The one intersection in Ballyvaughan above.
5.29.09 - We wake up today at the Dalmaroy Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland at 5:50 a.m., sail through the breakfast buffet ("No haggis today, thank you, I'm flying"), and drive as quickly as legally possible to the Edinburgh airport. We get nailed with some hefty overweight baggage fees by Aer Lingus. Even so, the Aer Lingus people are extremely nice and helpful. After talking to two different people, we pay less than half of what we were originally told. We board and land in Dublin, Ireland after a short hour-long flight.
We have some crazy car business with Hertz because of our large American suitcases not fitting in the rental car we reserved. Like the Aer Lingus staff, the Hertz crew is great and helpful beyond expectation. The only problem is that we spend over an hour getting the car rental completed. In the end, however, we trade time for money. They upgrade us to a larger vehicle at no extra charge in return for our patience.
By 11:00 a.m., we are finally ready to depart. But, to where? We're winging the Ireland part of this trip by choice. After some discussion of whether to travel south to Wexford or west to the opposite side of the country, we opt to go west. Our friend David had suggested a bed and breakfast in a village called Ballyvaughan in Burren County Clair, on the south side of Galway bay opposite the city of Galway. We call Cappabhaile House (pronounced kap-puh-b'WAIL). They have a room available and are glad to help us.
We travel the estimated three and a half hour trip in about five hours due to lots of construction and it being the begining of a bank holiday weekend (unexpected news to us). We also make some stops along the way to eat and rest. Oh yes, and there is that time we have to pull to the side of the narrow road to let the herd of cows go by.
We finally arrive, fairly exhausted from the little sleep the night before, the early morning, and the long drive. Fortunately, they have a very nice room for us with a beautiful view of green fields rustling and waving in the high winds where cattle are grazing. All of this is at the foot of the mountiain that bears the name used by the B&B, Cappabhaile.
We eat a fine dinner at the Logues Lodge in the village. We come back, make some more plans for our time in Ireland, and are ready to get some sleep. Tomorrow we head for the Cliffs of Moher.
The Dalmahoy this morning.
We have some crazy car business with Hertz because of our large American suitcases not fitting in the rental car we reserved. Like the Aer Lingus staff, the Hertz crew is great and helpful beyond expectation. The only problem is that we spend over an hour getting the car rental completed. In the end, however, we trade time for money. They upgrade us to a larger vehicle at no extra charge in return for our patience.
By 11:00 a.m., we are finally ready to depart. But, to where? We're winging the Ireland part of this trip by choice. After some discussion of whether to travel south to Wexford or west to the opposite side of the country, we opt to go west. Our friend David had suggested a bed and breakfast in a village called Ballyvaughan in Burren County Clair, on the south side of Galway bay opposite the city of Galway. We call Cappabhaile House (pronounced kap-puh-b'WAIL). They have a room available and are glad to help us.
We travel the estimated three and a half hour trip in about five hours due to lots of construction and it being the begining of a bank holiday weekend (unexpected news to us). We also make some stops along the way to eat and rest. Oh yes, and there is that time we have to pull to the side of the narrow road to let the herd of cows go by.
When we're close to Ballyvaughan, we stop to take a break in the village of Kinvara and see the Dungaire Castle below, built in the 1600's.
We finally arrive, fairly exhausted from the little sleep the night before, the early morning, and the long drive. Fortunately, they have a very nice room for us with a beautiful view of green fields rustling and waving in the high winds where cattle are grazing. All of this is at the foot of the mountiain that bears the name used by the B&B, Cappabhaile.
The view from our room at the back of the B&B, Cappebhaille.
One of our first glimpses of the Burren. Thousands of years ago, it was all covered by sod and forests. Now many places are just rock.
We eat a fine dinner at the Logues Lodge in the village. We come back, make some more plans for our time in Ireland, and are ready to get some sleep. Tomorrow we head for the Cliffs of Moher.
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