Cheers Gang!
Megan and I are currently on a bus from Galway to Dublin, which fortunately has free wi-fi. Anyway, If anything else on this 15 day trip tops today--I will be highly impressed. I've heard a lot of great things about Italy from a lot of people, but I'm not sure how many of those people have been to Dublin before. The best way to put it is...southern Ireland fits Megan and I perfectly. If Megan and I trade in our plane tickets back to the US for tickets to Dublin, don't be surprised (just kidding, Mom...kind of).
We started our journey this morning at 6:20AM (which is 1:20AM in Hickory, and that made me realize how screwed up my sleep schedule is going to be when I get back). We made our way to Galway and boarded the bus that would take us around most of southern Ireland for the rest of the day.
I need about 4 different blog posts to tell you how awesome our tour was. It was a "locally owned company", which I didn't believe at first, but after today I completely believe. We started out in Galway and took a beautiful 30 minute bus ride to the O'Connell farm. I knew from the very beginning I was going to love the tour. We got there and put our bags in "Granny's House"....which was a traditional Irish cottage built in the 1920's, and was the actual home of our tour guides grandmother. Then we went out and played with some young lambs that they keep in their front yard. After that we got a very special treat, and I'll start a new paragraph for Nancy Genovese here...
We saw a big dog pen with two Irish Spaniels in them...and our tour guide asked if we would like to go see some puppies they just had 10 days ago. Everybody said yes, and off we went...Megan and I obviously leading the pack of 30 people to get there first. It was one of the cooler things I've ever experienced--next to holding a new born baby. I've obviously been a dog person my whole life (thanks mom), but I've never held little puppies that can't hardly open their eyes...definitely a new experience for both Megan and I. Hopefully I'll be able to upload some of the pictures on here, if not, check facebook a little later.
After that we took an hour long walk up through the very rocky mountains of Ireland (which were also very flowery, surprisingly. Mike...I took some pictures for you, no worries. It was very pretty, and our tour guide had a degree in Irish History, which made it even more interesting. There was an old Irish Monk Abbey below that we viewed, and it was active over 800 years ago. Obviously I took about 30 pictures of it. We also saw 3 churches that were over 1,000 years old down in the valley from where we were. After that our tour guide started talking about these very noticeable rock walls going straight up mountain sides. He told us quite a detailed story as to how they were built, but basically back when there was a huge famine in Ireland the hungry were told to do menial/pointless jobs to get 2 bowls of soup per day. As our tour guide pointed out...it's crazy to think of all these men lifting these heavy stones minute after minute and hour after hour--every single day for 2 bowls of soup. Definitely something that makes you stop and think.
After this eye opening experience we went back to "Granny's House" and were served fresh apple pie and Irish coffee. I'm not sure I've ever tasted apple pie like this apple pie...It was literally steaming straight from the oven when we got there.
After that we got back on the bus and took a long tour along the western Irish coast for about an hour and a half.
We finally arrived at the Cliffs of Moher and got to tour around for about an hour. Megan and I used this time to speed walk around every inch of the place that we possibly could, and also some areas that we weren't supposed to go (sorry mom, everybody else was doing it). It was one of the most breath-taking views I've ever experienced. A 650 foot straight drop along 5 miles of coast will certainly get your attention. Mitch and Fish- you could easily do about 15 gainers before you hit the water, and I'll obviously give you each $5 if you want to come over here and try it.
After that we got back on the bus and stopped at a local pub. Megan and I both got the leg of lamb, along with a Guinness and a Bulmer's Cider (Megan's new favorite drink). We then stopped at one of my favorite stops--a tomb that has been carbon dated back to 3,000BC. Seeing a structure that has been standing for roughly 5,000 years is beyond my comprehension. If I built something that lasted 100 years I would be very proud...and then you multiply that by 50. Touche, gentlemen and women, touche.
After that we took the very scenic 1.5 hour bus trip back to Galway and had another pint of Guinness and Bulmer's at a local pub there. Now we're heading back to Dublin and ready to get in bed for our 5AM wake up call tomorrow. Rome, here we come!
Mind the gap,
Mark
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