Children of the Bog

After stopping in Limerick for the night (where we stayed at the very lovely and very under-tenanted Cartlon Castleroy Hotel) we were on our way to the coastal city of Galway via the Cliffs of Moher. A side trip to Limerick’s apparent highlight, the slightly sorry looking King John’s Castle, and Victor the Volvo and his occupants were back on the road. To this point the days had been covered in a thick smog and after a little rain and wind most of the blanket had shifted to reveal the scenery we’d so desperately been waiting to see...undulating hills of dense green divided into patchwork plots by 4-foot slate walls populated by black faced sheep and fluffy meandering cows.

Before starting out on the road to the Cliffs of Moher (up for one of the new wonders of the natural world) we made a lunch detour to the gorgeous village of Ennis which was well worth a stop. Mum and I were beside ourselves when we stumbled across Zest a cafe complete with serve yourself salad bar. Acting like famished children we descended upon the feast of fresh vegetables and gorged ourselves on green beans, broccoli and coleslaw (I’m sure I noticed a few locals backing away from us wary to meet our eyes fearful of attack). The city centre of Ennis was abuzz with a local market where everything from live ducks and chickens to locally produced olives and jams were on sale. This is the Ireland the guidebooks promised.

After a slightly precarious road trip to the Cliffs of Moher on some fairly questionable roads we reached the immense car-park of this natural wonder with a throng of additional Easter Saturday visitors. With a cloudless sky the day was perfect for exploring the stark cliff tops where the rolling green fields appear to crack off and splinter into the sea hundreds of feet below. Even with the hundreds of other travellers we managed to get some excellent photographs and get a glimpse of the Aran Islands (a small trio of Islands off the coast).
Another even more precarious road trip was to follow – the Cliffs of Moher to Galway road is not for the faint-hearted or those who are less skilled in the art of driving.

Sweeping Generalisation #1: All VW Golfs are driven by older tourists who should not be driving on Irish roads...argh!

Arriving, one Manfred panic attack later, into Galway and checked into our next hotel I was ready for my first ever live-to-air viewing of Doctor Who. The first episode of Series 6, The Impossible Astronaut, is the first episode of Who I have ever seen go live to air in 37 years...and it was a truly satisfying experience for me (no spoilers!).

Rant #1 (contains spoilers): Although I really enjoyed the 1st episode of Series 6 it appears that Mr Moffatt is somewhat one-note. The Silence, although well realised, are really another version of the Weeping Angels where memory-loss substitutes blinking, the lumbering threat of the Astronaut is another version of the space-suit encased skeletons from Silence in the Library and the time-bending antics of the story-telling has lost its inventiveness due to over-use. And, the TARDIS is now really feeling very over-crowded. My vote is for a Doctor-River crew...ditch the newly-weds.

Easter Sunday was always going to be a tricky prospect, we were unsure of whether we were going to be able to do much (or anything) due to the extended public holiday and we found out quick smart that Galway City was closed for business and we’d need to make some quick-fire changes to our plans. Our hotel was out of the question as we were apparently staying in what I can only describe as an isthmus from Hell – where the entire population of Connemara with children under the age of 8 had decided to stay for Easter and NOT LEAVE THE HOTEL (shudder!). Leaving the 7000 children of Hell hotel and the closed Galway City behind us we made our way to something we knew was going to be open Kylemore Abbey (one of the most visited tourist spots in all of Ireland). A good 100kms out of Galway City the road to Kylemore Abbey takes you via the dramatic Connemara National Park with its scenery of bald craggy mountains surrounded by stark tracts of never-ending peat bogs. Mmm...evil thoughts regarding annoying kiddies and peat bogs entering mind...

On arrival at the Abbey we were ushered into car park 3 (was this a good sign?). The Abbey grounds contain a massive Victorian Walled Garden and being Easter Sunday it was hosting an Easter Egg hunt within the walled grounds for all the local children (hence the crowds...not to mentioned that the nearest city was also closed). This site is well-catered for with the local cafe offering a stunning selection of home-made food. Irish Stew, Quiches and Baked Salmon were all on the lunch menu perfectly accompanied by home-made Apple Pies, Chester Squares or Rhubarb Crumble (some serious walking required post the food frenzy).
Home to a cluster of Benedictine Nuns (who’d relocated from a war-torn Ypres, France) since 1920 Kylemore Abbey contains the stunning Abbey, Gothic Chapel and a much-lauded Walled Garden and accompanying tea-house. The grounds and houses are ripe with history, both dramatic and tragic, and all set against the incredible mountains of the Connemara National Park. This stop has been our best detour to date.

Our fabulous day could not even be dampened by Hell hotel housing it’s spawn of 7000 toddlers as we adjourned another day in Ireland.