We are here at the Dun Ri Guesthouse in downtown Clifden. This is a rockin’ place. Directly across the street from the guesthouse is an outdoor venue and the Clifden Summer Fest is in full swing. Right now the Whistlin’ Donkeys is playing, making for a rather noisy experience here in our room. We have the windows open in an attempt to keep the room cool, and the music bouncing between the buildings and finally reaching our windows is a muddled thump thump thump and some unintelligible vocals. With no loss in volume. We were told the music will last until 11:30. I'm not sure how long the party will last after that.
The town is packed and there are people everywhere. Welcome back to the big city. 🙄 I wanna go back to Leenane where it’s quiet.
We had a wonderful breakfast at the Renvyle House Hotel. We felt a little underdressed as the waiters were all dressed in black. Easily the highest class hotel we’ve stayed in on this trip, the Renvyle is a four-star hotel.
I took a risk and left my rain clothing in my suitcase to allow room in my pannier for more essential things like lunch. We picked up some lunch ingredients at a gas station in Tully Cross, probably the only C-store for miles.
The route led past the Connemara National Park and we stopped to take a hike on one of the trails. The hike offered a great view of the surrounding area with the Atlantic Ocean in the distance.
The route took us along the coastline around a couple of bays and inlets, very picturesque. We made the turnoff towards Omey Island, a tidal island near our route. During low tide, you can actually walk/ride to the island. At high tide, the water is deep enough to cover a car.
We got there somewhere around low tide, so we were able to ride our bikes across the sand to the island. We rode the roads on the island for a while, looking for the ruins of an old church that one of had read about.
While we were on the island, a mist rolled in from the ocean and blanketed the area in a chilly fog. The fine mist was also falling, which made all our clothing damp and moistened up our glasses. We rode in this for several kilometers, soaking the clothing of those who didn’t take rain clothing along (me). When the opportunity presented itself, we took a shortcut towards Clifden. It’s hard to see anything in this sort of fog.
We arrived to find the town bustling and busy. The guesthouse is a very short distance from the downtown shopping district and we walked downtown to get some food supplies and check it out. One thing we wanted to get before leaving Ireland was a 99 ice cream cone. This is a regular soft-serve ice cream cone with a Cadbury chocolate stick stuck in the middle of it. Yeah, it seems to be a thing here. We finally found one, at the local Circle-K petrol station. Six Euros later, we had our 99’s.
Tastes like a soft-serve cone with a chocolate stick in it. Nothing real special. But it’s an Irish thing. I didn’t do any Guinness, but I did do a 99.
By this time the sun was shining brightly so we took off on the bikes towards the Clifden Castle, a ruin of a manor house built in the early 1800’s. No effort has been made to restore this building, and it is succumbing to the elements.
Farther up Sky Road is a viewpoint that overlooks the Atlantic and some of the surrounding islands. We rode to this viewpoint and admired the scenery for a bit before coasting back into town. This road was part of the segment we skipped in the rain, so we got to see it anyway.
The ride back into town was a five-mile coast with a magnificent view. I had my GoPro clipped onto my hat and recorded part of the journey. That video can be viewed here.
Bitten into with sandy bays, guarded by islets of porphyry set in an opal and azure sea- Paul Henry, artist, 1920
An apt description of the view from Sky Road.
We rode back into town and stopped at a Supermac for dinner. Our last taxi driver raved about Supermac, which is the Irish version of McDonalds, but, as he said it, much better. We found one a few blocks from the guest house and decided a change from the same pub food would be good. Deb and I ordered a pizza which was pretty decent for a fast food joint. Jill’s burger and Terry’s wrap were barely edible. I guess fast food is still fast food. And McDonald's has nothing to worry about.
We came back to the guest house to repack. The bikes are done and we hop on the bus tomorrow for the trip across the country to the Dublin area. On Tuesday we fly out towards the United States.
Total distance covered today: 56Km
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