Our next place-to-go in western Ireland is Dingle, and after that we’re going to Rosslare Harbour for a ferry to France. We were advised to stay in Listowel, and we’d have loved to have stayed in Dingle itself. But the bus schedules determined that the only way to get to our ferry on time Sunday was to stay in Tralee.

Our bus left at 10:30 and took a very scenic route along the coastline on a grey but dry (so far) morning. We passed quaint dairy farms, ruined stone buildings and windswept golf courses before climbing into stone-covered mountains.

The road along the west coast of Ireland is little more than a blacktop driveway by American standards. When our bus would encounter an oncoming lorry (that’s what we call a “tractor-trailer”, or “semi”), there was a delicate dance as the drivers made room to get around each other.

The highlight of our day is a 90-minute layover at the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are straight walls facing the ocean hundreds of feet below us. A fierce wind blew as we trudged up the stairways to an old stone tower on the cliffs’ high point.

From there we could watch the movements of the wind as it made its marks on the water. Occasionally we would be pierced by raindrops carried by this unrelenting wind.

Some of the hardiest souls we ever met in Ireland were the buskers playing traditional folk songs for the visiting tourists. We gave them some coin, and went in for some coffee.

But first we have to change buses. The bus we rode in on is returning to Galway, so we need to move our stuff to the bus that just arrived from Tralee. We continue on to Tralee as that bus returns to its home station.

We rolled on along the coast through the afternoon, stopping for a while in a coastal ghost town, and briefly riding a ferry at Kilmer.

We arrived in Tralee just before 4, walked toward center city and found a small inn called the Castle House.

Once settled into our room, we ventured out to find dinner, and nearly got lost on a maze of poorly marked streets. Tralee is not impressing us, but it is serving its purpose as a base for tomorrow’s day trip to Dingle.