The time has come to be more adventures, and leave the safety of Dublin behind - or should I say "Get the hell out of Dodge!", as it is probably safer to be standing with an umbrella in a field, during a thunder storm, than walk around Dublin north inner city.
This time, even the dogs were going on holidays, so we had booked them in with our German kennel trooper for two days (1 night). The dogs love going there and getting plenty of exercise and get to play wild with the wolves.
So, early to bed Friday evening, car ready and all the stuff is packed for two days on the road. Pretty ambitious, but we only live once - yes I know, James Bond lives twice!
Alarm clock set, see you in the morning.
We were surprisingly up on time, before the alarm clock had a chance to ring, and got going. The kids had their breakfast, car loaded and dogs squeezed into the boot.
We had to drop the dogs off between 8 and 9 in the morning, I thought, but it was in fact between 9 and 10. So, we were early for a change. Tanked the car, had a breakfast roll and bought the paper. Then we dropped the dogs off and programmed the famous GPS to its next destination; Birr.
On the way to Birr, we stopped at Kinnitty Castlem and OH MY GOD, what a dump. Not worth writing about - don't go there!
Birr, is in my humble honest opinion a boring tourist location. I know I've just managed to offend an entire county, but there's NOTHING to see or do. We spend more than 30 minutes trying to find a pub to have lunch in, in the main street, and ended up having lunch in a cafe.
Next stop was punched into the GPS; Dromoland Castle. My wife had this fetish for years, to visit Dromoland Castle for afternoon tea, so we did - I'm a man, so I'll do my best to please my woman or at least make an effort to get some brownie points. It's an amazing castle, and the afternoon tea was great; excellent atmosphere and friendly staff. Evenen better, only €45 for tea and scones!!
We then headed for Corofin, which resembles coffin, where we had booked a B&B. The GPS took us the back roads, some roads were the same size as a footpath. It was a different experience. We saw things you normally wouldn't see on the main roads - and some things that were better left unseen.
There's nothing like a roadside stop, to help your daughter to pee, 30 km from the nearest toilet. And, it is VERY difficult to control the flow of pie from a girl. This unfortunately resulted in my daughter peeing on her pants, my fault I admit, so thankfully we had an extra pair of pants. Quick change and on the road again.
Corofin is actually a lovely little village, or rather a gathering of houses, and we stayed the night in a B&B. Apparently, according to the B&B landlady, the place really starts rocking after 21.00 - too bad the kids were in bed? We had dinner in a lovely pub in Corofin, and headed back to the B&B for an early night.
The room temperature was approx. 35 degrees (Celsius) and it was impossible to turn off the heaters. So, as you can imagine, we didn't sleep well - the kids did, and they woke early as usual, singing and playing at 06.30.
- brilliant breakfast by the way, good Irish full breakfast.
Next morning we headed towards the main attraction, the Cliffs of Moher. I asked the B&B landlady, how far it was, and she said 20 minutes. Then I asked how far to the Dormen, and it was also 20 minutes. Something wasn't right here. Should I ask her how far it is to Dublin?
The drive to Cliffs of Moher was easy and well signposted. It took us almost 40 minutes to get there - surprise. We parked the family Hummer and walked towards the Cliffs. Jaysus, these cliffs are huge. It looks like a giant seamonster took a huge bite of the coast. Breathtaking views, but beside the cliffs there is nothing to see. The viewpoints were well protected with fences, but you could still get right to the edge, if you walked a few miles along the cliffs' edge. My wife almost fainted by the thought and had some twitches when I took my daugther up in the view tower, to the roof, to see better.
We spent about an hour at the cliffs and then we headed for the hotspot Doolin. From Doolin you can go to the Arann Islands, and that's the only thing you can do in Doolin. We drove all the way to the port in Dublin and went straight back out. It didn't take long to visit Doolin.
We had to head towards Dublin again, as we had to collect the dogs before 18.00, otherwise the German kennel trooper would send us away again and charge us for another day - these Germans have great processes.
Talking about great views. You have to drive through the Burren in Co. Clare. It is stunning. I have never seen anything like it, and probably wont, but I'm so happy we brought the camera. The landscape is like a fairy tale.
As we left Co. Clare, the rain started to come down in sheets. My wife panics when I don't use the windshield wipers, even if I can count the drops on my hands. The slightest speck of water and I have to turn them on. So, I had the wipers on, on dry windows, which creates a very annoying sound and makes the wipers jump on the surface. That last for about 30 seconds.
We had loads of fun, even if we spent most of the time in the car. Even the kids had fun. However, it wasn't that funny when my son left something in his diaper that resembled toxic waste. It is amazing how such a small thing can be shared so quickly, in regards to the smell. What was worse, we had to change him at the roadside and drive with the diaper in the car, until we found a bin. The windows were all foggy on the inside, and we were getting dizzy.
- couldn't open the windows due to the rain!
As Dublin approached in the horizon (Bono, there actually is a line in the horizon), we knew we were almost home. As we passed our exit, exhausted, we had to go another 40 minutes to pick up the dogs. On the way home we stopped at the local chipper, McDonalds, to get some nutricious food. A burp and a fart, and you are hungry again.
The trip was almost 800 km, but worth it. Well, my wife had a thing or two to tell me and the kids, after not having slept well in the B&B - things I will not utter in public. But, after a group hug and mummy tickle attack, she was laughing again. My bruises, a lovely present from my wife during the tickle attack, will eventually disappear - I hope.
Go and see the backroads of Ireland, visit some of the castles (not Kinnitty) and see the mighty Cliffs of Moher.
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