wild melody

Finally, Galway city. You should listen to "Galway Girl" while looking at the photos. {It's gotta be the Steve Earle version ;) } Claddagh ring museum/orignial maker or something like ^ Fish'n'chips at McDonagh's voted "Best in the world" by the Russian Navy. We went inside a cathredalish church but most of my photos didn't turn out. Tapestry in King's Head pub where we had dinner. The land the pub is on was given to the guy who executed King George during the English Revolution. Dinner. Irish lamb stew oohh baby! Good stuff. After dinner, we went to Taffee's Bar next door to hear live trad music. Haha. We could barely even hear ourselves. It was crammed full of guys who'd just graduated with their business degrees. One of the talking to John said "This is your first visit to a pub? You're gonna think Irishmen are crazy!" It was def a fun/interesting experience.

I didn't think anybody would really care to know about the trip but it seems this was a good idea. Good call Amber! =) So. Ireland continues... Monday was a typical Irish drizzle. We planned on getting money, telling our families we were alive, Doolin cave (largest stalagmite in the world) and Galway. Our internet spot was a lovely french cafe called Ooh La La in Ennistymen, a town about 15min from Doolin. It's owned by Maria, who moved to Ireland from France and had opened her cafe 3 weeks before! Speak of perfect timing... After emailing our fams (and some of us checking football stats haha) we walked down to a river Sarah had found Saturday. Then we headed back to Doolin. The cave didn't open until 12 and we were already feeling hungry. So we skipped that and headed straight into Galway. (probably didn't need to do a post on Ennistymen but here it is anyway) Lovely sunrise despite the rain. Isn't it the loveliest little place?! Sarah & her amazing hot chocola...

We wanted to make it to the ruins...alas it got too late. Maybe next time. Reminds me of a movie. :) We came to a bend and there were lovely horses! ^This is how our evenings looked, Sarah and Luke planning the next day & the rest of us goofing off.

After the castle, we decided to take advantage of the sunlight and do the Cliffs of Moher. (also known as Cliffs of Insanity from Princess Bride). This was definitely one of my favorite highlights. I'll do 2 posts of pictures. Because it's my blog and nobody reads it besides Amber so hey, I can do whatever, right? =) (Photocred for 1st photo goes to Beks. The Cliffs of Moher. sigh. Once you follow everybody else and disregard this sign, the best part begins... tourist shot of the group cliffs on one side, this on the other. wow.

On our second day in Ireland we toured Ballinackan Castle and the Cliffs of Moher. The castle isn't open to the public but happens to belong to our landlady's in-laws. It was pretty sweet because it hadn't been restored. The narrow spiral staircase was intact but a few floors were missing...adding to the coolness in my opinion. We climbed to the tip-top. That's our cottage in the distance. ^ Aran islands, view from on top of the castle. (we could see the islands from our driveway) the whole crew^ Steph, JJ, Luke, me, Sarah, Beks and John.

Since Amber isn't on fb, I'll be doing a few posts from the Ireland trip so she can travel vicariously. =) Ireland. We left Friday am (nov 6) and flew all day/night... Saturday morning we landed in Dublin & met up with JJ at the airport. We did a whirlwind visit in Dublin-Trinity College & Guinness Brewery. On the 3 1/2- turned-5 hour drive to Doolin in County Clare (where our cottage was) we stopped in Athelone to see Sean's Bar, the oldest bar in Europe. (dating from 600AD) Unfortuantly it didn't serve food. We stuck around a few minutes to hear an amazing trad band and then off to Doolin for food. We got there at what felt akin to 3am but was more like 9 (?). my irish fam, doing what we did all week. laughing at ourselves. Trinity College View from the top of the Guinness Brewery, where some of us poured our own "perfect pint". F armhouse stop...John and Sarah used a bathroom in somebody's farmhouse because we couldn't find a store or anythi...