Ireland Tuesday August 7th - Kinvara

Cliffs of Moher - ***

 

Wow. Just, go. The parking is what costs you at the cliffs, the area is tastefully developed with a few artisan shops in the entrance area and a small cafe/cultural center a little beyond it for the hungry tourist. All along the developed tourist area are small points you can peer over the edge of the cliff and get some cute pictures.
There’s also a small lookout tower there up the steps that gives a great view of the tourist area and Atlantic Ocean. I’ve heard that they’ve had some difficulty with invasions in that area of the Irish Viking variety.
You’ll know the edge of the tourist area when you find a series of ‘No Trespassing’ signs, others begging people to ‘Seek Help’, and ‘Unstable Cliff Edge’ warnings. After all, it’s trespassing, and illegal, and no one I know would ever ever do something as foolhardy and dangerous as the 5.4 mile cliffs hike to the old quarry and further past that to the ancient stone lookout tower with the rotted out floors and crumbling edges on the dirt path that comes within an inch of plummeting, horrifying death. No one at all.

Unfortunately I’ll just have to use these pictures from someone who totally isn’t me that did the hike, sat down at the stone tower, ate an orange with his girlfriend Janet, then walked back along the path again. This guy probably dawdled in the quarry area with the visitor-made stone piles and added a few of his own before continuing along the cliff edge taking pictures and generally making a mockery of his own fear of heights.
So I definitely think the guy who did that hike would advise anyone interested in doing it to only do so in extremely good conditions, probably for them to leave in the morning on a day with a good weather forecast. The day he went he probably got back just in time for an incredible downpour to start which is just like the day before when he tried to get in later in the day. And he’d probably say if you’re planning to hike the cliffs to grab something from the cafe before you leave, but I know you would never consider something so foolhardy.

Ailwee Cave - **

(I am not cut out for cave pictures! Boo!)

This little cave was discovered in 1944 but remained the secret of it’s discoverer for nearly 30 years until 1973. It was developed from there into a small but intimate tour with a small gift shop in the area of several minor attractions on the way to/from the Cliffs. If you’re curious and you want to check it out I say go for it, but you’re not really missing anything if you don’t.

M'asal Beag Dubh Ba Restaurant, Round 2 - ***
Main Street, Kinvara, Co. Galway

Just delicious. Their pizza was awesome and we sat for more Olympic coverage.

Dungaire Castle - ***

Dungaire Castle often runs castle banquets but we were already signed up for one way in advance so we skipped over this aspect, but I’m sure it would have been a great experience. Instead, after a beer and some delicious food, we stopped off at the nearby parking lot and hoofed it over to the castle while stalking some teens. We walked the grounds around the castle and just appreciated the architecture of it, wishing we had a bit more time to really enjoy it.