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Lisdoonvarna, Day 7


Day 7 started with our morning walk to the local Spar for morning pastries. Lisdoonvarna is a charming little city and while it's best known for its annual matchmaking festival, for us it will alway represent our lovely three days in the Burren. After breakfast, we headed out to the Cliffs of Moher. If you ever want to feel small and inconsequential and in awe of the world all at the same time, visit the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs inspire and terrify--every year there are, according to locals, several suicides off of the cliffs. I can only imagine the horrible beauty of such a fall. 
But, today is not a day for sad and morbid thoughts! Jane thought the steps up to the first platform by the cliffs was a hoot. Because her mother entrusted her to our care, we kept a firm grip on this squirmy beast--no small feat!
With Jane safely returned to her parents, we started walking around the cliffs. 
Every few feet my perspective of the cliffs shifted a bit as the cliffs revealed themselves bit by bit.
Seriously, stay away from the edge, people. That being said, I saw tons of people taking, in my estimation, too many risks near the edge of the cliffs. To get sense of what I mean, Google "people falling off a cliff while taking pictures" and you'll get a (to my mind) shocking number of hits. And, this is something coming from me--I don't scare easily and keep Peyton in a near constant state of panic because I'm so unafraid of, well, much.
Many pictures of the cliffs to follow.

Also, no climbing over the walls.
I'm still obsessed with the wildflowers and am looking for any occasion to include them in a photo.
Peyton has been extraordinarily generous over the course of our trip. Not only has he walked 6-9 miles per day without complaint, but today he also consented to stand within 6 feet of the edge for a photo. 
It's a bit difficult to see, but there are several varieties of birds nesting in the cliffs. I was stunned by how loud the birds are in their homemaking efforts--their squawking echoes off the cliffs and reverberates in the air around us.
By this point in the trip, I'm used to seeing Irish cows everywhere. Even still, I'm amazed that there are cows grazing on the Cliffs of Moher. The farmer could probably making a fortune selling ice cream made from the milk of the cows that graze on the cliff to tourists.
After the cliffs, we visited the Aillwee Cave. At the same site is also a birds of prey center. The afternoon education session was just beginning as we arrived. So, we decided that we could fit in a little raptor education before hitting the caves. First up was a great horned owl--we were amazed by how well trained the bird was as he swooped over the audience from perch to perch. His reward was bits of mouse and quail.
Next up was this dream boat of an Irishman and a graceful hawk. I tried to get a photo of the cool hood the hawk was wearing when she first came out, but I didn't get a good shot. We witnessed some incredible acrobatics by this bird as she swooped around in pursuit of prey.
The last bird was a white-tailed eagle. I thought she looked like a cousin of the bald eagle. Later, I did a little research, and I wasn't far off! The white-tailed eagle is considered a "close cousin" to the bald eagle. She was absolutely glorious!
Finally, we made it to the Aillwee Caves. Not to make everything about Father Ted, but in "The Mainland" episode there was a brief foray into the Aillwee Caves. If you're familiar with the show, you'll remember that Ted and Dougal run into Father Noel Furlong (Graham Norton) who has been lost in the caves for two days. Naturally, hilarity ensues.
It's always hard to take photos in caves, but I did manage to get a good shot of the "praying hands" stalagmite. 
I tried to get a good photo of the waterfall, but I needed more light.
I did manage to capture the image of a rare UK cave shrimp though.
We later had pizza at the Burren Storehouse and then stumbled our tired arses back to the house. Some folks were lucky enough to score a ride!

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