Well today is a new day and sleep seems to escape us...going to bed late and waking up early every day is not easy. It's hard when I want to talk to my family back home and it's just barely dinner time when I'm ready for bed...no worries though...I'd rather lose a little sleep than miss my chats. We were, however quite sore after our little escapade yesterday and some of us did not sleep too well. I'm feeling it a little today, though yesterday my knees were feeling awful. I'm sure it'll hit me tomorrow. So our day started with breakfast as usual. Today some of us decided to break from the traditional and didn't order the Irish breakfast. Instead, I ordered French toast and it was scrumptious! The syrup was thick like honey and wonderful!
After that we headed toward Tarbert to catch the Shannon Ferry. We literally just made it! Mom pulled the car on and she and Aunt Cindy had to pull in our mirrors because it was such a tight fit. No sooner had she turned the car off and the boat started to move. Twenty minutes later we were in County Clare. It was wonderful though, because for those twenty minutes we had wifi! Oh how I miss technology! I was able to check Facebook and iMessage my sweetie. Then just like that...it was gone...LOL...am I being dramatic?
Next we are headed to the Cliffs of Moher via the scenic coastal drive. Here's the first view of the drive...the Atlantic Ocean and the town of Kilkee.
After driving a ways up the coast it was time for a scenic picture stop in the town of Lahinch. It was nice to smell the salty air of the Atlantic blowing in the wind.
Along the way we saw some graffiti on the wall. Love this! If you're gonna tag something, make it meaningful and pretty!
Now the weather is sunny but in the 50s and I am wearing a jacket and scarf. Meanwhile notice the surfers and swimmers below! After all, it IS summer in Ireland. Yeah, that's not for me! It needs to be HOT for me to go in. Apparently it's a scorcher back in the states and everyone is practically naked trying to cool off lol and we are in sweaters and jackets. :-)
Next stop? The Cliffs of Moher. When we arrived and started up the path we saw these signs...maybe these cliffs are dangerous? So glad they gave us visuals so we would know...
There were a couple people playing Irish music on little accordions as we walked..making for a nice ambiance lol.
Here we are at O'Brien's Castle on the cliffs.
The wind nearly blew us over...look at the grass and my hair! The grass is practically laying down!
Do I really want to do this? I'm so scared of heights and get all shaky and my heart races...we had two paths to choose from to go further on the cliffs and I chose the safest while mom and Aunt Cindy and eventually Sam picked the other one...they said that this safe path wasn't here when the girls came 5 years ago.
Our first stop along the path led us to this cliff. The wind was scary! (For me at least) mom was ready to walk to the edge and I was getting freaked out and yelled for her to come back. If the wind weren't blowing so hard it wouldn't have been so bad. We all took a seat and braced against the rocks before moving on. "Mom! Mom!" Jessica yelled at me as I headed towards the edge.....reminded me of the time we went whitewater rafting in North Carolina and Jessica screamed when I fell out of the raft. LOL
Next we went further and Aunt Cindy, Mom, and Sam were brave enough to look over the edge...
I was perfectly content sitting on my little spot way from the edge.
Love this pic of Sam...time for a smoke break on the edge of the Cliffs of Moher.
We all made it back to the car safely..I even walked for 20 feet on the not safer path because I was stuck behind the world's slowest family...my impatience won out over my fear lol... Then we went towards the town of Doolin which is where Mom, Cindy and the other girls stayed on their last trip. For old time's sake we had to get out and take a picture in front of the first castle they saw the last time--Doonagore Castle.
Then we drove down to Doolin and had a snack in Gus O'Connor's Pub.
Every now and then I order a diet coke and they give me the eeriest amount of coke and always THREE ice cubes..what's up with that? I guess they're not happy I didn't order a beer?
Afterwards...we headed to drive through The Burren...I think this was part of it...lol
From there we drove to Poulnabrone, an ancient burial tomb older than the pyramids!
We still had a lot to do and some places to be so we moved on towards the O'Dea Castle. On our way Aunt Cindy started cracking up because she saw the sign for the village we were driving through...
Killinaboy?
So of course we had to stop and take a picture...plus there was an old church ruin she wanted pictures of. On to O'Dea Castle!!
This ruin is some part of the Castle history..not sure about the details though...Unfortunately, we arrived at the castle as they were closing the gate (insert sad face here). This picture is as much as we were able to see from the road...so paraphrasing Dad.."You've seen one castle, you've seen them all!" Aunt Cindybsaid we could look at their pictures from last time...LOL.
Onward! To Ennis to pay back The Usual Place for letting the girls on the last trip use the bathroom. Bad news ladies...
It's a butcher shop..let the tears flow..it's all your fault for not buying a beer the last time..now they are out of business! lol only kidding...two busts in a row...moral of the story? You can't go back...lol...unless it's to the Cliffs of Moher. Aunt Cindy says you can't go wrong there. So on to NEW memories! Next stop? Bunratty Castle and folk park. We are enjoying a four course medieval banquet!!! So exciting!! We arrived about an hour early though so we decided to go to the original Durty Nelly's and mom and I got a cup of coffee...I needed a pick-me-up, and Sam and Aunt Cindy got a half pint of Bulmers.
then it was time to head next door to Bunratty Castle.
When we arrived, there was a minstrel playing music as we entered the castle. We were then ushered up a spiral staircase into the Great Hall where we were offered bread and salt to keep the evil spirits away during our castle stay.
Mead, an alcohol made from honey, was served as well. While we sipped our drinks and enjoyed the bread two musicians played the harp and violin.
Then we were ushered into the dining hall down another spiral staircase.
Here were were served bread and soup...no utensils were given. We had to partake using the instruments God gave us...our hands. We sipped from the bowls and dipped our bread in. Very delicious. Mom, however "doesn't generally like to dunk stuff" so she just sipped and ate her bread separately..lol.
Throughout the meal we were entertained by the 'butler' Patrick and theLords and Ladies serenaded us with singing..
It was very interesting and entertaining and I could not finish my third or fourth course. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Bunratty Castle!! I would certainly recommend it to anyone visiting the area!
Isn't the castle lovely at night all lit up?
