When I woke in the morning, the image of the moon was still in my head. We went down for breakfast and Mary made us eggs and bacon and we had yogurt and orange juice too. Full of breakfast, I added some layers and went outside. The wind was powerful and I wasn't about to let Irish weather ruin my day of adventure. Lindsay and I walked down behind the house towards the barn and found Patrick Sweeney, the man of the house, tending to his animals.
The Sweeneys have about 80 cattle, two donkeys, a dog named Murphy, and a handful of cats. We had a chat with Patrick, who was a country Irish man. He ended every sentence with "Ya?", but he was kind and friendly and I enjoyed our chat. He gave me some good advice for St. Patrick's Day and going to see the Hurling match after the parade. We talked about the weather and the powerful ocean breeze. The Sweeneys have 3 boys, and Patrick said that Murphy the dog is more clever than his boys. After our chat, we headed to the car, loaded it up, and headed into Doolin, to see it by daylight.
The town of Doolin is not very large, and given it is offseason, nothing was open. We wandered into Gus O'Connors, which we couldn't find last night. According to the Sweeneys and the barkeep, we were just missing a big festival in Doolin in honor of a local musician who had passed away in a car accident a few years ago. Nothing much was to be seen in Doolin, so we headed back to the Cliffs of Moher, to enjoy their immensity in the daylight. The layers were a good idea, because the sea breeze off the cliffs was powerful and chilly. After a stop in the gift shop (ofcourse), we headed up the left side of the cliffs to get a look at the famous cliffs. There's no words to really describe the cliffs... they are just so beautiful, and simple, yet overwhelming. They don't look real, and I could spend a day there just soaking it up. As we headed back towards the car, we laughed as we saw someone's camera fall off the rock due to the wind, just as ours had done the night before. Ofcourse, according to Lindsay, it was MY fault, as she yelled out BRITTANY! as soon as it fell, like I had Matilda powers to knock it over from 20 feet away. We stopped to offer to take the picture for the couple, and as we offered, the girl said HEY! and it turned out to be none other than Mallory Green, fellow classmate at the University of Illinois College of Business and one of the people I traveled to Turkey with. She is studying in London this semester and just in Ireland for the weekend, but whats the chances I run into her!
The ladies wanted to see the gift shop so Lindsay and I did a lap or two around the surrounding areas and then got our bearings to make our way to Kilarney.
(Can you see the face?--- at the Cliffs of Moher)
I had opted to navigate us on the coastal road, and what a good decision that was. We got some beautiful views, and we stopped every once in a while to take a picture or two.
We even saw some crazy people surfing on the sea. We stopped near Spanish Point, and walked down to the rocks so Lindsay could put her toes in the Atlantic Ocean. We got a little Irish sprinkle on us, and enjoyed the waves crashing powerfully against the rock.
Something about the ocean relaxes, and I could've stayed for an hour, just listening to the waves. We passed the place were a boat from the Spanish Armada sank and now there is a beautiful hotel there called the Armada.
We stopped for gas and I shared a favorite European treat with Lindsay...Magnum Ice Cream Bars. We got back on the road, and saw some more irish countryside. Massive beef cattle is everywhere, and sheep, and dairy cows sitting on the top of the hills. We passed some wind turbins and we thought of Uncle Charlie and the ones in Appleton.
We passed through many irish towns, which are narrow roads lined with bright colored buildings. I love them. They are so fun and charming. Full of character.
We had planned to take the Shannon Ferry across the Shannon Bay, which would save us 85 miles and avoid Limerick, for a 20 minute Ferry ride at 18 euro per car. The Ferry comes every hour, on the hour. We ofcourse got lost, and were in a time crunch to make it on time. When we got to the town near the ferry, we ended up going into the country. We stopped and asked the cutest old man on a tractor for directions and we made it to the ferry just in time!
My first time on a ferry, in a car, so it was really cool. We drove onto the boat, got out and enjoyed the 20 minute ride across the bay. We even saw a dolphin in the far distance. The boat was full of semis and trucks who must make this venture often, so we were obviously tourists who got out to take pictures.
We got back in the car and were on our way, down narrow roads and on our way. We saw another beautiful rainbow. 2 for 2 on days and rainbows. They remind me of the good in the world.
We were heading into the mountains.... in the distance somewere snowcapped and large. When we reached Killarney, we stopped to get directions to the Wayside B&B at the gas station. The B&B book didn't have an address, and the gas station attendant was no help, so we used our sense of direction to head towards the Gap of Dunloe, where the B&B was located near. We found our way most of the way there and then called Theresa Ferris, owner of Wayside for more directions. We were almost there correctly, but we weren't in the mood to wander. We found the Wayside and it is literally next to the Gap of Dunloe and majestic mountains. The view wasn't bad at all :)
Theresa Ferris was a very hospitable woman. She came out of the house big smiles, giving us a big warm Irish welcome. She invited us inside, showed us our rooms, and then offered the ladies some tea. Lindsay and I got the bags inside, freshened up, and went into the seating room. Tracy & Grisell discovered Digestives, my new favorite snack that I discovered a few days into arriving in Ireland...its like a cookie with a chocolate coating, but they call them digestives. Theresa was a darling, you just wanted to hug her, and she told us she could set up horseback riding/jaunting car rides for us in the morning and then pointed us in the direction of a local restaurant for dinner.
We headed to the Beaufort Restaurant. We enjoyed chicken pasta and baked potatoes with mushroom and bacon. Then we split a fruit pavlova, another new favorite food.
Lindsay needed a "chemist" (what the Irish call pharmacies) so she could get cream for her tattoo so we headed into the town of Killarney. We found our way to the city centre (after a few times around the roundabouts) and parked along the road. We got directions from a local newspaper stand to find a chemist who was open late (whose directions were like make a right at the first roundabout, then down the road, right at the next roundabout, under the bridge, to the left...luckily, I understood him). We stopped at the music store before heading back to the car. I bought two CDs (what's a road trip without jams)...the Shannon Sharon CD recommended by the Car rental Shuttle driver and then a classic Irish song CD. Lindsay made her first driving oops as she almost went down the right side of the road. We found a chemist and got back in the car. I'm loving my new CDs...they have some kind of Irish rap music on it, which was really quite enjoyable.
We made it back to the Wayside, in the dark, with our keen sense of direction. We even managed to connect to the WIFI and Skype Aunt Kath. Then it was time for bed. We had a 9 am appointment at the horse riding place and Theresa was preparing breakfast for us at 8.
Funny quotes of the day...
"You're funnier than I thought you'd be".-Lindsay... I guess she thought I'd grow up to be lame?
"I am like a pirate"....me describing my love of the water.
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