Day 8- October 21st

We are off at 8am today, without our usual driver. Andy is required to take time off so in his stead we have Pavel. Pavel is from Poland. Our first stop today is the Cliffs of Moher. No doubt about it, this stop was the coldest point of the entire trip. It was incredibly windy and by the time I climbed down the steps of the cliffs my hands were frozen. It was all worth it, however, when you see the amazing beauty of the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are a sheer drop into the ocean. As cold as it was, it was crazy to see someone out there on a jet-ski! It's quite a climb to the top of the cliffs, and I wish we would have had more time here as there was a whole segment of the cliffs that I wasn't able to get to. There is, of course, a ruined tower at the top. I climbed back down and warmed up in the gift shop. I bought an Irish-English dictionary to compliment the Welsh one I had purchased earlier. I also found a plaque with my last name on it and learned that it is of Welsh origin. We're back on the bus and on the way to Galway for our lunch stop. Along the way we learned about the infamous Lynch stone, which the locals in Galway told us was just a made up story. We also stopped in a very rocky area called The Burren for a photostop. In Galway, I really wasn't in much of a mood for walking around so decided to actually have lunch today. Jane, Audrey, Terry, Marcia and I found a local pub where I had a toasted ham and cheese sandwich and potato crisps (€4.95). We really didn't have much time here and I never did make it to the Lynch stone. After leaving Galway our next convenience stop was in a town named Killgarren. Of note here is an old whiskey distillery that has been turned into a museum. Out back, behind the main building, were huge stacks of barrels and casks. I walked around to the front of the building to see the waterwheel that Doug had told us about. We were all disappointed to see that it wasn't working. The area around the building still smelled faintly of whiskey and that turned my stomach a bit. It made me incredibly happy that we weren't going to be touring a functioning whiskey distillery. I took one of my favorite photos of the trip here. I was walking down an alley beside the distillery and there were these 2 chairs, just sitting there beside green doors and colorful brick. I think it turned out pretty well. We were driving on to Dublin and I was dozing. I woke up while we were driving through some sort of parade. It was a bit early for Halloween but most people were dressed up. I'm not really sure what was going on there. We got in to Dublin around 5pm. Dinner is on our own tonight. Our hotel was in the financial district, which is where the old docks used to be. I'm rooming with Kellie for the next two nights. I did some clothes washing and then met Jane, Terry and Marcia in the lobby at 7pm. Audrey needed some downtime tonight. We all decided to walk down to the Temple Bar area. It was about a fifteen minute walk. This area is just blocks of pubs, restaurants, and cafes. There were also lots of street performers out and about. It was a Sunday night, but it was still bustling with tons of people around. We walked around for awhile, taking in some of the more notable places like Oliver St. John Gogarty. We weren't really that hungry, still full from lunch, and decided to sit at an outside cafe and have some dessert. I had banoffi for the first time. Banoffi is like a chocolate/caramel/banana pie. It was DELICIOUS. While walking around I had noticed a Hard Rock Cafe down what was described to me by my Aussie friends as a "dodgy" alley. I went in and bought a shot glass for my roommates. We got back to the hotel around 10pm and Kellie was already in bed. I was considerate and left the light off, choosing to listen to an audiobook on my ipod instead. Tomorrow we have nearly an entire free day in Dublin.

Hotel: Jurys Inn Customhouse. The hotel is in a pretty good area of Dublin, being near Temple Bar. The River Liffey is just out front of the hotel. I loved the carpet in the lobby as the main feature of it was the same as the tattoo on my neck.




MORE PHOTOS!!