Our ferry to Doolin was at 11:30AM, so we slept in until around 8AM. While Sharon was getting ready I decided to see if I could get boarding passes for the ferry. I lurked around the pier but there was no Doolin Ferry office. So I went back to the room.

The magic time this morning was 10AM. That was when the Spar Grocery Store opened (so I could get a deli sandwich for lunch) and it was when the tourist information booth opened so I could ask about the boarding passes.

While we waited on these things to open Sharon and I decided to get breakfast. We decided on the full Irish breakfast – egg sunny side up, black pudding, sausage, baked beans, toast, hash brown, tomato (neither of us ate that), and Irish bacon (Americans would call this ham). I tried most everything, but really only ate the ham, toast and eggs. Sharon was more liberal in her choices, trying the ham, toast, hash brown and baked beans. Geraldine had another lady helping serve us. Later one we saw this lady helping to clean the rooms.

After breakfast we had a short communion service and thought for the day. Sharon and I had both thought it was important to remember to worship our Lord today being the Lord’s day. I’d be amiss if I didn’t say this was the most important thing we did all day.

After our devotional it was 10AM, so I went by the tourist office and found that the ticket printouts that I had were my boarding passes since Doolin Ferry didn’t have an office on Inis Mor.

Later I went by Spar and got a deli sandwich for Sharon and I to split for lunch either on the ferry or afterwards.

It got to be about 10:45AM so we decided to check out. Geradline’s credit card machine was down so we paid her with cash and headed to the port.

At the port there was a bit of confusion on what side the Doolin ferry was one. Some of the ferries stopped at Inis Man and Inis Mer while others went straight to Doolin. An American lady from Indiana was trying to go to Inisheer. When the first ferry came she was told that the other ferry was to go to Inisheer. But when the second ferry came they weren’t going to Inisheer. But somehow the crew got talked into stopping at Inisheer.

Sharon and I grabbed seat on top of the ferry. This helped with her seasickness, but caused me a bit fearful that the boat might sway and my backpack might go overboard. I held it most of the way and took photos and video.

When the boat pulls up to port sometimes those waiting at the port (passengers) will help secure the ropes to the port. There was even a guy (assuming passenger) helping the first mate help secure the gang plank on each drop off of passengers.

Sharon and I both agreed that should we come back we’d try to go to Inisheer, as it looks like the next to the most interesting island behind Inis Mor.

We arrived at Doolin port and walked back to our B&B – Atlantic View Guesthouse. The receiptionist met us at the door and showed us to our room – a nice spacious room on the 2nd floor. There was even a view of the Cliff of Moher which made us even more excited to see the cliffs.

After our lunch from Spar in Inis Mor we deduced to see the cliffs by catching the 3PM Bus Eireann from the Doolin Pier campsite (according to Google). After asking around we planted ourselves at what we thought was the correct stop. The bus came along and I waved the driver down. The bus turned around but did not even open their doors. This left me furious. I then asked around and found the Pattywagon was supposed to stop at Doolin pier in 15 minutes so Sharon and I decided to go there to flag down the Pattywagon.

It was 8 euro each to ride the Paddywagon – a tourist minibus to the Cliffs. The driver told us that the Bus Eireann just used the campground as a turn around spot and it wasn’t officially a stop except first thing in the morning. Our driver was kind enough to point out where at the Cliffs the Bus Eireann stopped at.

We were dropped off slightly further down the cliffs to an undeveloped and unpaved portion. This was because the Cliffs of Moher Visitor center has started their own bus service and no longer allowed the Pattywagon to drop off people at the visitor’s center.

Our view of the cliffs was spectacular, but very crowded. We didn’t know it, but Sharon and myself were cooking in the heat. Afterwards Sharon came out looking like a lobster. I can handle some sunburn without too much trouble. Sharon has fair skin and it effects her much more.

Sharon was afraid of me getting to close to edge and at this point I was a bit apprehensive too. So I stayed close.

Sharon was not having a good time and we headed back to the vistor’s center for ice cream and to cool off. Sharon waited for me and shopped while I went back up to the Cliffs of Moher to where the castle was (2 EURO to climb – I declined). Just beyond the cliffs is a sign saying it the effect “You’re leaving the vistor center portion of the Cliffs of Moher. Depart at your own risk.” Just beyond the boundary someone had setup a trailer selling snacks and hotdogs.

Afterwards I went back to check on Sharon and to visit the exhibit showing the history of the cliffs. Sharon didn’t want to join me because apparently we did not go by protocol and purchase a ticket to the visitor’s center and therefore really weren’t allowed to visit the exhibit.

Sharon and I were very tired to we decided to get the next (and last) but back. The bus was slightly late, but we did manager to catch it.

We ate at Gus O’Connor’s in Doolin on the way back. The bar’s walls are covered with dollar bills for some odd reason. I ordered our food at the bar and sat at a table in a crowded room. Nearby live music was playing. I had fish and chips while Sharon had chicken tenders and fries with some type of garlic mayonnaise. Sharon if you are reading this, please get the recipe.

We walked the long distance back to the hotel room. At our hotel we noticed it was still light and it was 10:15AM. Ireland has really late sunsets.

Tomorrow we are driving to Dingle via Ennis, Shannon, Limerick and Tralee. It’ll be a long drive but will probably be worth it.

I got up early to get breakfast at McDonald’s on Shop Street in Galway. On my way there a drunk was walking along asking “Where you going? Where you going?” I ignored him. I found my way to the McDonald’s and proceeded to place my and Sharon’s order on the Kiosk. The Kiosk wouldn’t take 2 of my credit cards before finally taking my debit card. Ahead of me the drunk had proceeded to try to place his order at the counter. He seemed to be surprised that they wouldn’t be serving hamburgers and reluctantly opted for breakfast instead. It is at this point that I really question by some people decide to get drunk and make fools of themselves. Is it really worth it?

With an Egg McMuffin and Coke for Sharon and a Ham and Cheese Toastie and OJ for me I went on my to our room. After breakfast we got our stuff together with me carrying our laundry bag of dirty clothes and sharon carrying the clean clothes.

Sharon and I walked to Eyre Square. I left Sharon at the Square while I was off to get her a Mt. Dew (yes I found Mt. Dew here!) and Subs from Subway. We then went to the bus stop for the Rossaveal ferry transfer. A bus came along and we got on but was told to get off as the bus was needed elsewhere. A second bus came along a few minutes later and we squeezed on. The bus’ seats did not have enough room between the rows. I’m not sure it would have passed US standards. The drive seemed to take an hour, but maybe it was because it felt longer as I was holding a heavy suitcase while Sharon was holding both of our backpacks.

We found the ferry to Inis Mor. We found some seats underneath and parked ourselves there. In front of us they rolled up a metal window revealing a snack stand. Sharon is prone to car sickness, and in this case sea sickness therefore she closed her eyes the entire time. I took some video and photos at various parts of the ship.

After a while we arrived in Inis Mor. As we were walking to our B&B we were asked twice if we wanted a pony cart tour. I suspected this would be the case so I didn’t prebook any tour for fear of arriving late and them charging us for a no show.

Past the bars and sweater shop was our B&B – Seacrest. Our host Geraldine was moping the floor. She gave us tickets to Dun Aonghasa, an ancient fort at the other end of the island. Sharon asked about a pony cart tour. Geraldine’s husband runs a pony cart tour business and she was happy to call him to schedule a tour at 4:30PM.

As our room was not ready we sat and ate our Subway sandwiches for lunch. I saw 2 cats which I tried to pet, but they were a little skidish.

Since our ponycart tour was not until 4:30PM, we decided to explore the island. We stopped at a sweater shop for Sharon to get gifts for herself and loved ones. In the harbor there is a old ship which ran aground. I went on the beach and snapped a few pictures of it and collected shells for Sharon.

We then went by the Spar – the only store on the island. As it caters to both islanders and tourists, the prices didn’t seem too over-exhorbant. There was a little of everything there including a deli which I would utilize later on for our trip back on the ferry.

After the Spar we ventured further into the island, walking past a ruined Protestant church and abandoned bar – The Lucky Star Bar. I love taking photos of abandoned buildings and urban decay so I snapped quite a few.

Sharon and I saw a cat behind a gate in the nearby woods and we tried to coax it into coming to us but we had no luck. We went as far as Joe Watty’s Bar and Restaurant before heading back but not before stopping at another more modern church in the area. The sexton appeared to be there so we decided not to bother going inside the church.

We went back to our B&B. I took a nap while Sharon surfed the web. Right before our scheduled pony cart tour, I got hungry and got Sharon and myself “Smooches” (like DQ Blizzards) at the local Spar.

We met Geraldine’s daughter who gave us a tour during the first portion of the tour. Geraldine and Thomas’ daughter had been born in Rhode Island but moved back to Inis Mor when she was 3, so this is the only life she remembers. She showed us the ruined Protestant church and stopped at an art shop near Joe Watty’s Bar. Afterwards we went to a 9th century church while Geraldine’s daughter went back to the horse shed and Thomas continued our tour.

Throughout the tour we saw rock walls seemingly separating property lines or fields. Thomas was kind enough to stop at the beach area where seals congregate.

We made it to the foot of Dun Aonghasa where there were some shops and snack stands. We went through the vistor’s center and gave the tickets Geraldine had given us to the attendant before hiking up.

It was a rough hike. I was worried that Sharon was having trouble, but like a true soldier she pushed through and made it.

Dun Aonghasa is at the top of a cliff with no barrier between the visitor and falling off the cliff. Sharon was very nervous when I got near the edge with my GoPro, but I was able to stay just far enough away to give myself a thrill and still be safe.

We headed back down where Thomas picked us up again and took us back to our B&B while pointing out churches and abandoned ruins along the way. It was a different way back than the way we came. We did see a new stone wall being put up by a 4th generation resident. Thomas said this was very unusual as new rock walls are not usually put up.

We came back to the B&B and paid Thomas 60 EURO (30 EURO Each) for the tour – a real bargain for the experience.

We then headed to “The Bar.” We researched places to eat beforehand and “The Bar” had food that both of us would eat. It was wall to wall people inside so we grabbed a table outside. It was a bit chilly, but we had a good time eating the burger for me and chicken with spinach and cheese for Sharon. We had a short walk back to the B&B before finally turning in for the night.

Tomorrow we catch a ferry to Doolin to see the Cliffs of Moher.

My day started early. I got up at 5AM to get a shower and get breakfast at McDonald’s. The only problem was even though McDonald’s said they were open 24 hours on Friday, that means that they didn’t open until 7AM on Friday…and they didn’t close until Sunday. While was there a older man told me they were closed. He asked me what time it was…5:30AM and I said “They probably don’t open until 7AM.” He then asked me what other places are open. I guess I looked like I knew what I was talking about, but I assured him I didn’t know. He later asked two passerby’s what was open and they directed him to another shop off.

My wife Sharon had planned ahead and downloaded Google Maps of our route on her phone. At around 7:12AM we proceeded to Eyre Square to catch the bus to the Enterprise car rental place. We arrived a bit early so we waited 10 minutes until we were welcomed inside to check out our rental. I got additional insurance on the car – a Hybrid Toyota SUV to make my deductible less. I thought it was a good plan for a small additional fee.

Driving a car in Ireland is a bit confusing at times. They drive on the left and the steering wheel is on the right. I had been warned that the windshield wipers and turning signal were reversed, but it just so happened not to be the case on my car.

Meanwhile roads in Ireland can be narrow with no shoulder. I had been warned about this. When I took a minor road to get to my main route, I met 2 cars suddenly and had to brake quickly.

We ate breakfast at a Centra gas station which consisted of muffins and orange and apple juice. We then headed to Cong. Surprisingly I felt as though I did really well getting to Cong. I had brought my iPod which was nice to have my music playing while I was driving.

We parked our car at a public (free) parking area in Cong. It was almost empty when we arrived. We walked up to Cong itself and looked around at some shops before proceeding to the Quiet Man Museum. Upstairs at the museum was a souvenir shop. Downstairs was the museum which consisted of some props from the movie and furniture and costumes similar to the ones in the film (read not original). Sharon loved it. It was great seeing her face light up from one of her favorite movies.

Afterwards we walked around and went to the Cong Abbey, a ruined Abbey in the heart of the city. There were many grave markers all around and in order to walk around the Abbey you had to step on graves as they were back to back.

Coming out of the Abbey we visited a ruined church across the street. Nearby sat a few motorcyclists working on their bikes near a ruined Abbey. New and old come together in Cong.

There was a statue of John Wayne carrying Maureen O’Hara near the tourist office. We got a few pictures before going to the tourist office. The tourist office worker told us that Ashford Castle charged 15 Euro just to come on the grounds. We decided to pass and go on to the ruins of the Monk’s Fishing House near the ruined Abbey. Consequentially there was a modern day fisherman there casting his reel. “If only the Monk could see his house today.” I thought to myself. The more things change the more they stay the same.

We then went to Pat Cohen Bar and Restaurant. We expected it to be busy, but it was us and a few patrons at the bar. I saw they had “Ham and Turkey” as the special for today. Thinking it was a ham and turkey sandwich I ordered it, while Sharon got the fish and chips. My order of “Ham and turkey” was actually ham and turkey with brown gravy along with mashed potatoes. I ate it without complaining to the staff. Sharon’s fish from the fish and chips was massive.

We then proceeded to Kylemore Abbey but not without getting caught in a traffic jam in Cong. I guess the streets are so small that if there was any obstruction it can cause a lot of grief for those behind the others.

The drive to Kylemore was wonderful. We drove by lakes and mountains and saw sheep along the way. Owners must dye their sheep with a small spray of color to distinguish it from the others. In some areas the sheep seem to roam free and sometimes hang out near the road way…even on it. So you have to watch for animals. I had a close call with a dog that jumped in my path, but no one (including the dog) was hurt or injured.

We could see Kylemore Abbey in the nearby scenery and slowed down to take a photo. We parked in the Kylemore Abbey parking lot and noticed there was a car of similar color, make and model as our rental car. So I took a photo of our license plate for reference when we came back. I also took a photo of an old Citroen car for Instagram.

Kylemore Abbey is a working Abbey which was gifted by a wealthy family in 1921. It consists of the main Abbey (former manor house ), gothic church and Victorian Walled Garden (about 2 miles away, accessible by a shuttle). We saw the Abbey and gothic church, but passed on the garden as we were running low on time. Sharon and I both agreed that the inside of the Abbey and Church was not as spectacular as the outside and it would be just as well to stop and take photos but pass on the tickets.

We then headed back to Galway, but not before stopping at a bridge made famous by being a setting for “The Quiet Man.” The bridge was quaint and seemingly not descriptive had it not been in the movie. We took several photos of the bridge.

Along the way back we had to drive up on a side walk (took the queue from the driver in front of us) to make way for an ambulance coming through. There wasn’t many other options. Europe is strange like that. The amount of space for cars is very limited.

After returning the car (with less than 1/6th of the tank used (thanks to hybrid cars) we tried to find our way to Shake Dog. The Enterprise folks didn’t really know how to get there (which bus to take) but offered to call a cab which we declined. Luckily we found a passing open wifi signal and got directions on the soonest bus. We walked quite a while to get to the correct bus stop only to be dropped off at around a 10 minute walk to Shake Dog.

Shake Dog is a 50s diner. The burgers and fries were ok. Sharon said the fries came from a bag and I’d ten to agree. The milkshake was wonderful

Afterwards a nice passerby told us the current bus we were waiting on was going to arrive in 20 minutes, but another bus was coming at another bus stop in 7 minutes. We decided to switch bus stops and buses, and made it home to write this blog.

Tomorrow will be our ferry ride to Innishmore. Looking forward to some down time.

Today was a travel day. After getting (most of) my work done at work, I was dropped off at the airport by my parents.

I had been to Europe many times before, but this was a first – one with my new wife, Sharon. This was our honeymoon trip, just three months after our wedding. Sharon, being a school librarian, had limited time off and Summer was really best, especially for the weather for Ireland.
The night before I had tried to check in with the United Airlines app, but was unable to do so because the app seemed not to accept images of my passport. It was an ongoing thing with my camera and apps. I’m still having trouble scanning checks for online banking.
We checked in at a United Airline Kiosk without problems. Security was a breeze with almost no one in front of us at the TSA line. We had several minutes before the flight. We passed by a Wendy’s and Nathan’s Famous Hotdogs. We both decided we were not hungry. But later on I regretted not eating there. I was checking the Nathan’s Hot Dogs’ website and saw some good food I should have tried.
The flight to Chicago was delayed on takeoff for about 20 minutes because Chicago ground control was limiting the landings of the flights. We did not find out about this until we were on the plane waiting for take off. I began to do time management in my mind trying to determine if this delay would cause us to miss the flight to Dublin. It is a bit aggravating being at the mercy of Chicago ground control after having boarded the plane. All we could do was just wait.We experienced some turbulence while on the flight, but Sharon stayed cool as a cucumber according to her fit bit heart rate of 80bpm. Although she did squeeze my hand during the turbulence.
Normally when you land on a domestic flight in O’Hare you have to change to terminal 5 to connect to your international flight. With this scenario you have to ride a sky train to the terminal 5 and have to go through TSA screening again. However when we landed on this particular flight I learned through a United Airlines text that our flight to Dublin was not in terminal 5, but instead in terminal 1 concourse c, gate C20. This meant that we could walk to it from our arrival gate to our connecting flight without having to go through security again. This made all the difference in the world. I don’t know what the planners of Chicago O’Hare were thinking when they built terminal 5, but it seems so silly to have to go through security multiple times.
We ate at a pizza place near our gate. It was a express pizza place with premade pizzas. The checkout lady, an African American lady took our order with 2 Fantas, but started fixing 2 HiC Lemonades from the drink dispenser. I pointed it out to her and she was a bit frustrated at herself for making the mistake, but still offered great customer service due to the mistake. I told her just to give me the HiC Lemonades so that she would not have to pour the other one out. I feel like we need to give retail and food service workers a break as their jobs are tough. She seemed glad that I took the lemonade.
The pizza was initially good, but lost its luster after the 3rd piece. Sharon must have thought the same thing as me and gave me her 4th piece. I was getting stuffed and ate most of my 4th piece and Sharon’s 4th piece, but I decided to just throw the rest away.
After boarding we sat on the ground for an extraordinary time. I later found out it had been caused by the Chicago ground handling crew and we would be about 20 minutes late.
When planning our flight we chose the last row and an aisle and window seat, hoping that no one would get the middle seat and we could have the entire row to ourselves. I had checked on available seats beforehand and saw that a seat was filled between us. Sure enough when we got to our row, there sat someone’s personal items (a book on serial killers) in the middle seat. Thankfully our fellow traveler agreed to take the aisle seat so Sharon and I could sit together.
I should probably preface that I never can get a good sleep on airplanes. This time was no different, but primarily it was due to the temperature of the airplane being slightly high enough to be uncomfortable (maybe around 74F). So no sleep for me.
On the plane I watched part of “They Shall Not Grow Old” – a colorized WW2 documentary. What was intriguing to me was that the British soldiers had to wear the same uniform day in and out constantly in the war. Lice and gangrene developed because of this. I never knew about this hardship.
I also watched “Mid90s,” a coming of age move produced by Jonah Hill. I was about skateboarders in the mid 1990s. The problem was that it promoted what seemingly every secular movie these days promotes – underage drinking, smoking, cursing…and underage sex. I figure these movie directors could come up with something different for shock value and instead actually tell the story. This movie would have never gotten made had Jonah Hill not be involved with the production.
After seemingly forever we arrived in Dublin. We breezed through Irish customs. The customs official was intrigued about where we had planned on going.
Finding the bus to Galway was a bit more difficult. The directions to the buses were mainly for the Bus Eireann buses, not for Citylink or GoBus which do the transfers from Dublin to Galway. After a while I found my way to the appropriate area for the Citylink and GoBus. GoBus departs to Galway at the quarter til the hour while Citylink departs a quarter after the hour. Our plane arrived late therefore the GoBus 11:45AM option was not available (bus had already left). So I found the Citylink bus; paid the Russian sounding driver 42 Euros and Sharon and I were on our way to Galway.
On the way it was decided that we should check into the room and let Sharon shower and rest while I got snacks, talked to the Bus Eireann office about Leap Cards, and got the Aran Island Ferry tickets.
We found our way to Eyre Square Townhouse and there was no one attending to the check in counter. We tried calling the number associated with it but our American phones would not dial out. I asked a passerby to call and he was kind enough to call and hand me the phone to explain the situation. The front desk attendant walked from the next door restaurant (which is apparently associated with the hotel) and helped us check in.
Our room at Eyre Square Townhouse is typical European variety. That is – small and somewhat cramped – or cozy depending on your perspective. Our hotel attendant was nice enough to carry our bags up the stairs (no elevator) to our room.
I left Sharon at the hotel and went to get our Aran Island Ferry tickets. I found we should be at the loading area right at 9:15AM on Saturday. If we get there earlier the bus might not be there. It takes 15 minutes to load and then the bus leaves at 9:30AM.
Next was to the grocery store which was conveniently located next to the Aran Island Ferry ticket office. It was more of a convenience store rather than a full fledged grocery store. I had forgotten to empty out my backpack, so I had limited room for groceries. The store would have charged me for a bag. I got some cookies and drinks. I mistakenly got carbonated water for Sharon’s CPAP.
I had trouble finding the Bus Eireann office, near the train station. I walked down some wrong streets. After I found it the Bus Eireann gave some good information about discounts using the Leap Card in Galway (special of 1 Euro during July; and 5% off our Doolin to Ennis journey if we paid with a Leap card.I made it back to the room and was able to convince Sharon to go to Galway Cathedral. It was built in 1965 on the grounds of an old jail. Which reminds me that the property had seen hopelessness and was now seeing hopefulness. The Cathedral was very nice and included some wonderful contemporary stained glass windows. We had sat down to rest, but a loud booming organ playing forced us to leave.Sharon and I walked back to the hotel. I got a 14 inch pizza, 2 drinks, and garlic bread for 12.99 EUROS – a great deal for us for supper from Classico Pizza and Pasta – within walking distance of our hotel.
Sharon and I then settled in for a marathon of “The Chaser” – a British game show where contestants try to match wits with another so called genius.
Tomorrow we rent a car to Cong and an Abby. I’m not sure how to handle driving on the wrong side of the road.