John and Mairin in Lahinch were lovely hosts. I walked down the hill after I’d arrived Thursday night, and Mairin called to see if I needed a lift, as it had begun to rain.
Sidebar–the beer here has been quite good. Note–food is generally unavailable after 9:30 PM, though pubs are still serving beer; opposite from Korea, where most often, you drink with food.
John and I chew the fat for an hour the next morning. I learned about how the healthcare and education systems were set up by the church and Ireland, weather Irish people supported reunification, the dearth of affordable housing in Dublin, Immigration,the housing and financial crisis experience in Ireland, and John’s views on historic preservation.
We talked about tuition costs too, As the other house guest was a young woman from Davidson college in North Carolina, who is studying abroad in Scotland. Small world.
I enjoyed the conversation very much and probably would still be there talking, if I had not asked John for directions to the Cliffs of Moher.
In fact, I received more than directions and got a guided history tour on the way to the Cliffs.
“Bungalow blight,” John lamented developers building new houses next to centuries-old, stone houses (circled).
The Cliffs of Moher
With. John’s drop off, I was able to walk from the visitor center back to the car park, a leisurely, too – our walk.The views from both directions, walking forward and looking back, or spectacular.
Back to Lahinch for a quick lunch and view of the ocean before heading out of town.
Then, off to The Bureen, ie outer space
The Burren is a limestone plateau formed more than 300 million years ago on the western coast of Ireland, a country that is otherwise very green.
