Now that we got this bus thing down...

Let's Visit Doolin

This is it.  One block long.  But they have a Saturday local craft fair.  

Big bus adventure as this is 4 stops/one half hour.  About.  Lahinch-Liscannor-Cliffs of Moher-Doolin.  How hard could it be to find a craft fair in a village with one block of commerce?  

The craft fair is held in the community center.  A 1 mile-ish walk over hill and dale, a stream with no discernable walkway for pedestrians on roads with lanes that were built to comfortably accommodate horse and buggy but must now share the road with autos and tour buses.  Lots of tour buses.  This is an act of daring.  

Only about 10 booths at the craft fair but worth the hike.  This is the view from the back of the community center, which clearly is not "in town".

Now I am hungry and have passed 2 pubs and a cafe on my way uphill.  McGann's is open and has roadside picnic tables with a view of a pasture.  Perfect spot.

I am enjoying another wonderful bowl of seafood chowder and the peace of the surroundings when a tour bus pulls up literally 5 feet from my table and 40 citizens of the world unload right in front of me.  I admit to a temporary loss of something to say.  And then tour bus #2 arrived.  Yikes.

Not being sure which was more risky, staying at the United Nations of McGann's Restaurant in Doolin or navigate the road back to "town", I choose option 2 and beat a hasty retreat.  Where another tour bus was unloading their cargo at Fitzpatrick's pub.  While another event was unfolding:

The wine bar was infinitely more sedate than Fitz's, so I nabbed an sidewalk table and watched the tour buses go by.  

Doolin is known for it's traditional Irish music and the 4 or 5 pubs that serve this little town are alive with lilt every night.  Doolin is also a couple of miles from the Cliffs of Moher.  The first is the photo I took from the town.  The second is a good photographer's taking.

Note to self:  Do not board a bus with one of its stops being the Cliffs of Moher on a Saturday.  Ever.  A minimum of 75 Cliff-ers were waiting at the bus stop for a trip back to wherever and going my way.  So glad I got on the station before and got a seat.  And now I know why the bus from Galway is always late...everyone wants tour info from the bus driver, who patiently tells them, yes, this is the bus to Ennis, etc.  

I forgot to make a reservation at one of the 3 restaurants for Saturday dinner but Pot Dugan's fit me in and the lamb stew was amazing.  Stopped at Eugene's on the way home and had him mostly to myself.  Eugene was in a verbose mood and explained how the tour bus stopping at "designated" pubs works (let's say kick back is involved), fixed American politics (you only have 2 parties...need at least 4), waxed at length on intellectual snobbery and entertained me so thoroughly that I stayed longer than the one glass of wine I intended and never made it to Cooley's for music.  

Another day in the books.