Day 8 Doolin

Today is the day we leave the Murphy's with some privacy to visit with family and strike out on our own. The start was a little rough because the SIM card that we have here does not seem to work consistently. Today we had trouble with accessing Google Maps. Given that paper maps are as scarce as hen's teeth, that's a problem! For no reason we could determine, it suddely began to work so we quickly set out for the coast. Now we don't seem to be able to make or receive phone calls, but we have GPS so we will call that a win for now!

Our destination is Doolin, a little village perched on the Cliffs of Moher. The drive to Doolin was a very easy run. We drove in and out of rain a number of times, but that's Ireland! The roads here are often narrow for sure. You can't travel far without navigating a roundabout. The stone walls and hedges make sightlines impossible on the twisty-turny roads. Now while all that is true, the roads are in very good repair and signs, although in Gaelic, are very helpful. David has not had any trouble at all driving and my navigating only results in the occassional adventure!

Despite our late start we arrived in Doolin by noon and were delighted with our find. It's a village of not more than a dozen buildings and three of those are pubs! The start of the Moher Cliff Walk is outside our B&B and a pub with nightly live music is four doors down. Not ones to miss an opportunity, we spent the afternoon on the Cliffs of Moher Coastal Walk (north end today, south end tomorrow) and then settled into Gus O'Connor's Pub for an evening of perfectly poured Guinness, delicious food, and local music. The best part of the evening though was the craic! We sat at the bar in front of where we learned the musicians would be. We had two different bartenders chat us up and one became very fascinated with me being from Newfoundland. He came back often enough that he caught the attention of a couple from Yorkshire who were near us at the bar. Life stories were exchanged in the time honoured tradition of an Irish pub!

Tomorrow night we move to a B&B in the lower village. It's eight doors down! We will have to switch to a lower village pub as well!

                                                        

Finally a Guinness that Margaret would approve. You can tell how many sips I have had by the rings formed on the glass.
Delicious, thick chowder and soda bread.
My first view of the Cliffs of Moher.
Sitting at the wild Atlantic, looking south along the Cliffs.
The view from our room!
If we look out the other window we don't see the sea, but we do see a CASTLE!!
A caravan park just down the road.
Starting on the Cliffs of Moher Walk, looking back on the village of Doolin.
The rock wall that leads up to Doonagore Castle.

Caves in the Cliffs.
Great coastal trail.
Doolin and surrounding farms.
The rock walls are just piled stones.

Started as three. They were four by this picture, and grew to five before the evening was done!

The sky not near dark at 10:30
Pairc Lodge B&B

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