Monday, October 31, 2016

As we drove through the beautiful Irish countryside toward the Cliffs of Moher on the Atlantic coast of Ireland, we passed rolling green hills, first, with row after row of stacked stone fencing, later, with trimmed hedge rows, then again, stacked stone. All along the way, fall was at its height in golden trees. Occasionally, we would drive under archways of gold as the trees on each side reached across the road toward each other. The narrow roads would come close to sheep or cattle grazing in fields. We were amazed with all the ancient ruins along the way–towers standing in the middle of fields, stone churches overgrown with vines and the occasional castle on a hill. It was a great drive. I am getting used to driving from the right side of the car and doing everything opposite. Parking has been the hardest part of the driving experience, because it is harder to judge the turning angle from a narrow lane.

Once we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher, we were mesmerized with the beauty of the cliffs falling into the sea along a jagged coastline. The weather was wonderful, and the views clear. We walked up to an old tower at the top of one cliff to get spectacular views of the cliffs across the way and also around the bend. Awesome!

We have seen golf clubs in Scotland and Ireland with regularity. Today, we saw a golf course that was different than any I have ever seen. The best way to describe it is high green moguls (as in snow ski moguls) undulating across the course, not just a few, thousands. Tall grasses would sprout out in places, and the ocean lay to one side. We watched golfers maneuver through this jungle of grass. It must be a difficult course. The club house was beautiful.

We were in Tipperary and Limerick today. We sang, “It’s a long way to Tipperary,” and told rhymes, surprised by how much Irish culture was inculcated into our being. WEG