Friday 11th June

Today was to be a day for pottering around the area we were staying in, and that’s exactly what we did. We went off to Kinvarra, east of Fanore and still on the coast. On the way to Fanore, I thought I had seen a craft fair or something similar, set back from the road. It looked like lots of stalls, but when we got to Kinvarra I didn’t see anything which looked like that. We started thinking that it may have been a Saturday or temporary market, not necessarily selling crafts.

We parked and went to Dunguaire Castle in Kinvarra which was small and cute, and it turns out that someone ended up living there in the 1970’s - 1980’s, a lady who did up the Castle and who then donated it to Ireland. We had a look at some shops in the town centre, and there was very little. A tourist shop and a couple of general shops. There were even two gift shops which had notices in the window saying they weren’t gift shops any more.

We popped into a café and had an early lunch. We both had toasted sandwiches which were very nice, and I followed mine with “Death By Chocolate” cake (as it was Cake Day after all!), while Mathew had “Snickers Cake”. We then left Kinvarra and drove throughout the Burren area. We tried to get to the tops of some of the higher hills of the Burren, but I think the roads skirt around most of them. There are a few “view points” where you can take a snapshot of these hills, but that was about it. We also stopped off in an area called Mullagh More and walked a little along the “Burren Way”, a walkers route throughout the Burren. Mullagh more was supposed to have been one of the wildest and most beautiful areas of the Burren, although we didn’t see a great deal in the way of limestone pavements as we were expecting there. We only walked a short part of it to get some pictures and views of the sea, the Aran Islands and Fanore which we were just above. It was a good sunny day for views today.

So after this, we decided to drive along the coastal road to a little place called Alliadie, where there was a large amount of coastal limestone pavement, and where many a coach party often stopped off, probably for a 15 minute break, as you often have time limits on coach trips like that. We found a place to park and walked along the coast, on the limestone pavement. I have to say that this area - on the coast - was one of the best parts of the Burren. There are parts which are slightly more worn because it is a popular place for coach parties to stop, but we walked quite a little way (or so it seemed, anyway!) and there are no barriers on the edges to protect people, and there is no real path either. I like this about this area, although as at the Cliffs of Moher and many other places with barriers, I understand the health and safety aspect of it all, but it is also very rare and quite nice, I feel, to see a part of the landscape where you would expect there to be barriers, but there are none just like in Ailladie and at Dun Aonghasa on Inishmore. There are some cliffs here in Ailladie, although nowhere near as large or extensive as that of Dun Aonghasa!!

We sat down and enjoyed the evening sun before heading back to our cottage to pack and have a shower. After my shower I went to side outside to let the wind blow my hair dry, and I found Timmy outside enjoying the evening sunlight. I thought I would fuss over him again as we wouldn’t see him after tomorrow, and I wasn’t sure if we’d see him in the morning either. I filled his bowl with water which he greatly appreciated after I realised he seemed to be asking me for something.

We had not booked a place to eat anywhere so we hopped into the car and went to Doolin again, this time we decided to go to Cullinan’s which was a seafood restaurant and guesthouse which we had spotted the day before. Slightly pricey, but we weren’t eating out too many times on this holiday, and this would be our last meal out.

Because it was a guesthouse and a restaurant, the building was quite large, but the restaurant was quite small inside, quite close and cosy but a very nice place. The main waitress (I am guessing head waitress / greeter / possible owner) seemed to me a little on the toffee nosed side, but she was pleasant enough when she sat us down and told us what the special of the day was and took our drink orders. After we ordered we had a little crispy cracker with some posh cream cheese on it which was tiny, but very nice. We were then brought some nice bread with butter, which I nibbled on as Mathew awaited his starter which was a North Atlantic seafood chowder. He said it was very hot, very nice, but also really very filling. I think he was a little concerned about whether he would be able to finish his main course!

Mathew’s main was of Monkfish, while I had John Dory which I learned is a delicate flat fish from Galway. It is, indeed, very delicate and tasty and I have to say that I could not taste any mustard in the “red pepper scallion” on which it was served. The cheesy potatoes tasted a little odd though, but I think that was because it was made with a type of French cheese which was really quite potent in taste and flavour. I didn’t have too much of that, as I had plenty of fish! It was then time to decide on dessert. We had seen other people having theirs and I decided (and Mathew told me he would try some, which he did) to go for Lemon Meringue Parfait with Lime sauce.

It was a very fancy cake, and the base was just like a cheesecake, only made from burnt caramel biscuits, or so it tasted like it. I might have to try doing that myself at home if I get a blowtorch to do the meringue - whoever thought of a cheesecake base with a lemon meringue pie filling and topping, was a genius!! It was delicious, if a little cold and not quite defrosted. Very very nice indeed!

We headed back to our cottage with full stomachs, and kept our eye on the sunset. We went to the beach again and took more photos before going back to do some last minute packing and making sure everything was fine for tomorrow in order to leave.