Ireland - The Cliffs of Moher

By now we were headed south of Galway, having picked up my brother Aidan, and on the road to see the Cliffs of Moher, a natural wonder of the gaelic world. Here, Nikki and myself pose with the cliffs in the background.

Next you see myself and Aidan. At all natural wonders of the world (such as Grand Canyon), I have to give Aidan a bearhug. Just goofing around. Wouldn't be the same without it.

Next while i am videotaping the events, someone .... to remain anonymous, is surreptitiously taking my picture ...

And what am I videotaping

Ireland - onward from Connemara

Here we find some ancestor's ... and this was the last of Connemara

Onward we went, south of Galway, to county Clare ... and headed towards the cliffs of Moher. Traversing Clare, you will cross the Burren, a bare landscape of plants and flowers that dot the rocks, until you reach the coast line where we preen for photo's.

And is it a bird? is it a plane? No. The forlorn figure in the background, is my brother, Aidan, searching for a quiet spot to pee. Remember we are on the coast ... howling wind ... which changes direction !!!

Here is an example of the rocky coastline. So beautiful. You have to go and visit. Really.

Next we see the 2 desperado's ... Aidan and myself.

After this we arrived at the famous Cliffs of Moher !!!

Ireland - more of the same as we head to Connemara

The local Whole Foods store, or what is left of it, after they ran out of organic eggs. These irish do like their eggs !!!

After a while, some of the locals take an interest ...

Now we start to delve into Connemara country ...

And this leads us to Delphi .... no oracle needed here .... jaw dropping beauty instead.

What more could you ask for, in a savage wilderness

Well perhaps its time to "Eat, Pray, Love"?

The Irish version of an ashram in connemara ... a church for travellers .... "Stop, Pray, Buy-A-Pint"

Ireland - the west continued

Some local traffic, although for the most part the roads were narrow but quiet

then the odd local castle or tower was visited

then we saw more beautiful and wild coastal views, this time Achill island, I believe

And for some more flavor, traditional cottage or sheds ... sort of like barns

and after all this coastal stuff, we then went to Sligo, where we missed our buddy Leonard (doing Yeats) by one day. Bummer. Sligo is the home of all things Yeats - Yeats festival, Yeats Summer school, yadda yadda yadda. We went to the museum at the Yeats Society in town, which is the red brick building on the left below.

After that, the only excitement left was seeing a belgian "cinquecento" in Ballina, on the way back to Stella Maris.

And lastly a windswept beach shot, taken outside the hotel, with me wearing my achill island cardigan. I had to buy something as we left 100 degree weather in NY to arrive in 50-70 degree weather in ireland, complete with wind and mist !!!

Ireland continued .... the west is alive !!!

Well, the focus of our trip now was in touring the west of ireland ... both Connemara, the Mayo coast and Sligo or Yeats country as it is better known (after WB Yeats).
First Mayo coastline .... gorgeous

And a video of the local area

 Next we enter the irish speaking area, or "gaeltacht" as it is known. No english spoken here !!

Conversing with the locals in Irish can be difficult, so better use the services of a reputable translator such as our 2 friends below

After that, a visit to the local wise man !!!

Then we see a pocket of resistance to big oil & gas. Apparently Shell is running a pipeline from offshore drilling rigs to land, but at very high pressure (something only done in the Niger Delta i am told, and thus quite risky, from a local point of view).
Here are various pics

After the oil & gas, we need a refill ourselves. Lo and behold, an old friend ....

We saw a Cayman in Ireland, about 10 boxsters (often with English registrations though) and 3 911's. That's more than I saw from coast to coast in the USA, when we made our trip a few years back.

Ireland - "The Vacation" - visiting the "wehshht"

Well, we just had a marvellous 10 days or so in Ireland. Home to see the folks, for their 40th wedding anniversary (Happy 40th to Denis + Brid), and to see the rest of the family. We also took the opportunity to discover ireland a little, and for me to retrace steps of old haunts on the west coast of ireland (or as we pronounce it, the "wehshht"), while for nikki, to learn something new and discover new places and see new things.
Here is a little bit of rain to start things off .... Ireland would be a great country, it was once said by a wit, if it had a roof.

Next we have green countryside. Oodles of it.

Next a local

Next a local town, perhaps Ballycastle, Co. Mayo.

And where would we be, if we did not include a church or 12 ;-)

After that, all that is left is to visit out accomodation for the next three nights .... a little hotel, on the ocean, on the northern Mayo coast, private and quiet with great food & service, run by an irish woman and her american husband, and a true treasure .... The Stella Maris hotel

From our window, we had an oceanfront view to die for ...

And a nice room to boot

That's about it for the debut to our tour ....