May 28th, Doolin to Kinvara

Leaving Doolin, we road along the coast. The guys had a head start but I followed along on their path. I was 

driving up the coast, I stopped at a beach called Fanore which people were walking and walking dogs. On a warm day, it must be great but it was still overcast and cool.

 







 

Further up the road, I stopped to look at some of the houses lining the shoreline and to venture down a road that lead to the water. I thought it may lead to a ruined castle I saw along the way but instead, just to a home and a boat launch.

 

 

Once I rounded Blackhead, I was now going east towards Ballyvaughn. Here it was more beautiful coast scenery. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great day. As I rolled into Ballyvaughn and stopped to take these pictures, it started to rain a bit.

 

 

At Ballyvaughn, we turned south into the Burren to see a some of the more noted places. First, I stopped at Aillwee Cave. I didn't actually pay to see it or the predatory birds exhibit but they had a wonderful market shop with cheeses, jams and honey. I also took some spectacular pictures from the cave site up on the mountain.



Next was the Poulnabrone or the Portal Tomb. Dating back to 3000-4000 BC it is amazing to see something that would have lasted like that. They said one of the stones had to be replaced recently but the original lays near by. They can tell all this from carbon testing. All but one of the occupants of the tomb date to the 3000's BC except an infant placed there 1000 years later. How amazing.  

 

It was then off for a stop at the Stone Fort. I decided not to pay the 6 euros to go out to it and just took the picture below.

I headed down into the Burren further and met up with the guys at the Burren Perfumery. Really cool place that both Mike and I forgot to take a picture of. We had a wonderful sweet potato soup and brown bread for lunch there. You could see them mixing the herbs for the lotions and soaps. I wandered through the garden and would love to see it later in the summer in full bloom.

 

Apparently, I took a wrong turn out of the perfumery and got a scenic tour. I got this picture of Fahee North on my tour.

 

 

 

 So I finally made it to Kinvara. It is a beautiful little town. I am looking for the guest house which is called Kinvara Guest House by the SuperVal. So I see Kinvara House across the street from it and ring the bell. A very old woman answers the door and when I said we had reservation, she told me no it wasn't a guest house. Poor lady, I wonder how often that happens. It turns out that the Kinvara Guest House is next to the SuperVal, on a little street perpendicular to the main stretch.

 

It was probably my least favorite of the places we stayed. Nice photos on the walls but very stark and sanitized. You needed to put your room key in a slot to activate the electricity, plus turn on the plugs. But it was clean and comfortable.

 

That night we headed to dinner to a place on the water where we had an excellent meal right on the harbor. The walk down was really neat with the bright colored houses and pubs.