Day Three on the Wild Atlantic Way

Today’s adventure is a day trip to Doolin to see the Cliffs of Moher via the Doolin Ferry. Our tour guide Tony provided a short history of the cliffs and pointed out the varieties of seabirds diving for fish in the churning Atlantic. Nancy is prone to motion sickness and the ferry rocks like a cradle at the dock. She soldiered through in the hope of capturing the Puffins gathering for spring breeding season with her new Sony lens. She’ll share her photos in a separate post.

Before we set off, we carbo load with pancakes for Nancy and a full Irish breakfast for me. Not pictured is another plate heaped with croissants and scones in service to sweet Irish butter. So far, I’m still squeezing into my Columbia travel pants.

After a thrilling ferry ride, we followed the Wild Atlantic Way to Ballyvaughan. The road takes us around the Burren, another UNESCO world heritage site.

We happened on a tea garden in Ballyvaughan called An Fear Gorta, which translates from the Irish to the Hungry Grass.

Another delightful meal with a savory tart and butternut squash soup followed by a pear and almond tart.

We’re sitting overlooking the back garden with a view of the Burren. We met two delightful women, Merrie O’Higgins, who used to live in West Palm Beach and her sister Sallie O’Sullivan visiting from Dublin. They described Dublin so lovingly, we want to include in our next tour, at least to visit the art galleries. Sallie is a retired professor and photographer and suggested we continue on to Black Head if we want spectacular shots of the shoreline with the ancient limestone steps of the Burren leading to the edge of the earth.

On our way back from the edge of the known world, we see a blue and yellow sign. The Hazelwood Hotel is closed to tourists in order to house Ukrainian refugees. In a world feeling helpless from this senseless tragedy, they sacrificed their profits to make a difference.

We’re off to Sligo for the weekend for sacred sites and more natural beauty. We hope to see Glen-Car Falls described in Yeats poem Stolen Child. Check back for more of our adventures in Ireland.