Swans in Silver, Swans in Gold

Start: Galway

End: Bibi’s Accomodations, Tralee, co. Kerry

Today was the first day we really deviated from the Itinerary (difficult to do when the Itinerary is so loose), and it was so Nathan could see the Cliffs of Moher.  But first we drove through some seriously bizarre landscapes so that we could take in the Poulnabrone Dolmen, which was smaller than anticipated (damn you tricky photographers with your wide angle lenses, making everything look enormous!) but impressive enough to make it worth the slow, windy drive.  Then it was back out to the Cliffs, which were also smaller than anticipated (lenses!), and a great deal windier.  We lingered there a few hours, hoping for the weather to clear (I spent much of this time shopping, and came away with a gorgeous silver pendant depicting the children of Lir in swan form), but it didn’t, and so we moved on to Lough Gur.

L is also for Long Neck.

The weather broke in time for us to get to Lough Gur, and it was gorgeous.  I absolutely understand how such a place could inspire so many fairy stories.  Nathan wandered down along the edge of the lake to get some shots, but I found myself lured upwards by a mysterious stone stairway.  And then flocks of bright red dragonflies urged me onward, so how could I resist?

It was good that I did not resist, because the mysterious stairway brought me up to a bluff overlooking the lake, with a wonderful view (and more wild blackberries).  I just took it in for a while, then followed the path onward, until it deposited me back down by the lake, further along the path than Nathan.  I caught him and made him go up, while I conversed with a pair of swans enjoying the late afternoon sun.  I eventually went to join him on the bluff, and discovered that it’s actually quite a climb when you’re not enchanted with the mystery and magic of a thousand fairy dragonflies.

We left the lake proper to go in search of the Grange, a stone circle reputed to be the largest in Ireland- and in fact all of Western Europe (diameter-wise, anyway).  We found it, and a charming old man taking donations whom I am pretty sure was fairy-touched.  We rounded that little visit out with the spectacle of a bull acting up in an adjacent field, and as I watched him charge a piece of farming equipment I learned why you should, in fact, be wary of bulls: they are not to be trifled with. 

After that we backtracked to a little ruined church (Teampall Nua) we’d seen on the way in, and strolled amongst the gravestones until we lost the light.  Then it was onward to Tralee, arriving much later than intended, which meant a bit of a hassle to get things arranged, but it all worked out in the end and tomorrow is Dingle Peninsula.

(illustrations to be added upon my return)