CIR2401 Ireland and the wild Atlantic Way
After a good night rest we depart from our beautiful hotel and head for the famous Wild Atlantic Way. This road leads us along the rough coast line were you have a great view on the impressive Atlantic ocean. Angela has prepared a very tasty lunch with a great view on a green valley. Another highlight of the day is the Slieve League. The high cliffs and the rough ocean make a place worth visiting. Because of the strong wind a waterfall was going up! So a reversed waterfall.
Dublin - The Republic of Ireland's vibrant Capital attracts many visitors. So did it with Michael and Angela. We have been walking the city today and got to see and experience a lot. We started out early as our visit for the Trinity College was scheduled early. Should one be trapped thinking that you'd get to see only ancient stone walls, you would be wrong. It is pretty impressive to see the library and the subsequent so-called Book of Kells Experience. Furthermore, we had a visit of the Dublin castle, of the Christ Church Cathedral, the GPO and the Jeannie Johnston Boat.
With beautiful weather we depart from our lovely hotel and soon we're riding on little roads thrue the Irish countryside. Our first highlight of the day is Trim castle. When it was built 900 years ago it was the biggest castle in Europe! Nowadays it's the biggest in Ireland. The movie Breaveheart has been recorded here. After riding along the coast line of the Irish sea we have a huge lunch and arrive safely in Belfast
Today we will discover the beauty of Northern Ireland's coastline. Immediately after leaving Belfast, the road takes us directly along the water and over the green hills to places with wonderful views of the sea. Some of the roads are pretty narrow, but all the more beautiful to be ridden. The biggest highlight of the day is our visit to the Giant's Causeway.
Our journey continues on the Emerald Isle. On our way to Galway, we visit Downpatrick Head and the striking rocks there. The bright green moss and grass that defies all weathers here is very impressive. In the village of Murrisk, we discover another monument commemorating the Great Famine of 1845-1852 here in Ireland. The last third of today's route takes us through the incredibly beautiful Doolough Valley.
A rest day gives you the chance to take it easy, explore the town or, go for a nice ride! The route takes us to the west coast were we visit Kylemore Abbey. Here, nuns are still doing their business. We follow the Wild Atlantic Way and take in a lot off fresh sea air
Off we ride on another day in Irish paradise. From Galway we want to continue our tour along the Wild Atlantic Way into the quaint little town of Killarney. As the Dunguaire Castle is currently closed, we can only stop by at this restored 16th century tower house, for a picture from the outside. Continuing further out to the coast we first pass by a almost slate-like looking area, called the Burren. In fact, the stones look like a giant had cut them into pieces, a structure that, in reality obviously, has been created over hundreds of millions of years by water washing out the underground material. The Cliffs of Moher, probably one of Ireland's most famous must-visit-sites, also attract our attention, of course. A delicious lunch along the way, and a short ferry ride across one of the water inlets, and some kilometres more take us into our amazing hotel in Killarney.
When the ring of Kerry is an option on a rest day, you really want to do that. And, as a bonus, wr also do the Gap of Dunloe. I tiny small pass over the mountains and along rapid rivers. For lunch we had a great seafood chowder. All in all a great riding day, and plenty of time to explore the bussing town off Killarney
Leaving the lovely city of Killarney, Blarney Castle was the first place of attraction on our way to the East. Saying this, we realised that already our second last ridong day has come up. Inside the castle you would find the Blarney Stone, or the Stone of Eloquence. I say would, beacause, apparently, the news had spread that kissing the stone blesses you with eloquence. Instead of waiting 1.5 hours we rather wanted to walk the gardens around the castle. But then we had to continue as Jan was waiting for us with a nice picnic lunch. It was also a birthday lunch for Maria from Guatemala.
A last riding day can be a bit sad, but thankfully we will enjoy ourselves and take everything out off beautiful Ireland as we will be riding through the Wicklow mountain! With almost 1000mtr high it is a beautiful area with great views on forests, rivers and enormes fields of Heather. The wind blew as safely back to Dublin where we had a well deserved cold beer. Many thanks to all the riders and hopefully we'll see each other in the future!