Left the hotel early, but still got caught in a serious traffic jam in Galway. Our first stop was Rathburn farms, a farm that shows tourist the agrarian lifestyle. Walked through the barn and saw different breeds of sheep, listened to the farmer talk about their operation, watched the border collie round up the sheep,and watched the farmer shear a sheep. The most astounding thing he told us was that they raise the sheep for meat (most exported to France). It costs as much to shear a sheep as the wool brings--wool is exported to China, because synthetics are more popular with the Irish. Then we went to the house and his wife served us coffee and fresh scones with clotted cream and jam. "Twenty six years ago we built on this extra room and started inviting tourist to be our guest. The income supplemented our farm income. Now the income allows us to keep our hobby, the farm operation which has been in my husband's family for three generations." Also toured their thatch roof cottage. Back on the road through the burrens---the roads were very narrow with other buses or trucks having to put their side mirrors in so the bus could pass. Finally reached the Cliffs of Moher--three steep mounds of slate. We climbed up all three and then ate lunch. Got back in the bus for another hour and then took a ferry across the mouth of the River Shannon. We then drove another hour. The fields were larger and more lush than yesterday and fewer rock fences. Yesterday we saw heather and grouse bushes --not today. We did see the same hydrangeas in a deep rose color with many, many blooms per bush. Finally we arrived in Kilarney. The first thing we did was take a jaunting car ride. Actually it was a covered cart which held 8 people pulled by Oscar (a 7 year old Freisen) and driven by Dan. It was a fun hour long ride through a large (25,000 acres) national park. It was very refreshing. Back to the hotel and a buffet dinner.
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