Title taken from an actual sign that we passed while driving to Doolin. Alternative title: "Keep Clare Clean", referring to the County, in which we are currently residing. Emily's response: "I try, you know, but it's not my fault you refuse to shower."
We have arrived at the Ballinalacken Castle House hotel, near Doolin, on the coast, approximately 1.5 hours south of Galway. We had, as usual, glorious weather for the drive. The guys at the next table at lunch, Irish guys on vacation, told us that this is honestly the best weather they've had in three years. To illustrate, one of them pointed to his sunscreen and said "Honestly, I last used this bottle five years ago." I had mussels again, since I had such luck with them last time. These were actually wild, and it makes a real difference, and not just because some of them have barnacles on their shells.
The drive to the Castle House was really breathtaking. I find Ireland really interesting in how it has so many different micro-climates, really, because the Burren is spectacular in a way that is totally different from the way Connemara is spectacular, and they can't be more than 2 hours from one another. This has been true in general as we've crossed the country. I only wish we had more pictures, as the drive took us right along the water, and the ocean is a very striking shade of blue.
After lunch, as our room was not yet ready, we went to the Cliffs of Moher. I've been trying to upload pictures of the cliffs for several long minutes, and I think the wifi just can't handle it, which is Very Very Sad. Ask me later, or ask flickr, because it's stupid of me to try to describe them. They're not the number 1 tourist attraction in Ireland for nothing. The cliffs are adorned with a very shiny, newish Visitor's Center and a well-paved walkway, with walls. At the end of the Designated Walk Area, one finds a sign that says, more or less "DON'T GO ANY FURTHER". On the other side of the sign is a well-trodden pathway along the cliffs, but no more walls between the path and the void. And many, many German tourists. So we ignored the sign. Emily did not let me walk as far as I would have, which is probably all for the best.
We then checked in to the Ballinalacken Castle House, which is gorgeous. We can see the sea from our room! The hostels have been very nice, but honestly, a nice hotel has a number of advantages over a nice hostel, like soft fluffy towels that smell very nice and clean and a gorgeous hot shower in a bath that doesn't require flip flops or repeatedly pressing a button to make the water come out. It's decorated in a Georgian style, and it's just very...grand.
Before dinner, we followed the directions of the apparent owner of the house: "Take a right, all the way right, then go up a hill and down a hill and up a hill and down a hill and up a hill, and park, and then you can walk along the Burren Way [a hiking path] as long as you like. You can't miss it. Drive carefully, it's quite narrow." That's a direct quote.
(related: I think the roads south of Galway are noticeably narrower than the roads north of Galway. This is not a good thing.)
Those directions were 100% accurate, despite my new found aversion to any directions that include the phrase "You can't miss it." All directions given by Irish people include this phrase.
The Burren is very peculiar and also very hard to describe; perhaps wikipedia can be more accurate than I. There are rocks right in the ground, and it's almost like they're in water and you have to jump a bit from rock to rock to avoid getting wet, only between the rocks, instead of water, there are deep indentations where grass and flowers (more buttercups than I have ever seen in one place in my life) grow. We didn't spend too long, but we had some great views, and the countryside is certainly unique. You can see the Aran Islands from there!
And then, dinner. Oh, dinner! We had the best table in the house, with a view of the sea and the cliffs of Moher. Dinner is included in our stay (very reasonably priced, btw), so naturally, Em got the duck spring rolls and the beef (all the cows here seem so happy it's kind of a joy to eat them), and I got a baked goat cheese on salad and the lamb chops (the above also applies to the sheep), and then we split chocolate mouse and sticky toffee pudding for dessert, and some peppermint tea. Oh, and wine. We really need to get on the digesting, because we have a full breakfast to eat tomorrow, and I may never eat again, as of right now.
The best part of the hotel stay so far, however, was after dinner. The Ballinalacken Castle House is right next to, guess it...the Ballinalacken Castle! Said castle was built by the O'Brian clan (short people, by the height of their doorways) in the 14th century, and added to several times, and finally abandoned in the late 18th century. The hotel used to leave the ruins open to the public, but the public was slowly destroying them, and so they have gated the walls and locked the entrance.
This made us a little sad.
Fortunately, we're apparently pretty cute when we're sad, because the hotel manager very graciously took us on a personal tour after dinner. This was exceptionally cool of him, as the restaurant was still quite busy, and, by extension, so was he. As for the castle, the tour was quite comprehensive: we went in the main room, and then up the tower to the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors, and then the roof. Of course, the floors and roofs themselves are gone, but not entirely - the lower floors stone roofs, so we were able to walk around and admire the fireplaces from various eras. The manager knows enough about the architecture to fill in some interesting details. Yes, I got pictures, that I will post eventually when I'm on wifi that doesn't hate me.
Funnily enough, the manager went to Montauk on vacation several winters ago. Also funny: he asked how we had heard of the Ballinalacken Castle House. I told him that our mother had suggested it based on the March Bon Appetit review, and apparently the author of review is actually coming to stay here this weekend. I'm sad we're missing him!
Tomorrow: more Burren exploration, and a drive back to Dublin, and back to hostel life!
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