More from Ireland

On Sunday, we packed our bags, left Dublin, and got on a bus bound for Galway, on the western coast of Ireland. It only took us four hours to cross the country...it's amazing how distances seem longer when you know you're crossing an entire country as opposed to knowing that it takes me only four hours to drive from Toledo to Chicago. When we got to our bed & breakfast there, I could have kissed our host, I was so happy to see beds and a bathroom all to ourselves. The hostel was ok, but it was not fun sleeping in a room crowded with 12 bunks, 1 bathroom to share with everyone, and people coming in and out at all hours of the night. Now we had big beds with big fluffy pillows! I couldn't wait to go to sleep that night. The owners, Mary & Tom, were absolutely lovely. They directed us to the main drag in Salthill (the seaside suburb of Galway that we were in) for dinner. Falling asleep that night in those beds was one of the most heavenly feelings I have ever had.
The next day, we had french toast for breakfast and then we took a bus tour (yes, one of those huge tourist bus tours...what could we do...it would have cost us a fortune to rent a car there) to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. The day had started off cloudy but by the time we got to the cliffs, the sun peeked out and they were fantastic! My uncle had warned me that they weren't worth the trip since they're usually shrouded in fog, but they were magnificent. I'm glad we took the risk and went. Even better than that, was our tour guide...he was hysterical! He was an older gentleman, short in stature, and an actual twinkle in his eyes...Being in Ireland I began to wonder if he was related to the leprechauns with all the joking and teasing he did. :)
Later that night, we ran into a couple at the B&B who were headed to pub in Galway and we went along for the ride. We went to An Pucan where they happened to have a group playing traditional pub songs...turns out I knew a lot of them from my Gaelic Storm CDs...it never occurred to me that I would end up knowing some of those old songs. And real Guinness on top of that...I'm not sure I'll ever be able to drink Guinness in the states again...it's not even close to the real thing here.