Traveling with Michelle: The Mists of Time

Thursday 13 June, 2014

Today we woke up to fog and mist. Have you ever read Stephen King's novella "The Mist"? That would describe what we woke up to. It was creepy and made the usually lovely surroundings look sinister and creepy. We decided to stop at the Blasket Center which is a museum just down the road from our hostel. It centers on the Great Blasket Island and the people who used to live there. I'm not sure if any live there now. In the 1800s and early 1900s people went there to learn Irish from them. Many of the inhabitants had been forced to write and read English, but spoke Irish. Some of them were gifted storytellers and knew the stories of their people but were unable to write in Irish, so they dictated to others who wrote it down. These books full of stories of these people have been translated into many languages. Some are part of the oral tradition of storytelling, some are autobiographical. Some of the people could write Irish and they showed some of their writing--few of the letters were recognizable--very beautiful though! One of the placards reviewed census details as far back as were available--number of households and population. It showed when the numbers went up and when they fell and gave reasons (such as the potato famine and families moving to America). It was fascinating--I'm such a geek for things like that! I also like to read all of the placards in museums and take way longer than the rest of my family. The museum also had an interactive room to learn Irish words which the children loved. I thought it was kind of boring and went to the photo room to look at photos and read stories about people. Eventually the people that lived there were evacuated; I'm not sure why. Now I want to find these books and look up more information! I'm such a geek! :)

We drove, hoping that the fog and mists would lift, and they did as we got further from the end of the peninsula. By the time we got to Tralee, it was sunny and was warming up. We stopped and found a cafe for lunch and a department store for a toothbrush and razor for Anneliese (she forgot them). Then we got cash and drove north. We took a ferry across the Shannon estuary, then drove the coastal road to get to the Cliffs of Moher.

our ferry

approaching our destination

As we got closer to the ocean, the fog and mist rose up again and we could barely see. I suggested that we ask the person at the car park entrance collecting money if we would be able to see the cliffs. She was very honest and said "no." She suggested that if we were going to be staying nearby to try in the morning. We then left and proceeded to our hostel in Lisdoovarna. Wow, what a nice hostel. They showed us around and to our room, gave us towels and the beds were already made. There are many public rooms including a TV lounge with a fire going in the grate, a room with billiards, a room with comfy chairs and foosball, and a dining room. And wi-fi in the public rooms with the World Cup on the TV. While the children were engaged with electronics and the World Cup, Randy and I walked to the local grocery store and bought food to make dinner. Randy and I cut and prepared the food, then he cooked it while I checked with the children.

While we ate, we noticed that it was sunny and wondered if the Cliffs of Moher were clear yet. Randy and Joshua and I decided to go look while the girls stayed back. It was clear! Plus, the visitor center was closed, so they weren't collecting money to enter the car park. We saved about 15 euros. We walked around and took photos, as you can see below. Back for showers and bed. And to write this!

The Cliffs of Moher