The boys of the NYPD choir...
Our second week in Ireland heralded the end of the rain, at least for a little while, so we decided to make the most of it and took a drive down the coast road along the southern edge of County Galway.
Before we got there, we got sidetracked by this pretty view and the shop across the road from it.
Anyway, postcard buying urges satisfied, we did actually set off for the coast road. Which is beautiful and wild and full of delicious views like this one.
So yes, it might have been a bit cold, but we went for a walk on the beach regardless. That's what beaches are for, right?
And then onwards to Roundstone, a quaint little village. More lovely views and a yummy brunch at the Bog Bean Cafe. Broken biscuit cake is amazing.
Onwards again, still following the loop of the coast road back up towards the main road. Saw lots of Connemara ponies, so that part of my Ireland dream was definitely fulfilled. Beautiful animals.
Up along the main road, which is every bit as brilliant as the coast road, just minus the sea views. Had a brief stop at Oughterard to eat lunch and to watch the river go raging past - obviously a bit swollen with the rain.
At last, late afternoon, we came to Galway having spent more time than we'd expected pootling along from Letterfrack. Galway's a nice little place, supposedly great for live music, though we didn't go to see any. Took a walk along the bay front instead and, obviously, sat on the beach singing Fairytale of New York. All together now...
Anyhoo, we weren't really in the mood for cooking and given that there was a really nice looking pub not far from the hostel, we figured we'd eat out. Ended up at McSwiggans, where we had a really good meal for a pretty reasonable price. Chocolate fondant pudding was gorgeous. Yum.
And then to bed in anticipation of what would be our longest driving day.
Why is it still raining?
A bright start in Galway lulled us into a false sense of security. Not far out of the city the clouds rolled in and down came the rain. Any vague plans we might have had to stop somewhere and explore the Burren, a beautiful limestone landscape, were rained off.
As was the plan to stop in Lisdoonvarna to investigate the Matchmaking Festival. No parking anywhere to be found and still the rain came down. Onwards.
To the Cliffs of Moher! Famous, they are. Even got themselves into a Harry Potter film. I'll admit they're pretty impressive but getting charged 6 euro each to park the car when entry to the visitor centre is free was galling. By all means, charge to park, but charge per car, not per person in the car.
The visitor centre itself was... middling. The "virtual reality" film we saw was... how to put it kindly... badly done? Maybe if we hadn't just driven nearly 2 hours in the rain to get there we might have been a bit more open to it. As it is, it's a blatant tourist trap and you'd be better off parking further up the coast and walking in. If it's not raining, of course.
Rant aside, we pootled off again along the Wild Atlantic Way, sadly without the stunning views we were hoping for. A quick ride on the Shannon Ferry brought us from County Clare into County Kerry and then, with the weather apparently clearing, we went on the lookout for something to do.
We found nothing. It being a Sunday, a lot of places seemed to be on reduced opening hours and most towns we drove through were dead. And so we came to Tralee, after about 4 hours of driving, a bit miserable and damp.
Nice room at the Castle Hostel, unfortunately compromised by the burst water main in the town centre which meant we had no running water for most of the evening. Lovely owner though who brought in bottles and bottles of water so we could at least have a cuppa.
Oh dear. Not our best day in Ireland.
Weather has taken a turn for the wetness
Next morning in Tralee was still damp, but not quite as bad. Did a quick run to the Tourist Information office to book onto a whale watching trip and then headed off on the morning drive to Dingle.
And it rained again.
By the time we got to Dingle, the weather was improving and we managed to have a wander around the town. Another lovely little place, with plenty of independent shops and galleries. Grabbed some lunch at the Treehouse Cafe, which was filling and really reasonably priced.
Raided a few gifts shops and finally made it to a post office to post off the stack of postcards I'd built up. There's something really lovely about sending and receiving postcards don't you think?
Quick trip up the road then to our hostel for tea. Rainbow Hostel in Dingle is brilliant - it's got a massive kitchen and clean, reasonably sized rooms. Scoffed down some pizza and then headed back into town to finally find ourselves some live music in a proper Irish pub.
And by proper Irish pub I mean a pub that doesn't have a whacking great sign outside advertising itself as a "traditional Irish pub". I've always thought there was something a bit "lady doth protest too much" about that. Decided to try out John Benny's on the seafront. I'd say it was reasonably priced, but I don't have much to compare it against. Good live music though, so we spent a good few hours in there before heading back to the hostel to get a good night's sleep before our planned whale watching trip the next day.
Hostels:
Galway, Co. Galway: Salmon Weir Hostel
Tralee, Co. Kerry: Castle Hostel
Dingle, Co. Kerry: Rainbow Hostel
Things to do:
Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare (admission to visitor centre: free. Parking: 6 euro/person)
