Day 25: The day we went down to Doolin

This morning we woke bright and early and prepared to hop on the bus that would take us to Doolin. The night before our host had been kind enough to phone the tour bus company and ask about the feasibility of being dropped off in Doolin at the end of the trip (when the bus would swing by it anyway) instead of coming all the way back to Ennis and then taking a regular bus. She set it all up, even bringing the bus to our B&B to pick us up (this had already been arranged for another traveler who was staying at Sleepyhollow but it was certainly pleasant). At ten thirty we were on our way, passing quarries and Irish countryside and enjoying the view exceedingly. Recent graduate that I am, I spent a good bit of the time looking at the tall brush as we passed it and studying the effects of the air that the bus was carrying with it: when the wave hit the bushes, how they reacted, and no one is interested in this but me so I'll stop now before you all fall asleep.

A lot of the view was this, but I didn't really mind...

We arrived at our first destination, a castle from the fourteen and sixteen hundreds (the tower was built in the 1400s, the rest in 1681). It's on private land so we couldn't go too close, but it was nice to see it and also to stretch our legs a bit, get a couple of photos.

The older bit is the part on the right with the arrow slits for windows

We then moved on to a ring fort with a gift shop and cafe. Since the fort was not free, we frugal Shears just chilled in the cafe and ate a bit (I got a scone and we got some local black pepper cheese to eat later, the sample was delicious) and got what views of it we could from the parking lot.

It was this really big stone circle with super thick walls; people used to live inside it and bring their livestock in at night. Pretty good system, actually.

We moved on to an ancient burial site in a bit of limestony landscape, a 6,000-year-old rock structure where a couple dozen remains have been found. Pretty neat, and it was nice to imagine so much history that this little collection of rocks may have seen.

It certainly has a bit of that ancient-y feeling

Then we drove fully into the Burren (super rocky landscape) and stopped for lunch at a nice seafood restaurant, and spent a few minutes on a cliffside enjoying the amazing views. Especially with polarized sunglasses (but even without), the sea was an amazing dark blue with hints of teal in the shallower areas.

Beautiful rocky cliffs

The view straight down. Don't worry, I took the precaution of telling Mom I loved her just in case. 

Then we were on to the Cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland's most famous coastal landmarks. They are truly impressive: a couple of football fields in height and rearing straight up from the ocean to the visitor area above.

The Cliffs. I think Leap Year figured no one would mind if they were moved to the Dingle area for improved effect (Never use that movie as a travel guide for Ireland, but do watch it if you like a good romantic comedy)

Back at the rest of the Cliffs. I loved the little rock outcropping that stuck out a bit from the rest, it was like a watchman for the west coast of Ireland.

Down at the rocks. The water was wonderfully clear.

Then, because we weren't returning to Ennis, we were shuffled to another bus that was going through Doolin, which actually dropped us off right at our B&B. The driver jumped on to the bus before we could pay him, but he was incredibly helpful, as was our original driver who arranged it all. The Irish don't seem to care much for all of the laws of the road and whatnot, but they will be incredibly flexible to help someone out, and we certainly appreciated it.

We checked in, dropped our bags off, and were given a lift into Doolin by our host, who happened to be going that way anyway with her sister. We wandered along the road for a good while, got some ice cream, and then sought out a pub for dinner (wrong order, I know, but hey, we're on holiday, we're allowed to do that). We had some delicious food including seafood chowder (all sorts of meat including mussels, salmon, and some kind of white fish--really neat combination, you don't really see that in the States), and finally tried a pint of Irish Guinness. Everyone says it, I know, but Guinness really is better in Ireland than elsewhere. It's positively creamy over here, and much less bitter. It's as tasty as any other beer I've had, or maybe I'm just finally starting to like beer. I still like cider better, but this was certainly worth a taste.

We walked back home (about three kilometers or so, our accommodation is actually pretty far away from Doolin itself, or at least the little line of pubs that calls itself the town center) for about an hour, and saw a beautiful sunset on the way. It was a lovely evening indeed.

Ruined...castle?...and house

We stopped for a few minutes at a different pub and caught a jam session. It was really neat to watch, especially with so many different instruments (guitars, a couple of harps, this weird arm-bagpipe thing, even a concertina!)

More sunset as we walked the final few hundred meters through farmland