10 Questions About…

You know god loves us best when we have perfect weather on an 8-hour tour around the west of Ireland. It rained just enough to give us a few rainbows and only when we were on the bus or inside. The funny thing is, we intended to do a different tour but the bus was too full for our taste, so we took a gamble.

We left Galway around 10am. The bus driver shares info the tour most of the way, but in a way where you can tune in and tune out. We stopped at a few places before the mainliner – the Cliffs of Moher. First stop was Dunguaire Castle. One of several castle/castle ruins we saw on our trip. I’ve grouped them all together. The buildings are amazing. We also saw some thatched cottages. I’m grouping them here too and sharing a fun etymology lesson. The term “raining cats and dogs” comes from cats and dogs slipping off the thatched roofs in the rain. (That theory is unsubstantiated but is the best one I’ve heard.)

We drove through the Burren, which is an interesting patch of land. It’s half rock and half rough grass. Apparently, it’s the limestone in the rain that helps form the unique structure. (Or that’s what I heard when I tuned in.) Absolute bonus was a stop at a dolmen. A dolmen is a prehistoric tomb. We actually lived near to one in Dublin years ago, but it was much smaller. It looks like a large stone table of some sort. We learned that the top slab of the one we saw was 6 thousands tons when it was built. It’s a mazing to think about how (and why!) people who build them back in the day.

We drove by Lisdoonvarna, home to a famous one-month match making festival. (September if you want to mark your calendars.) We had lunch in Doolin. Sadly no music at the pub. Doolin is famous for traditional music sessions.

We got to the Cliffs after lunch. They are stunning. We went when the girls were young and I had terrible memories of there being no safety features whatsoever on top of a stone cliff 200+ meters over the sea for something like 5 miles. It feels much safer now. I didn’t have to hold Kate back at all. We had 90 minutes to walk around and we used up pretty much all of that time walking the path we could. We didn’t see a puffin, which was a great disappointment but it’s really the wrong season. Another memory from our trip when they kids were little was midges – everywhere. Midges flying around blocking the sun! But we didn’t have that either.

A bonus was that we could see Lahinch from the Cliffs, which brough back great memories from a vacation there with Grandma and Grandpa when the girls were little.

We drove home along the Wild Atlantic Way. We stopped in a pub for a drink. (Or a bonus walk for some of us.) And then a peaceful drive.

Kate and I had a really nice dinner then she went off to get ready for her week and I went to an open mic night at Roisin Dubh. It was fun to hear a lot of local musicians at once and to see the community vibe that always supports a good local music scene. As a bonus, The Fynches were playing in the main room and I got to see them too.

(The videos are slowing uploading while I’m on the bus.)