Ireland - Day 5: Clifden (bike loop)

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Route: I hit the road early in hopes of doing the solo loop to Ballyconneely and Roundstone and being back before lunch. I was disappointed: i wasted a bunch of time wandering through fields looking for the Alcock and Brown landing site, and Ballyconneely didn't look auspicious for breakfast, but i was hungry and had to climb a bunch of hills. Things turned around when i reached the southernmost point on the map, when i finished climbing a hill and went around a bend to see a gorgeous coast view (i was too busy enjoying the ride down to take a picture). In Roundstone, i had an Irish breakfast sandwich — every kind of sausage known to man on a baguette, a truly ridiculous object, then had a nice fast ride back along the bog road which we'd covered the day before. I did arrive in time for lunch, if only barely.


The Alcock and Brown landing site was on private
property, but the sign just said to close the gate
after going through, so i did. I expected a place-
marker for the actual landing site, but never found
one. Maybe it was under these sheep?

Maybe the landing site was on this rock.

On the road towards Ballyconneely

We've left the rocky coastline of the Aran Islands.
Now there's seaweed at the water line.

More seaweedy coastline

Seaweed and boats

Obligatory covered hay bales

We saw a number of roofs with this corrugated
tile pattern

"4 ACRES WITH RUINS
DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL
FOR SALE"

Green hillside west of Roundstone

Coastline, and a truck

Fuschia! (We think.)

Baby swing at a playground in Roundstone

Inlet east of Roundstone, behind a playground

Super-touristy bodhran museum is full of bodhrans

More stone walls, in Roundstone

Route: After lunch, Samira and i rode this brief, steep, and gorgeous route out and back along Clifden's Sky Road. When we got back to town, we did some shopping, had dinner, and went out to hear some live music (a trad ballad session at once place, followed by a trad drinking songs session at a second pub).


Castle visible from the Sky Road

Sky Road view across the channel to the south

Sky Road view southwest towards the ocean

Green coastline by the Sky Road

Sky Road southwest view

North view from the Sky Road across
Streamstown Bay

East view from the Sky Road towards the Bens

Streamstown Bay

East from the Sky Road

Seaweed near the Sky Road

Samira on the fence

Look, a sheep! (Honestly, we saw a million sheep
on this trip. I just kept failing to photograph them.)

We're not on the Aran Islands any more, but there's
still lots of stone around.

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