At dinner they ordered a bottle of wine, then twisted my arm to have some. Then, because they had ordered their dinner before I came down, they waited for me to finish my meal before having their dessert served, so that we could all eat together (a delicious apple crumble). I love meeting people like this on my travels. It's usually what makes a holiday so great. Oh, and the other thing, they spoke in a pure English accent, the accent I love. The accent I wish I had! I was almost embarrassed to talk because the Aussie accent sounds so crass next to their beautifully polished English accent.
Any how, I just wanted to get that down so that I a reminded of them in years to come when I look back on this blog.
Gwynn from last night gave me some recommendations for how to get to Galway, but I realised later in the day that it was my intention to stay in Limerick tonight. But Gwynn's suggestion was to bypass Limerick by catching a ferry across the bay at Tarbert and that would save quite a bit of time on the trip. So this morning I headed off, with an inkling that I would take his advice, but sort of see where the day takes me type of attitude.
All three of them had also recommended (as long as the weather was clear) to go to Slea Heads. Which really was just doing a full circle of the peninsula. And when I checked out, Morris suggested I should go in a clockwise direction because the roads are so narrow, you don't want to come head to head with a bus. Along the drive I did come up behind a bus and I was so grateful I took his advice, because if I had've been coming the other way, there would only be one option, and that would be to reverse until you happened upon someone's drive way! Seriously!
I got to Slea Heads with a few photo op stops along the way, and although this leg took about an hour and half out of my day, it was well worth it. I don't think I can fully express in these words and in the few amateur shots I post here, how exceptionally beautiful this area of the world is. You just need to trust me, and/or plan to see if for yourself if you haven't already.
Full circle, and I was back in Dingle for the third time (once when I arrived the night before, then to start the drive to Slea Heads I had to go back to Dingle, and then at the end of the drive). I probably could've short cut the trip by a few ks if I'd looked at my map, but meh, whatever. From Dingle I took the road to Tralee. From Tralee forwards, the landscape changed quite significantly again, and I was able to get on a highway for a large stretch of the road, which, driving wise, was a nice change.
The bridge at Listowel (the next town), had flower pots hanging from the bridge! Have I told you how pretty this place is? (Later in the day I saw another bridge that also had flower pots hanging on it!) And have I mentioned that most places I drive into have signs up saying that they're a tidy town competition winner?
I reached Tarbert and I arrived at the Ferry, just as cars were driving on, so there was no waiting around which was great timing. The trip over cost 18€ and took 20 mins. Oh, and it rained a bit.
I had a mental debate about whether I should go to Ennis before going across to the Cliffs of Moher. I didn't go to Ennis. I drove west and stopped for lunch at Kilrush I think. I happened to stop the car right in front of a deli come butcher (weird I know, but it was like they were two separate shops, and decided to knock down the middle wall and put the cash register in the middle). I ordered a chicken wrap to go and I ate it in the car as I drove.
I went through Doonbeg, Quilty, Spanish Point and Lahinch before getting to the Cliffs of Moher. And Oh My God! I could not believe all the cars and buses I saw in the car park. Apparently the Cliffs are the most visited attraction in Ireland. I paid my fee, put my down jacket on and walked over to the views. And stunning they are! But it was at this point that I realised that you need to get to the Cliffs in the morning, that way you would have the right light to take a couple of decent photos.
Moving on, I drove to Lisdoonvarna. You know the Luka Bloom song about Lisdoonvarna? And you know the move called the Matchmaker (I think? with Minnie Driver), yep, it hosts a festival in September for Singles! Any way, apparently there are some natural springs with different minerals near the river, so it was my intention that I would go for a dip. But buggered if I could find them, or a river for that matter, or even a sign indicating which direction. I drove up and down the Main Street, plus a few other streets to no avail. By this time it was about 4.00 so I just drove on out of there and took the road to Galway.
I got to Galway and before entering the heart of the city (not sure if it's a city - it has 100k people - what does that make it?), I stopped at a petrol station for a toilet stop and to work out where I was going to stay. I turned on the GPS and headed for my first choice. I had to go through the town centre, and OMG, what a traffic nightmare! In fact, it wasn't even what you would call 'traffic', no, a better term would be 'car park'.
Eventually we moved on, and I made it to my first choice of B&B. No vacancies. I headed for my second choice. No vacancies. I headed for my third choice. No-one home. I headed for my fourth choice and decided to take the room despite not really liking the place. It creeped me out a bit, older lady (she was lovely enough), but not sure the cleaning is up to scratch and she sounded like she was a bit sick.
I pretty much just dumped my bag, but rather than drive into town, I rang for a taxi. After the traffic nightmare in the middle of the city, I didn't want to be driving around looking for a car park. I think that was a good decision despite the cost of a taxi. I got the taxi driver to drop me off in the town centre, and I had in mind where I was going to eat, and he happened to drop me off where I could see the restaurant. It was a Thai restaurant that was listed in the magazine I mentioned in an earlier post. And I ordered a simple red vegetable curry, and it was fantastic.
After dinner I walked around the city a bit. Then I came across a little place that served pies. There were savoury pies, and of course, dessert pies. I needed more pie like I need a whole in the head, but the place just looked so inviting, and what a great concept for a shop. I went in and ordered Apple Pie of course. And, it was amazing! The pastry was perfect! It turns out the owner is a guy called Mark and he is an Aussie!
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In the taxi ride back, just chatting to the driver, the topic of the rate of emigration out of Ireland came up. It seems to be the topic on everyone's lips, I've had the conversation countless times now. The economy is in such a state, that the youth are simply up and leaving. Primarily to Canada, but also to Australia. (Paulline, from my walking tour of Dublin said that Ireland's population has never recovered since the great famine.) On the radio yesterday I heard what I thought was a good sign in relation to the economy, and that is that the unemployment figure had dropped. When I mentioned it to Gwynn he was completely cynical about the figures and simply said 'you can't claim unemployment if you don't live in the Country'. Rosemary and Deborah and I also had the conversation, and I asked, well what is it that they manufacture. And really the answer is nothing. It appears they only have farmers.
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