving in Ireland, we got through town and had to turn round to find a place to eat. Logues Lodge, across from a Spar store and the visitor center was excellent. I later read it was highly recommended. They also had tour buses booked but we managed to be there between the 12:30 and 1:30 buses - yay us. Ordered scones and jam to go and they were delicious  - in the top 5 of the scone rating system to now. Mike had good fish n chips and I was brave and had roast beef with gravy, potatoes and vegetables. It had a wonderful flavor, especially for the British Isles. 

After lunch, we drove a little on N67 to turn off on R480 to the turn for Ailwee Cave. Passing up Doolin Cave, we decided to take a look at Ailwee Cave. Having been to Carlsbad Caverns, we were skeptical, but decided to have a look.  The Burren is reportedly set on a large series of interconnected caves. Driving up to the cave entrance gave us a spectacular view of Galway Bay with the scrubby, rocky Burren in the foreground. 
 Ailwee Cave was worth the time and money. Not nearly as big a tour as Carlsbad Caverns, but there were only a handful of us and it was very personal and we were close to the formations. A wet cave, it was easy to, well, get  bit damp. The guide also had an entertaining spiel.  The cave was discovered in 1944  by Jacko McGann when his dog chased a rabbit down a hole. When he went after the dog, he discovered  an entry to the cave.  A translator for one group misspoke and said that the dog chased a Rabbi down the hole instead of rabbit. Hmm, interesting mental picture.  Confused some tourists, don't you think?
Another observation by our guide - Stalactite means something is dripping on something else - Stalagmite means something is getting dripped on...
Rather a metaphor for life, don't you think?
I think the guide or whoever came up with that parallel is pretty dead-on.
And the joke -pointing out segments of a stalagmite - Timeline on Stalagmite from the top most recent drips - 1st 3rd marks Alexander the Great, 2nd third represents he building of the pyramids, below that somewhere is the oldest- when Mick Jagger met Keith Richards - they are the oldest Stones - (rim shot)
Back to the road, we passed several ruins, barren country with scrubby growth, grazing sheep on our way to the Burial portal Poulnabrone Dolmen - ancient burial portal on the Burren, amidst stony walks with fossils evident in the stones. When excavated in the 1980s, remains of over 25 people were found along with numerous artifacts. It looks like a stone tablet, set out amongst the rocky hills.
The capstone weighs 5 tons. Strange to reflect on this ancient structure, it is dated at around 4000 BC. Consider all the ages that have passed with the variety of peoples that have viewed and used this structure. 
Back to R476, back toward Ennis and the R458 to Lakeside's R473.  I really wanted to walk down for a close look at Killone Abbey and Killone Lough. We followed the directions for driving part way that Joan had given us (2nd right, then 1st right, park at the gate), and walked a bit to the abbey ruins. Very nice walk and good fun tromping through the ruins.

Arriving back at Lakeside, Joan told us "no bag."  Argh. After trying AGAIN several times to contact Aer Lingus by phone about the lost bag, we drove to Shannon airport, partially in meltdown mode at this point. Mike talked to the man, they tried to check on the bag's whereabouts, but really did not know where the bag was  -  thought it might arrive on the flight from Manchester tonight. The bag claim man was very nice, very apologetic and promised to call us if the bag came in.

So the next stop was shopping at Dunnes to get Mike a few clothes, back to Ennis and we located - with a nice lady's help - (The Irish are truly the most helpful people ever) to locate the Dunne's Store that we couldn't miss, right.  Once inside the plain front, I could see how people said "It's big, you can't miss it"  we, on the other hand, had missed it twice, it was just down from Poet's Corner - sigh.
Dinner was lovely, visited with a couple from Boston that had just been in Dingle, and let the Guinness soothe frayed nerves over the luggage.
Back to Lakeside and good night.
Good at his word, the bag claim man phoned - around  11:00 pm ( or 23:00) to tell us Mike's bag arrived at Shannon.
In retrospect, the bag was not such a big deal as we it made to be. As usual, fretting is useless and self- destructive.