And so it begins….

Tis all done :thumb

Not long in from 2 great days in the Burren with Brian & Geraldine.
If youse are good there might be some pics tomorra night ;)
 
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 :augie:


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 :eek: :


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 :mad:


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) :drool:


The following morning it was back out into the hills :


Along lots of these :


Saw these 2 again :nenau :


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 :D :


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 :blast ?)


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 :thumb :


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……:beerjug:
 
Great shots there, hope that's not roast turkey you are eating towards the end, that wedge tomb is close to Gort far as I remember and a fine example too, well preserved, 2 or 3 of them in close proximity, there's a fine passage tomb near Killaloe, Ashley park as far as I remember, hope to take a trip over there during the weekend we are there, 2nd shot is especially good
 


Back
Top Bottom