Somewhere after Lisdoonvarna our GPS babe played with us for the first time, my concentration was not full on and she said right he turned right and drove us on the coastal road for a good half hour until I realized that we are driving north and should be driving south... we turned round and soon found Doolin and Twin Peaks, owner Sinead O Connor with her husband Pascal (tnx for those breakfasts!) - great combination - we got room with bathtub - I prepared small spa experience for my love after such long day and after 2 hours resting we were ready for some night fun!

 

This pub is legend and I am so glad this was our only night out (most days we were dead from all the walking and fresh air), I felt true Irish spirit here and I am glad it stayed with me. We left around midnight - people were becoming more and more red in their faces and we had all day of walking in front of us so it was time for bed.

 

DAY 4 - Whole morning on Cliffs - not too overwhelmed - too touristic for me, we managed to see birds nesting and walk around.

 

On the way to Burren we decide to follow red signs PONY FARM - we came to a house and a guy in front of the house. He greeted us; I noticed he is a sort of a person with whom you can easily spend whole afternoon chatting. He has a farm with one can never count his wives and horses. Willie Daly is his name. Willie is a one kind of a man - again same as legendary bar in Doolin I am so glad that I had opportunity to meet this wonderful soul. We stayed with him for few hours, chatting about his life, matchmaking and horses. He calls his horses by names. Names of famous actors.  Officially I think our relationship has been blessed (after squeezing my belly fat he announced dear man you have found yourself a very fine woman!) by a very experienced gentlemen. At the moment I am reading his book, signed and bought from author himself! Very interesting reading material. I am a bit sorry that we did not ride his ponies; due to disability that my better half has we are off the bikes and horses. That is life, but one can take all it can and enjoy it to the max!

 

A word, or two more about Willie here. 

We slowly headed towards Kilfenora, checked Burren centre, old Cathedral and drove around Burren until we got lost - was nice to be lost finally - on the way we spotted lots of burial stones, and Poulnabrone Dolmen - I have actually never saw a photo with a person and dolmen on it so was shocked how small it really is - somehow on photos it looked bigger. We found our way back to Ballyvaghan for dinner at Logues Lodge.

 

I have only positive things to say how nice maintained Irish touristic places are. Travelling all over the world I have seen so many tourist attraction, I have visited over 30 countries and Ireland is TOP, NUMBER 1 of not being touristic!!! That is the best attribute that a country can have and still live from tourism!

Both of us really enjoyed empty beaches, animals on the fields, narrow roads with almost no cars, we liked all deserted castles, small ducks on the lakes and flowers that no one will pick...

 

 

DAY 5 - Shannon Ferry - we crossed river Shannon and entered whole new world - south Ireland. We drove straight to Killarney city - we wanted to have lunch (again great one and cheap as well! Cronins Restaurant), easy afternoon and relax a bit.

And if you want to relax Friars Glen is just the place!!! Hilton style rooms, Marriot style breakfasts and true Irish hospitability - all in the middle of Killarney National park! We parked in front of the house just as the boy was cutting the grass, our favorite smell but when we entered the house there was amazing turf food fire waiting for us in the living room... experience for senses and we have been in the house not more than 5 mins. Bridget welcomed us and told us to relax first.

Story goes like this - Mary is wonderful, elegant and manager of the whole house. Mary takes care about the kitchen part of the breakfast as well. Bridget together with one Polish and one Bangladeshi lady takes care about everything together. John is somewhere around all the time, but invisible. He is the one that charged our GPS and unlocked the door late night when we came from our late dinner.

Thing that I liked the most and that Friars Glen has to value is a actually a person - BRIDGET - warm, wonderful lady, live touristic guide, full of handy info, great tips and always smiling!!! And she knows her food places - as u will notice she got our trust.</spa

-- Edited by Flying Girl on Monday 18th of July 2011 04:26:05 PM

-- Edited by Flying Girl on Monday 18th of July 2011 04:26:50 PM

Rest of the afternoon we spent on Valentia Island, drove on a tiny, tiny road to the Lighthouse and drove back cause it was very windy to stay there more than 5 mins! Valentia Island has these big black rocks that with the tides and sea strength got so flat, they look like from another world.

Our GPS drove us to Waterwille, we saw Charlie Chaplin and were sad that we will miss good laughs in August at the Charlie Comedy Festival - it is on wish/to do list as well! Charlie was nice and accepted to take photo with us!

We ended night having delicious (best scampi ever!) at Robertinos in Killarney. Authentic Italian always works just fine. With a French waiter.

 

DAY 9 - In the morning we said bye to our Bridget and Mary and headed towards Cork - the moment we entered city I can freely say both of did not like it at all, it was raining, it was crowded, streets killed even our GPS babe - we wanted to go out ASAP. We stopped at Info centre and guy there killed our will to the end - it was pouring rain, I had to use toilet badly and kind info guy send us to use public toilet, small elevator like box that was 20c for 15mins use - I travel every day, everywhere but have not seen something like this ever. Both of us squeezed in it for the price on one LOL

We quickly had Turkish kebab, searched for net café, found Nan and her Harbour Crest far away from this mess, and finally felt relief. We are going out of the city - the only thing we did before is that we visited Cork City Gaol - good setting but overpriced for 8 euro and 15 years old walkman with headsets not working.

 

Between Kinsale and Clonakilty there is barely anything - that is the beauty of it. Nan is there. With her car and dog. With her teenager neighbour that helps her with breakfast. With her smile. Small, tiny woman but so huge welcome. She made us tea, coffee and brought biscuits. Room was well decorated. Comfy bed, fine bed linen.

She suggested Pink Elephant. She called us to go out with her to a pub in a village nearby - we were to tired. I had feeling we missed great fun. But like so many things - to do in the future list! 

Ok, lets talk food now - best Restaurant experience on our trip! The Pink Elephant is experience - would dare to say new Irish gastronomy with touch of standard Irish charm. And half kilo of unbelievable things inside the package. I had fish, Zoki had lamb. Food is excellent. But it is not about the food.

It is about the carpet in the bar, all the small details over the fire...it is about 2 waiters, about pink piano, about elephants. It is about the school board menu, about pink napkins. About the views that were great even on rainy day. At the end it is different and that won.

We ended up with Guinness and Murphy, and Chocó fudge at home. Nan was dancing somewhere in bar probably.

 

DAY 10 - Our trip was laptop free - now we had a problem, our memory card was full, we badly needed net cafe in Kinsale to transfer photos - not one was open that Saturday - Irish do not deal with tourists - it is Saturday - it is closed - nobody will die. So we switched to smaller format, explored harbour, a bit of city, sent our postcards and headed towards Charles fort. That was our bad weather day. It rained a bit; more of a that boring frog pee than rain.

 

"You know it's summer in Ireland when the rain gets warmer."
- Hal Roach

 

-- Edited by Flying Girl on Monday 18th of July 2011 04:35:05 PM

-- Edited by Flying Girl on Monday 18th of July 2011 04:35:56 PM

Ana,

Welcome back from your trip to Ireland. It sounds like you really enjoyed yourself. Being so close maybe you will get to return again soon.

What a wonderful trip report. I wish I could write as well in a second language! I think you communicated to us very well and your love or Ireland shined through.

Sorry to hear about the glitch with the car. Not a good way to start but you seem to have gotten it sorted out quickly.

Yes, food in Ireland is expensive. It can be a bit of a shock at first. But I see you worked around it with some picnics. Pub grub is another way to cut costs. But there are some restaurants that you must eat at and I see you enjoyed one of my favorites Mitchell's in Clifden.

Seems like you enjoyed more off-the-beaten-path type places rather than "touristy" ones. If you get back to Co. Clare again try their other cliffs at Loop Head. Now that is a place for a picnic.

I'm glad you got to stay at Friar's Glen and Bunratty Lodge. I always enjoy staying at them. I agree that Mary Browne is an excellent host. Maybe next time you can stay and taste her breakfast. It is really good.

Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us. All the details and links were a delight. I hope you get to return to Ireland again. And when you do we hope you come back here and let us help you with your next trip.

Michele

Ana, I enjoyed your trip report. Your English is very good; you certainly expressed yourself well. It is great that you had some 'off the beaten track' experiences, these are what we always remember best.

Stewart