Ireland, Day Seven--Cliffs of Moher and last-minute Shopping!

Neither John nor I woke up too happy on this last day.  Between his worsening cold, and the fact that he didn't sleep well (which means I didn't sleep well), we were a grumpy pair to say the least.  However, it was one of those mind-over-matter moments where we wanted to make the most of our last minutes in Ireland, so we stepped up to the plate.  In fact, after stopping at Blarney Woolen Mills for a scone for breakfast, John caught sight of yet another quirky sign and took full advantage:

Phew!  Thank goodness we had an Eagle Scout close at hand!

I remember back to 2004 when we made a family trip to County Clare.  I found it to be the most mystical place in Ireland.  Everything here is made of stone, because quite honestly, as the farmers plowed their fields, they didn't know what else to do with all the stones they would pull up.  Instead of bushes or fences to divide their fields, they simply built stone walls.  Why not?  In fact, the best part of our trip back then was driving down any back road and finding random ruinous places--no markers or visitor centers (or fees!).  We would just pull over, walk up to a place, walk (or climb) around, and move on.  There are dolmens too, hidden in random fields.  I wish we had had more time to do that again, because as we were driving to the Cliffs of Moher, we definitely found more of those cool kinds of places.

Unlike most other land masses in the world, Ireland is built like a saucer--the sides of it are high while the middle of it is low.  One of the best places to see this is at the Cliffs of Moher, one of the most visited tourists sites in Ireland.

When we visited previously, we had come late in the day, on a cloudy day, on the off season, and there was seriously not another soul there.  This time, being St. Patrick's Day, there were a few more cars in the parking lot ;-)  In fact, there was some kind of Big Ten rugby tournament happening, because there were random teams of students, dressed in their school's finery, walking the cliffs.  We spotted Penn State, Michigan State and Illinois, but The University of Michigan kids had left a more lasting impression (don't they always?):  they had scratched "Go Blue" into the dirt overlooking the cliffs.

I had to take this rather sad picture of Glo.  We Kennedys like to kid each other when we see some mention of dogs or pets not being allowed somewhere.  "Oh, too bad Daddy, you can't go in" kind of thing.  Turns out, we had been picking on Glo quite a bit during the week (and not sharing the joke much)--she was feeling rather picked on when she was "chosen" once more.

We paid the entrance fee, parked and followed the crowds to the visitor center.  We didn't spend much time there because it was just so crowded, although we did find a hidden 3D theatre that had a cliffs "experience".  John doesn't like simulators and such (they make him sick to his stomach), but credit goes to the creators of that film, because John had the same kind of sick feeling just watching it.  It was like we were a seagull, soaring over the cliffs.  Frankly, it was awesome!

After that, we headed out to the cliffs.

There's just no way to describe the beauty of it all--it's like trying to describe the Grand Canyon.  The cliffs extend almost five miles along the western side of Ireland, and at their highest point, it's 702 feet above the ocean.  This might be the reason that I had to look away every time John did this:

You might think I am a worry wart, but realizing that John was just two weeks post-op on his knee, you might better appreciate why this frightened me.  His balance and movement definitely weren't the best yet.

As it turns out, when we were walking along the cliffs that were encompassed by the authority of the Visitor's Center, we couldn't get at all close to the edge.  However, once that authority ended, visitors had obviously decided that they wanted to get closer.  There were two options:  the paved, safe path, or the path that went to the edge, filled with puddles and uneven, undercut grass.  You can probably imagine which path the Kennedys took:

See the "safe" path on the far left?  Believe me, it wasn't easy to climb over that rock wall to get to the edge.  As I told John, "It's there for a reason!"

We took more pictures this day than any other day.  Unfortunately, pictures never do a place justice.  However, we did our best.

Notice that we are still on the "safe" side....and that it was rather windy :-)

No joke, there were times when I worried that one of those strong gusts of wind would come along and carry us away!

Can you name which Harry Potter film had this in a scene?

Poor John--remembering back, he was just so sick on this trip.  You can definitely see it in this photo.

Talk about feeling sick to one's stomach!  I actually had to lean over to take this picture, but I just held the camera out and looked away.  How they got this close, I'll never know.

Another favorite from the trip, although don't think that after I took this picture, I grabbed her back closer to me.

It was a great experience, people and all.  It felt a bit like Ireland was sending us off, giving us one final memory of its infinite beauty.  It was amazing.

It felt odd, leaving this place in order to shop.  The girls hadn't done much shopping this trip, and I had promised them some time in Blarney Woolen Mills.  On our way there, we decided to stop pretty much anywhere we wanted to shop.  John stopped by a "Rock Store" that he remembered from our previous trip.  We were glad to be reminded of why we should go home:

HOOT!!  We had no idea he is SUCH a celebrity in Ireland!

I actually took this picture of a bumper sticker because it reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from "Leap Year".  Amy Adams is trying to get the attention of a bar tender in a pub, and his name, Eoghan, is printed on the back of his soccer jersey.  She says, "Excuse me, E-O-Gan," to which he turns around and says, "You mean, Owen?"

Hannah ended up with a darling hat, and Glo bought a sweater that looks very much like the one Katniss wears in the opening scenes of Catching Fire.  Too, I had promised both of the girls a Claddagh ring to bring home--I've been wearing one for years, and it seemed only appropriate, seeing as the girls are far more Irish than I am.  Glo chose this one:

I have posted this before, but the Claddagh is one of my favorite symbols:  the heart for love, the crown for loyalty, and the hands for friendship.  Glo loves her ring.

As it turns out, County Clare holds another treasure, one that I noticed back in the day.  There is an area of the county called "The Burren".  It isn't particularly defined, except for a small designated park with the same name.  The name comes from an Irish word that means "rocky place" and I think you can imagine why it was given that name.

When we moved to our home in Pennsylvania, we soon discovered that our eleven acres is almost solid rock.  We can't dig a hole for a bush, or a tree without using a pick ax.  When we needed a name for our homestead, it wasn't hard to think of one:  The Kennedy Burren.  In fact, the name of our kennel is the same, and when any of our pups is registered, their call name is preceded by "The Kennedy Burren's" (insert call name).

I took this one out the car window on the way to the cliffs.
It's not bad, but it wasn't quite what I wanted.

As I saw more and more signs for the park itself, I couldn't resist trying to get a good picture of one for our website.  After several failed attempts of sticking my head out the window while driving by a sign, John was more than obliging to navigate the way and pull over to the left side of the road so that I could get the perfect shot.

This is the money shot!

It didn't take long to get back to The Junky Inn, and not wanting to stay there any longer than we had to, we got recommendations for a good restaurant and ended our last day in Ireland with some very delicious, very expensive Irish food.  It just goes to show how sad I was about leaving--I didn't bother to take a single picture ;-(