We popped down to Doolin Pier before setting off around the Burren. This is a busy area, with boats leaving for the Aran Islands. Would love to go out there next time. This time we just enjoyed the fantastic landscape , with the beaches with their backdrop of ancient limestone pavements and the wild waves with crazy surfers swimming far out in the hope of catching the perfect monster wave!
This place really has the WOW factor. The Burren, like the Cliffs of Moher has recently received Unesco geopark status. It should! It is not only a massive area of remarkable glaciated karst landscape, but also has an abundance of archaeological sites and about 70 percent of Ireland's native plant species. I fell in love with it totally and particularly loved 'the erratics', the rocks sitting above the sprawling pavement, thrown out by the moving glaciers. It is amazing how many beautiful plants cling to the sides of the stones or in little nooks and crannies.
There are some pretty , colourful snails around too.
The entire coastline is spectacular, certainly a place not to be missed.
New Zealand- style long, empty roads! Perfect for a restful yet awesome day.
We stopped for a picnic at Ballyvaughan ( Bally means town), to the north of the Burren. It was extremely picturesque with clear water and lots of thatched cottages. It would be a perfect place from which to explore this magnificent area.
We were kept company during the picnic by several local donkeys. I love these creatures with their gentle facial features and hugely long , soft ears.
Throughout the burren there are ancient remnants, including this wonderfully preserved burial chamber, Poulnabrone dolmen, dating from 2500 BC. What a brilliant site with such breathtaking scenery and so many wild flowers!
Incredibly barren, lonesome and yet gorgeous!
After a welcome few hours break on the b and b terrace, enjoying the pleasant evening temperature and writing my blog, we set off to one of Ireland's too attractions, the Cliffs of Moher. It is a spectacular place with its sheer cliffs of shake and sandstone, rising 200 metres above the waves. It was great to be there early evening after the thousands of daily visitors had left, but we still had to put up with viewing idiots perched on the cliff edge taking selfies despite endless notices warning of the fragility of the cliffs and the extreme danger of climbing over the stone walls.
We had another delicios meal at the Bistro in Doolin , seen in the photo below on the right.
We had to return home in our car, but it would have been fabulous to have travelled in this horse- drawn carriage. Wonderful creature, isn't it?
No comments:
Post a Comment