Day 10
In Vaughan's
Robin, and some kind of warbler, eating seed off a plant, outside. They are actually digging slate right behind the house, good thing we didn't want to sleep late. Jill has adjusted to the outdoor washer & drier and put in a load.
Swallows everywhere, and lots of wildlife in general up here on the hill. Toast, a banana & tea for breakfast.
No internet access anywhere. I get the impression there are 2 Irelands - Dublin - a modern metropolis, and the rest of the country - about 30 years behind the US.
A Word About Irish Supermarkets
They suck. I've been in better 7-Eleven's.
A Word About Irish Roads
They Suck too. Sorry, but I've driven all over the EU and the USA. The roads are by far the worst I have encountered..
I try not to be too judgmental about other cultures and their infrastructures. They evolved the way they did for a reason. But come on, we're in the 21st century.
The supermarkets are a joke. We have seen nothing larger than a 7-Eleven in 10 days. In fact, a 7-Eleven would be a step up in most cases. There are no fresh vegetables. Meat is at the butcher, if you happen to know who he is and where. We paid over 2 bucks yesterday for 2 skimpy rolls of toilet paper. Bad news.
The roads are also very bad news. Any country lane is one car width and if you meet someone coming in the other direction one of you must find somewhere to pull over while backing up.
Some roads are mid level "departmental" type roads. They have no line down the center and are also bad news. Some stretches are nice. The posted speed limit is typically 100kph, about 60-65 mph. Anyone who drove this speed for more than 5 minutes would die in a fiery accident.
So you're tooling down the nice road at about 50 mph, nice day, no one in sight when suddenly you see:
The third type of road is the Irish equivalent of the "interstate". It had a stripe down the middle, and there is little gratuitous crossing of the stripe. It may have a shoulder , that can be up to 5 feet wide but is typically 2 feet wide.
These roads can also have fun features like construction, narrow bridges, and tour busses. But the 2 old guys and the dog died in tragic accidents in 1972.
They suck. I've been in better 7-Eleven's.
A Word About Irish Roads
They Suck too. Sorry, but I've driven all over the EU and the USA. The roads are by far the worst I have encountered..
I try not to be too judgmental about other cultures and their infrastructures. They evolved the way they did for a reason. But come on, we're in the 21st century.
The supermarkets are a joke. We have seen nothing larger than a 7-Eleven in 10 days. In fact, a 7-Eleven would be a step up in most cases. There are no fresh vegetables. Meat is at the butcher, if you happen to know who he is and where. We paid over 2 bucks yesterday for 2 skimpy rolls of toilet paper. Bad news.
The roads are also very bad news. Any country lane is one car width and if you meet someone coming in the other direction one of you must find somewhere to pull over while backing up.
Some roads are mid level "departmental" type roads. They have no line down the center and are also bad news. Some stretches are nice. The posted speed limit is typically 100kph, about 60-65 mph. Anyone who drove this speed for more than 5 minutes would die in a fiery accident.
So you're tooling down the nice road at about 50 mph, nice day, no one in sight when suddenly you see:
- 2 old men with shelleighs in the middle of the road
- a dog
- a tractor going 5 mph
- a bridge where the road is only one lane wide
- an oncoming tour bus that takes up 3/4 of the road
- construction
The third type of road is the Irish equivalent of the "interstate". It had a stripe down the middle, and there is little gratuitous crossing of the stripe. It may have a shoulder , that can be up to 5 feet wide but is typically 2 feet wide.
These roads can also have fun features like construction, narrow bridges, and tour busses. But the 2 old guys and the dog died in tragic accidents in 1972.
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A pretty mellow day today. Toast and tea and banana and out around 11. There's no clock here so we rely on Jill's watch or the car.
Leaving the house I had a very nice conversation with the gardener Austin, about 65. It lasted about 20 minutes and would have gone on for hours if I had let it. Just the kind of guy you want to meet in a pub. He was very concerned about the changing face of some of the local towns with the influx of drugs and crime. He has also noticed a lot of global warming effects. he said there had been a noticeable positive impact of the police crackdown on drunk driving. There were many, many other subjects but I forget them all. |
Drove to Kilfenora and had lunch at Vaughan's. It was a pub, and it looked nice from outside. The setter guarding the front door scattered as we opened the car. We opened the front door, right around 12, and the handful of guys at the bar, and the bartender, just turned around and stopped. It was like a Western, where we were going to have a shootout or something. But I immediately piped up "we're here for lunch", the bartender said "right then" and everything got back to normal.
The place had a nice atmosphere, I'm sure even nicer at night. Banquettes, tables, a separate bar, and a large dining room. Looked to be out of the 1800's. I would have loved a Guinness but I'd fall asleep. Sodas all around and a toasted (grilled cheese) for Kristen, a quiche for Jill, and a smoked salmon & crabmeat salad for Dave. All very good. Excellent in fact.
Talking to the bartender, l understood they have a traditional dancing night on Thursdays and we should come. Unfortunately, it does not get started till 10 and that makes for a real long (too long for Kristen) night. We'll see. He said it was a real Cailee, "not for the tourists, just for us."
Talking to the bartender, l understood they have a traditional dancing night on Thursdays and we should come. Unfortunately, it does not get started till 10 and that makes for a real long (too long for Kristen) night. We'll see. He said it was a real Cailee, "not for the tourists, just for us."
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Then up through the Burren to where we stopped an a destroyed 15th c. church and an art school where we stopped at Newton castle tower. Kristen climbed to the top. Also checked out the views across to Galway from Ballyvaughan, and back inland across the Burren to Polnabrone Dolmen. The Burren here was just as illustrated in the Eyewitness Guide - limestone plateau, interlaced with small plants but little other vegetation.
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The Pulnabrone Dolmen was one of my "must-do's" in Ireland - it's a burial chamber from 4000 years ago, or so. Looks lonely up there on its little hill. Desolate to the extreme, except for the tourists. I'd like to be there at night, with a full moon, like tonight. You can imagine the effort it took the Stone Age men to haul the stones into place. Supposedly there are many such sites in the Burren, though few are as impressive. It's hard to tell the "sites" from the any old rocks hanging around, though.
(In typical fashion, there are hundreds of these sites but the tourist can't find any.) |
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Back toward home, doing a couple of drive-by photo shoots of old churches and castles (Leamanah) along he way. Cromwell essentially destroyed much of the architecture of Ireland during his conquest in the 1600's.
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Another Vaughan's
Home for some brief shuteye and then dinner at another "Vaughan's", this one in Liscannor. This one was an odd place. We were seated in a "formal" Briitsh type 4-table restaurant. Expensive prices. Next to us was the bar, with guys drinking Guinness and pouring something from a soda bottle and mixing it with Orange Juice. Behind the bar - Spam, Heinz Beans, and dish detergent. Above the bar - lots and lots of sailing pennants. Around the bar all sorts of old sailing memorabilia - knots, diving bell helmets, ships in a bottle, etc.
Not Locals
I liked my dinner - the seafood platter. Smoked salmon & trout, tuna, langoustines, mussels, an oyster, and more - the whole enchilada and very fresh & good. Kristen had a bad hamburger, with no ketchup (none in the house I think it's a pet peeve of the owner) and Jill a mediocre filet of beef with Ox Cheek spring rolls. Overall, very odd. 89€ which was more than we had hoped to pay tonight.
Tomorrow think we owe Miss K a horse ride and I may find an Internet Cafe - Jill says she saw one in town.
Day 11 >>>
Tomorrow think we owe Miss K a horse ride and I may find an Internet Cafe - Jill says she saw one in town.
Day 11 >>>