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Saturday, August 25, 2007

Camping in Doolin




We are roughly following the same route, inadvertently, of the Tour of Ireland bike race. We are back to the clouds mist and rain for which the isle is well known.

We visited Lough Gur yesterday, a 5000 year old settlement site and home of Irelands best stone circle. Later to the spectacular cliffs of Moher, draped in mist but occasionally giving the 600 foot view down to the Atlantic.

Last night we enjoyed great local music at world renowned O'Connors pub, recommended to us by our friend Joe, whose wife is a niece of O'Connor clan.

The food is pricey but good, blowing our budget but filling our tummies. One pint knocked me out before midnight!

The roads and scenery have been fantastic. Amazing how 20 miles an hour can seem so ponderous in the Andes, but so glorious here. All the names and faces of Boston are here, murphy, connolly, o'brien, etc. My grandparents names of Fitzgerald and Murphy are as common as smith and jones in the states. I feel a part here, as if I am home, although maybe not so comfortable.

The people are kind, friendly and gentle and a feeling of safety abounds despite the tabloid headlines.

The roads are screaming, bringing back eachoes of my racing days. I even got the notorious front end wobble as I crested a wee hill yesterday, something I hadn't experienced in over a decade. A large smile got plastered on my face as we continued through the hedgerows and stone walls hemming us in on either side.

Galway!