Ireland in Retrospect: Kinvara Day Two

Kinvara Day Two September 19

We started off the day by walking down by the bay. It was overcast, as you can see.

A fishing village.

It's hard to see, but I think this is peat.

A blurry picture of Dunguaire Castle.

We then walked to a restaurant called Fox's that was basically right next door to our place. I had French toast, and Justin got a sandwich called the Fat White. Seemed appropriate.

Yummy!

Afterward, we walked down the street (not very far) to SIAR, which is a little coffee/arts shop. It used to be located on the first floor of our building and was called Kinvara Arts Gallery, but moved in August of this year. When we walked in the door, we were greeted with a very warm welcome by the woman working. We got a couple cups of tasty coffee, and looked around the shop. I found a children's book about a mermaid that happened to be written by a local high school student. Of course I had to buy it for the girls.

We chatted for a few minutes with the sweet lady. She asked us about our plans, and when it became apparent that we were flying by the seat of our pants that day, she insisted on pulling out a map, and circling and writing about the things we should do around Kinvara.

It's not easy to see, but at the top she wrote about Hazel Mountain Chocolates; in the middle she circled Burren Perfumery, and a little farther down she wrote "Harry." Harry is the name of the farmer who lives there. Apparently his daughters also have been known to make pie and give them to visitors. We ended up not going to that farm. Maybe next time!

Instead, we went first to the Hazel Mountain Chocolate store.

View of the Burren before going into the store.

I don't remember what all the flavors were, but my favorite were the peanut butter chocolate ones!

Next we headed to the Burren Perfumery. It was a lovely place! There's an herb garden with a stone walkway. In addition to herbs, there was other greenery and plants, as well as some artwork. We spent a little time out there first.

We also briefly saw the Blending Room, where the creams and balms are mixed. When we got inside the Perfumery shop, we were warmly greeted, and given an opportunity to smell all their perfumes, and learn about the different notes of the perfumes. Before I made my final choice, we watched a little film in one of the rooms about the flowers of the Burren. The perfume I picked out is called Frond. It has notes of wild roses, violets, ylang ylang, cut grasses and sandalwood. I love it! I haven't worn perfume in years and year, but that's all going to change! We also spent a little time shopping for gifts. We ended up picking out two different soap and candle sets to give to Justin's mom and aunt.

Not only does this place have lovely landscaping and a perfume shop, it also has a tea room! So naturally, Justin and I got some tea to drink. We also shared a piece of carrot cake!

As we drove back toward Kinvara, we saw the ruins of an old church, and decided to check it out. Being very cautious of the loads of cow poop all over the place, we made our way to the church. We realized that it was also a small cemetery, still being used by local families.

The grass is so lush!

We drove around some more, loving the windy roads (Justin more than me, since he didn't have to worry about getting carsick) and beautiful scenery. I took this video to showcase a bit of the Burren on our way home.

Thanks to that huge piece of carrot cake, we ended up not getting lunch. But instead, just snacked while we hung out at the apartment. After we lounged the afternoon away, we got up to get some dinner. We decided to go to a restaurant called Pier Head. Unfortunately, it ended up being the worst meal of the trip. My food was okay, but Justin hated his. And the service was pretty nonexistent. Oh well. You win some, you lose some!