Visit from the southern hemisphere
September 20, 2014Hokkaido – japanese Arctica
February 2, 2017To Scotland next time
Scotland is one of my travel dreams. But. It’s Sunday, expensive flights, departures in bad times.
“So take Prague-Dublin!” Wednesday, we board Boeing with Air Lingus with a green trefoil on the rudder. On board a traditional gin with tonic. We are a bit superstitious after these years, with gin, we start and finish each journey. In Dublin, a bit of the car rental. But our cheap van is waiting for a while
Left-handed management is a bit unusual for the Central Europeans. The biggest problems are, however, according to our experience, two things. Sorting the left hand well and in good time and estimating the right distance of the left side of the car from the sidewalk, stone ubiquitous walls, buildings, and standing cars. After one hit mirror, the situation improved significantly! Highways, like in our country, are characterized by the fact that there are no landings, and you have to take the motorway from the highway and often take a long distance before you reach it.
We had a quiet ride in less than three hours before reaching Limerick. We’re off the highway. We continue on many winding and very, very narrow streets that are lined with stone walls. So everyone is doing it with care, because here is simply where to go. We’re heading west and surprise us how long the sun sets. At ten o’clock there is almost complete light and at half past twelve there is a clear sky above the western horizon. Along the Atlantic coast, in the thick of darkness, our journey turns northwards towards Liscarnnor. Just 3 km away, Cliff of Moher is one of the attractions of the local wildlife.
There is a large parking lot, an enormous information center built in the mountain and above all 214 meters high slate cliffs. Even though the first day is full of clouds, we stay here for two days. The forecast still claims that it should be sunny in the evening. And we really did. Just above the horizon, the sun seems to fall out of the otherwise cloudy sky and magically illuminate the scenery of the cliff. Waiting has paid off.
During the day under the still cloudy sky, we roam around Liscarnnor. Above all, we fascinate old stone buildings and cemeteries. Stone Irish crosses covered with lichen and on the Atlantic. The mouths of Inagh – the Atlantic coast are not just cliffs. A little further from the shore upstream of the river lies another picturesque typical Irish town of Ennistimon. It flows through a river flowing directly through the rock cascade.
The next day, we leave the landscape around the Mohair Cliffs and head for Killarney. Our goal is the Iveragh Peninsula. We want to go through at least a part of the famous Ring Road called Ring of Kerry. It runs predominantly along the coast, but there are places that take you to the surface of the coastal beach, over the rugged rock cliffs or even higher 300 meters high hills with incredible views.
We sleep at the highest point on the island of Valencia, which was probably not a good idea. In the night gale we find ourselves in a van as in a barge on a stormy sea. We will not sleep much. But it is worthwhile in the morning. The sunrise over the bay and the conquest of the place were an unforgettable experience. As the sun rises above the horizon in the morning and the golden morning ends, we leave the island of Valencia and in the port town of Portmaggiore: a splendid espresso, a Carlsberg pill and a special applepie – apple purée baked with a kind of cake in a ceramic dish.
One of the most romantic places on this route is the sandy bay near the village of Keel, framed by torn rock cliffs. We spend almost the entire morning. The only drawback, especially for a photographer, is the fact that hardly looks for the moment before his lens Nemoto any person or that by carefully poised composition lagunkou with sand in the foreground runs in a pack of screaming children, which also splashing the lens. Many farmers have already realized that rock cliffs with romantic outlooks can, in addition to cows and sheep, be a sure and regular income. Just like the Tooren Cliffs. In the morning, the farmer supplies the cattle, opens the café where the rest of the family works and sits in the backyard. For 4 euros, the views over the cliffs are available. Beenarourke is a place high above the sea overlooking two bays. There is a nice asphalt parking lot, mobile ice cream parlor, two pensioners with harmonicas and one retired with puppies and lambs for a voluntary contribution you can pet them. Just attraction, how to be. Ring of Kerry did not finish. In Kenmare, we head north to the Iveragh Peninsula. Before we finally get to Dublin, we want to take a look at Killarney National Park. The landscape is completely different from the coast. There are hundreds of meters high hills with many hundreds of years old forests, mighty trees, picturesque lakes and incredible prospects for everything.
We only got what we can do in four and a half days. Originally, we thought the weather was bad for us. Only on the way back, we understand that when you get in Ireland, it rains only three times a day, the day is cloudy and gales to blow in the wind changed, where you nekácí tripod, you should have a decent handle on an amazing condition.