Ireland - Day 9 (Friday 4/07/2006)

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I awoke today outside of Adare to more rain. Blah. Let’s hope it quickly passes as it has the past few days. Time for a quick and painless checkout, some brief glances at the itinerary, and a fuel stop. I’m to head out to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher today. I’m looking forward to it, as long as the rain stops.

That out of the way, I’m on the road again around 8:30. I brave the rush-hour traffic going into…and out of Limerick. That’s the worse part of this vacation. Well, that and the fact that most of the hotel employees aren’t Irish, and don’t speak very good English. But seriously, I told them I was going to be here and they have my itinerary; can’t they just tell people to walk to work while I’m here? You’d think so.

Anyway, I pass Bunratty Castle on the way out of Limerick. It’s nice, but I’m not really interested right now. Not with the Cliffs of Moher on the schedule. Little did I know that the Cliffs of Moher weren’t all that easy for me to find. They’re cliffs, right? Big ones, too? Then why can’t I find them? Well, I’ll tell you why: seems some locals in Liscanor want you to think that their town has the cliffs (though they don’t), so they have a sign going into town pointing you to the “Cliffs of Moher” and then on the way out of town they have another sign pointing back the way you came to the “Cliffs of Moher.” Bastards, all of them. But after I figured out that the real cliffs were about 3 miles further down the road all was well.

I parked my car and made my way up to the tower that sits atop the cliffs. At the time the weather was nice, and I was congratulating myself on my good fortune…until I took my camera out. That’s when the cold, the wind, and the rain came. So there we were, a bunch of tourists, huddled at the base of this tiny tower, amidst the cold, wind, and rain, waiting for it to stop…which it did after about 15 minutes. And it…was…worth…it.

This place was pretty cool, even with all the tourists. While I couldn’t quite picture it as the Cliffs of Insanity from “The Princess Bride” I don’t quite doubt it either. Anyway, walking back and forth along the cliffs was breathtaking (as is a lot of Ireland, it seems), though you can’t walk the entire section, as a lot of it is private property. Imagine owning that. Lucky. I did, however, break a few rules to head a bit further down the cliffs and snap a nice self-portrait.

That completed I made my way to the car and drove further into the Burren along the Coast Road. Piece of advice: if the time is available, always choose the Coast Road (whichever one it may be), as it will dazzle you. The drive was nice and there were plenty of cows to meet and greet along the way.

From there it was time for the drive into…and out of Galway. Seems yet again my hotel is outside of the city. About eight miles outside of town this time. No bother, though, since I have some writing to catch up on. That, AND I need to do laundry. Yep, I’m starting to smell.

So, I settle in to this very posh hotel, call Kristen to check in, and head down to the basement to do my own laundry. Hey, it’s cheap (free, in fact, minus the one euro for the detergent), and relaxing. I read my book to the sounds of the machines in one ear and the rains in the other. Looks like going back into town wouldn’t have been fun, anyway.

After that it’s to the pub for a pint (or two) before my 7 o’clock dinner reservation. Like I said: this place is posh. And my meal proved it. Forty Euro fixed fee meal, with a few choices. But, man, was it worth it. I started with a nice salad, followed it up with a broth soup, and for the main course got a steak. Nice. A glass of red wine went along with the meal. And for dessert I had this fudge cake that was the best fudge cake…ever. Not that I’ve had much fudge cake in my life, mind you, but still it was good. Speaking of posh, the music in the background, piano music that I thought was some modern hits piano solo album, was actually a bloke on a piano. How appropriate that he played “All by Myself” while I was there, staring around at all the old couples. Cute, dude, real cute.

Such a good meal behind me, it was back to my room for a bit more light reading, some television, and finally, sleep. Big day tomorrow. Can’t wait (again)…