The Burren, The Cliffs of Moher, and watching The Game in pubs...

The original plan: Saturday morning we were going to take a 20 euro cruise around the Aran islands and Cliffs of Moher, which basically means a four hour cruise around the west coast of Ireland. That plan was smashed to pieces by the weather. So, then we were going to take a tour by bus of The Burren (a region in western Ireland) and see a dolmen, some caves, some castles and crosses, and of course The Cliffs of Moher. That got smashed becaus the company did not have their act together. So, long story short, we finally made our way to The Cliffs.

Which, were beyond incredible. I was scared so, so much. I was clinging to the cliffs, half crawling, half parying I didn't fly off the cliffs (not an unfounded worry-- happen frequently and one guy died just 25 weeks ago.) Anyway, Kim, Riley and Emily (the friends with whom I spent the whole trip) managed to make their way far, far away, totally out of sight. So, the whole time I'm inching along, seeing these spunky German kids pass me by, and I felt like a very silly American. Anyway, I see the trio coming back, and I ask them to take a picture of me before I flew off, and followed their unconcerned lead off the side. So, then we went to the other side (right side of the cliffs, where you're allowed to go, and there is ecessive walls so you cannot possibly fly off, and there are security everywhere just in case.) There was a tower, named after this guy O'Brien who wanted a beautiful view of what he knew would one day become a historical landmark. Anyway, it cost two euro to go up the tower, so we decided against it, which was very wise in my opinion, because I truly think if we had we definitely would have blown off into the sea. I cannot express the wind, but pictures will help when I post them.

So, this was all over the course of 1.5 hours, at which point the wind was so bad we were very lucky to have come when we did. Of all the weekends we've been in Ireland and all the people to have visited the Cliffs, I think we had the best weather during our excursion.

Friday night we went out and enjoyed some authentic music in the pubs and bonded. Saturday night we were all beat, so we had dinner and then went to bed. Sunday was tricky, because it would cost too much to do all the "tour" things without a tour bus (example: a cab one way to the Burren perfumery was 35, compared to an all day tour of 20 euro including several locations.) We did get to see Doolin, a cute little city where the caves and all that are. We stayed in Lisdoonvarna, which is famous for its pubs and of course, of course, it's annual matchmaking festival in September. A guy named Christy Moore has a song dedicated to Lisdoonvarna. Commonly, there's a song about every city-- no matter how small-- in Ireland, because every city has a pub, and men seem to be at their most musical when they have a pint in them.

So, Sunday we had planned to go to Galway (where we needed to catch our train back to Dublin) and go see the horse races, since it was the last weekend, only 20 euro, and a chane of a lifetime. Unfortunately, as we were waiting for the bus to come take us to the races, it began to rain and about the same time, we began to realize the bus wasn't coming. So, we hung out in pubs and watched "football" (which is more of a combination of soccer, football, and volleyball without any padding.) I got asked my age (equivalent of being carded, because they trust you here). It was wonderful. I ordered my vodka cranberry, and the bartender looked at me and asked, 'and what is your age?' I was so baffled. He gave me a lime slice. :) Anyway, so we go to get our train at 4:15. After a lot of stress of getting there in time, we're on the train and told by the cleaning crew it won't leave util 6:15. There's no way to censor this: we were pissed. Yes, it's a bank holiday today, BUT we checked several times on phone and online and were assured the trains were running as usual. So, back to the pubs to drink away the anger. Mind you, there's no food happening here, just Murphys, Guinnesses, vodka cranberrys, Kim and tequila, and Emily and Jameson. Long story short, Kim got drunk, I got a headache from not eating, and so we got on the train moody, annoyed, and starving. The train was freezing (the only place in Ireland with AC is the train, and the only place that doesn't need AC is the train. Go figure.) There were annoying kids screaming, and their mom was hammered and smoked in the bathroom so the train smelt.

So, my weekend consisted of a lot of disappointment with transportation issues. Ireland has a very mellow attitude, which would be just fine if we were spending lots of money on our trips. Granted, the Cliffs were amazing, but there was SO much else we could have done that we missed out on. Again, the bright side (apart from the Cliffs) is that we got to see a lot of the area, got to hang with the locals, and spent some quality time bonding, eating great food, and enjoying pubs.

I'm going to Galway next weekend, and I am determined to do all the things on my list. Here it is:

Falconry (at Ashford Castle)
Horseback riding (at Ashford Castle)
Galway tour of Connemara and The Burren (so I'll get the dolmen, the castles, the caves, and the views.)

I have two days to make those three things happen, and the first two have to be on Saturdays because of the busses and the tour has to be early enough that I can get a train back to Dublin Sunday night... its going to be a lot of work. Wish me luck.

And yes, pictures to come.