Ireland part 4

Well I guess it's time to put up another part of the the Irish trip... The last week I've been here in Gatineau and have been mostly riding my bike. The Ottawa/Gatineau region is marvelous for that. There are bike paths all over the Capital Region. I can leave from the apartment near the Parc de la Gatineau and ride all the way to Ottawa, cross the Ottawa river (all the bridges across the Ottawa river have dedicated bike paths...are you listening Montreal?) and never have to get off the bike paths. they are not on the roads with the car traffic, but through parks, forest and river side. I've done 50 km a day for the last week, great...but today it is raining and since it tends to be somewhat hilly at times, and wet wheels to not make for great brakes, I'll take a break today. ;o)

So here are some pictures from the trip thse pictures are from the Burrens. This region of Ireland has the same kind of terrain as the Aran Islands. The bedrock is limestone and the arable earth has been stripped off by the glaciers which has lead to weird weathering and what they call pavement that are seperated by grikes and clints. It is hard to describe and even harder to walk in since you always have to look at where you place your feet.


Going around Black Point was rather interesting because of the road but also because of the obstacles. ;o)
The region also contains some really awesome cliffs. The Cliffs of Moher are spectacular and you can walk along the path on the cliff edge for kilometers, which I did of course. The path is at your own risk and some parts of it are within a foot or two of the edge which drops down 200 meters to the sea below. (I checked the height in Wikipedia because it seemed way higher.) I loved the walk and the feeling of being so close a great void. I love high places where I can see forever... especialy if my toes are dangling over the edge. Mrs. BB, having vertigo, does not find my love of high empty places funny at all. ;o) The last picture gives you an idea of scale...The Burrens is also one of the places where we can find the most prehistoric sites, from ring forts to burial sites, they spot the landscape. One of the most famous is the Poulnabrone portal tomb a burial site from the neolithic.




Since the Burrens are limestone there were bound to be caves. This is one of the largest caves in Ireland Ailwee Caves. They also have a sanctuary for birds of prey where they give a home to birds of prey that are injured before releasing them back into nature.



And where would we be in Ireland if we didn't find a high cross. The high cross of Dysart O'Dey is on of the best preserved in Ireland. It was once part of an abbey, but is now sitting in the middle of a cow pasture. The ruins are still used for burials, as are most ruins of churches and monasteries. The reason we were given is that when Henry VIII founded the church of England the population, which largely stayed catholic, were no longer allowed to bury their dead in the protestant churchyards. Since the ruins were still consecrated ground, they continued to bury their dead in the ruins.