The Burren

Saturday, May 19, 2012--Killarney to Galway Via The Burren

It was a transition day.  Most of the route, we were on major highways moving fast across the island.  Around noon, however, we cut westward through The Burren, a rugged, rocky part of Ireland, making several stops.

One of the highlights of this area is the Cliffs of Moher, a long stretch of coast lined with high cliffs.  It's a popular spot for visitors.  What made the area even better is that May is a month for small patches of wildflowers growing in pockets of soil among the stones.  Also interesting here is that there are far more buildings with thatched roofs.  We had seen only about 3 buildings so far in all of Ireland with such roofs, but today we saw many ranging from pubs to old houses to new houses.  Today was also special for all the old convertible roadsters we saw on the highways with their tops down.  Apparently people who have kept and restored these old cars take them out into the countryside on weekends.  We were lucky again with the weather--cloudy with the sun occasionally peeking out.  The roadster drivers and passengers must have been cold, even wearing their caps and heavy jackets, since the temperature was only about 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees F).

We stopped in several small towns to explore them.  Doolin was a cute, small coastal town which supposed have the most authentic Irish music in its local pubs.  We stood among the wildflowers on the rocky coast there and watched a dolphin playing in the water.  Lisdoonvarna claims to be the matchmaker capital of Europe with its annual festival for lonely hearts in September.  Ballyvaughan is another coastal town that serves as the unofficial jumping off point for The Burren.

We encountered a mess when we arrived at Galway.  We had carefully figured out an exit and route that would bring us right to our hotel.  But we hit a construction zone and detours.  The city is removing all its traffic circles and installing street lights.  We finally got into downtown only to hit heavy traffic that was having to move into one lane because of construction.  Eventually, we got near our hotel and had to just hope we were on the right street, since streets are seldom named on signs here.  Sure enough, we finally arrived at Amber Lodge.  It's a good location which is only a 5-minute walk from the center of town.  However, parking is very limited, and the rooms are too small.  We hardly have room to open our suitcases, and the entire bathroom is about 2 feet by 5 feet (2/3 m x 1 2/3 m)!  The wifi signal is good, however.  We've had problems at other places with weak signals and/or too much traffic over the connection.

We walked downtown to explore.  I was surprised by the city.  My guidebook talks about it being a trendy and lively city.  It is lively with LOTS of people out, but I they looked more ordinary than trendy.  Actually, many looked like leftover hippies.  And the physical appearance of the city is rather dumpy.  Hardly any of the businesses downtown have had any kind of updating in 50-60 years.  There's lots of peeling paint and old-fashioned looking storefronts.  We will go back down later tonight to see if we can hear any nice music.