Greetings from Sligo

Saturday was another nice day -- there were a couple of periods of rain, but fortunately those were while we were driving between destinations! We began the day at the Lahinch Coast Hotel's enormous breakfast buffet, then drove to the Brigid's Well in Liscannor -- this one in a little cave decorated from top to bottom with offerings and prayers, with a statue of St. Brigid outside. After that, we headed to the spectacular Cliffs of Moher, which did not disappoint, from the visitor center with its videos of puffins to the cliffs themselves, surrounded by sea on one side and cows on the other, with grand sea stacks and romantic views of the Aran Isles. 

Then we went to the Burren Visitor Centre, where there are displays about the history and amazing geology of the region. Next door is what's left of Kilfenora Cathedral, so we visited that before stopping at Caherconnell Stone Fort, which has a cafe so we ate lunch there. Our next stop was the Poulnabrone Dolmen, set in the midst of incredible rock formations and lots of wildflowers even this late in the year. We walked around the newly restored Cahermore Ringfort and took pictures of the stratified hillsides, then we went to Fanore Beach, which the Visitor Centre had identified as the best place to see fossils -- and it did not disappoint! 

After walking along the beach and taking many photos of fossils embedded in the limestone stretching into the Atlantic Ocean (which felt very cold to my touch but there were people swimming in bikinis), we began the two-plus hour drive to Sligo, where we're spending the night at a big hotel with a spa complex attached. Along the way, we passed the ruins of Leamanah Castle, the dramatic and largely intact Dunguaire Castle, dozens of other castle and tower ruins, and hundreds of sheep, cows, and horses. We weren't very hungry after lunch so we grabbed sandwiches and yogurt from a convenience store for dinner, plus Cadbury!