The item I have forgotten to pack this trip: deodorant. Now I am stuck with my European Punishment Deodorant for the rest of the trip (or I can be smelly). It’s at least functional, but it’s a spray deodorant. It is far from pleasant to spray yourself in the armpit with something cold first thing in the morning.
My regrets are numerous.
Today, we are regrettably leaving our hilltop abode in Kinbane and heading to Galway by way of the Marble Arch Caves in southwestern Northern Ireland. That’s not confusing at all.
North souths aside, our first order of business is to head 5 feet to the end of our road to see Kinbane castle, Ashlee’s ancestral land.
We didn’t look up much about the castle before we left so we were somewhat surprised to see the castle a very long ways down the cliff and out on a rock outcropping. Oh, so this was to be a cardio workout with 15,000 stairs to conquer. I see how it is.
On our way down, we met a suspiciously-not-out-of-breath Australian couple going up who warned us that it was quite slippery at the bottom. It was mostly fine until the bottom of the cliff, where there were sneaky slippery patches of mud and some rather slick steps up to the castle itself. A sign warned us about sudden drop-offs near the castle. I mean…it’s on a cliff, so I’m not sure what people expected.
Of the entire castle, only the guard tower remains today. The rest was either worn away or it fell off the cliff. It overlooks the cliff and a small bay, and a few nice waterfalls run off the cliff edges. Back in the day, people weren’t idiots who climbed down the slope, they took boats to and from the castle. Ashlee’s ancestors were smart cookies.
Welcome to the lady’s home 
Up some more steps, yeah! 
Nearby sea cave 
We huffed and puffed our way back up the eternal stairs, stopping to take photos (yeah, that’s it) a few times because we definitely didn’t need to catch our breath.
I ended up being thankful for the chance to stretch our legs – back in the car with us for about 2.5 hours until we reached the Marble Arch Caves!
The caves are right on the border with Ireland, in a park that’s set off the beaten path in an area with lots of one lane roads that claim to be wide enough for two cars. More importantly, I achieved a new level of seven seater people mover left-hand driving by backing the car into a spot using only the mirrors. I must be some kind of god.
My amazing parking aside, the Marble Arch caves are not marble, but limestone caves, created by millions of years of water flow through the rocks. The locals thought the smooth, polished rock was marble, which is where the caves got their name.
Because there’s been a ludicrous amount of rain recently (by Irish standards, even), the caves were too flooded for a full tour, which includes a cavey boat ride. We didn’t want to end up like a Thai soccer team (probably Elon Musk wouldn’t care to save us), but we could still go down to a high portion of the caves to see the rock formations and learn a bit about the geology of the place.
Generally, the rock formations grow at a pace of about 1cm a year. The river that runs through the cave was flowing loudly and quickly, and we could see that it had completely submerged parts of the path which were roped off for our own safety.
This way to flooded cave! 
Cave bacon 
Limestone flow
We went up even more stairs on our way out and took a short hike to see the waterfalls that result from the cave’s water flow. The hike wound through a mossy, ferny ravine, which was of course plentiful in the stairs department. Since the rain had been Irish Ludicrous, the falls were roaring and the river was swift. It was a gorgeous hike!
Foohoosia and hole 
The world’s most lovely tree 
I took a hole pic. 
Crazy falls
After a short lunch, we headed to Galway – back to the EU where they use kilometers (yay, my speedometer is useful again) and Euros. Our ABB is in the docks, right in the heart of the city, and we had plenty of tasty options for food and drink very close to our place.
Tomorrow we’re off early for a tour of Skellig Micheal of Star Wars and Witcher 3 fame. Unfortunately, I left my silver sword and gwent cards at home..
