And on to the final recce
From Kildare we headed around the Slieve Blooms to Birr, on to Portumna & then into Gort. On our last visit we found a great little café in the square – Gallery Café, highly recommended – where we stopped for elevenses
And then it was off to 'work'
First stop was up the hill behind Bellharbour, nice view across to Finavarra :
These 2 seemed to be stalking me all day
:
The turlough at Callan :
Lunch in Monks in Ballyvaughan, surprisingly I went for the chowder :
The pier in Ballyvaughan :
Then on to the lighthouse at Black Head, next stop Americay :
There they are again
:
After much toing & froing it was suddenly 6pm & we were only a couple of clicks outside Lisdoonvarna so headed there for a bed.
Geraldine negotiated a good deal at the Hydro Hotel, where the only other guests seemed to be a German coach tour, so we settled there
Dinner was a set menu so we decided to wander down the town.
We chose The Roadside Tavern cos the reviews were good, the menu looked great. Now it's rare that I give out about restaurants but I'm going to have a little rant here – their website said they served til 9pm & the handwritten sign outside the door said "open for food"
Imagine our surprise when, about 10 minutes after we arrived, a staff member came over to us and, seeing the menus in our hands, said "ah sure we stop serving at 7 on a Sunday". Feckin muppets
By now it was 9 on a Sunday evening in a very quiet Lisdoonvarna & we were starving. Luckily we found the
Wild Honey Inn who were happy to feed us even though it was knocking off time
We'd a very good dinner, not cheap but worth it (the alternative was a chippy !). My venison (it's a big plate)
:
The following morning it was back out into the hills :
Along lots of these :
Saw these 2 again
:
And visited a few of these :
Lots of water around still :
Feck, they're still there
:
Met this fella in Ballyvaughan. Apparently there was a vintage rally on but we were on a mission :
Then up the Corkscrew & into the Burren proper :
This one's for Bogman :
Looks interesting but we decided not today :
This fella got a bit protective as we approached :
And then it was time for lunch.
Chowder time, obviously :
And then myself & Brian shared a 'toasted special' - ham, cheese & tomato. With bacon, sausage & stuffing on the other side
:
This was followed by more wee roads, :
some nice castles (it's available to rent – we met the caretaker who's fella is apparently an Airhead rider) :
a few derelict old churches, :
and another old castle in a lovely location :
And then as I turned around it became obvious that I was still being followed (although they're not very good at this covert sh1t are they
?)
From here we went and explored around the ancient settlement of Dysert :
Final stop before the boring run home was the Lakeside Hotel for Geraldine to check on bookings and for us to have a quick bite.
In order to add a bit of variety & balance to my diet I chose...
... the chowder
:
A great 2 days in a beautiful part of the world with barely a drop of rain. How bad ?
That's all folks, see youse on the 28th……