Friday Cliffs of Moher and Dromoland Castle

11/8/2019

Dear Family and Friends,

“Say, Ellen, what is the difference from the east coast of Ireland and the west coast of Ireland on this trip?” asks the imaginary coffee fairy on our bus (I have to clean this up…this blog is for my grandchildren to read!) LOL

Well, for the most part we were at sea level with the bay and ships coming in at eye level on the east coast in Dublin. But today on the west coast we were hundreds of feet above the ocean on massive cliffs going straight down to the sea. Keith says that much of the interior of Ireland is below sea level and land and with the rain and rising water levels of the ocean, it may not be long until much of Ireland is underwater.

The Cliffs of Moher were spectacular! For the second day in a row we had beautiful weather and hiking around the cliffs was not only great exercise, but a photographer dream.

For the first time on our drive to the castle after our two + hours at the cliffs, I realized just how narrow the roads in Ireland are and what a big bus we have. Looking down the isle with my camera, I observed that the white broken line in the middle of the road was on the middle of the bus! Once on this trip we did have to back up to get to a wider place so a garbage truck to pass. The solid stone walls on both sides make it difficult to move to either the left or the right. Since they drive on the left, making a left turn or a right turn which my mind says is driving into oncoming cars can be frightening if you watch. I just close my eyes. We are so lucky that we have Keith and Joe to take care of us!

The road from the Cliffs of Moher lead to our next stop the castle of your dreams, Dromoland Castle. We will be staying here for the next two nights.

This is a borrowed advertising photo from the air of Dromoland Castle where we are staying and where we will have two dinners. Unbelievable! I’m staying in the same castle that has housed US Presidents and movie stars!

After checking into our luxury rooms, I started out with Donna and Judy for a walk, however I kept stopping to take pictures so they got a lot more steps today than I did. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so I will let my photos talk for me.

The main entrance, the view from our room, our room, and a sand trap on the 18 hole golf course.

The Walled Garden

The final event of the day was the 5 course meal in the private dining room of the castle. Delicious food, great company and lots of laughs!

Photos of Ellen’s dinner:

1. Chicken, Mushroom and Ham Hock Roulade

2. Broccoli Soup with lemon and Toasted Sesame Seed

3. Roast Fillet of Irish Beef

4. Raspberry Crimea’s and Coconut Dacquoise Pineapple sorbet

5. Petite Fours with tea or coffee (see Judy taking her favorite as I am taking the photo)

6. Donna with her own non-gluten Petite four…”All mine?” “I’ll share!”

More adventures tomorrow!

Ellen

PS the only way to upload this was to make the photos smaller. Sorry! next time I will make this two different posts….E