Sheila Take a Bow.

You must excuse the gap between entries, but it is difficult to get a reliable internet connection when you are consistently on the move. We just checked into a lovely hostel called Sheila's Hostel in Cork Ireland. It is conveniently located close to the City Center, it has clean rooms, internet access and laundry service. It cost us 42 Euro for two nights stay, which is about(54 USD) not to bad. The rooms have been about 20-40 Euro a night depending of course on location and rating. The last place we stayed at was 40 Euros a night, other then it's lengthy distance from the train station it was well worth every penny. We arrived in Galway on Friday and had "walking" directions from the train station to the Claremont House or bed and breakfast. These directions Said: take a left and follow the water, follow the signs to Salthil, once you reach the promenade walk towards Salthil, we are near the Liesureland. words such as near, Close and right next to should be clearly defined. these "walking" directions had us walking for about three and a half miles. This may to many not seem like a chore, when adding forty extra pounds of weight and rainy twenty mile headwinds this is absolutely miserable. upon reaching our destination we were met by a lovely frail Irish lady named Anna and her typically fat bearded husband Steve. Steve's main occupation other then running the B&B was a personal chauffeur, his highest grossing job though was driving a red sleigh and giving little kids presents on December 25'th. That little round white bearded Mick wasn't fooling me. The first night we ate Chinese food, and I drank a lot of Smithwicks(Here I can order one without getting the "huh", or what kind was that?") The next day we woke up at the ass crack of dawn(8:00) it doesn't even become light till about 9:00 we ate a amazing breakfast cooked up by either St. Nick or Anna, either way it was brilliant. After starting the day off right we headed down to Galway center. It's an outstanding little town with cobblestone streets and a bustle of activity. Being a Saturday there were hundreds of people about and a wonderful street market which invoked antiquated thoughts of "how it used to be". We spent the whole day in the City Centre poking our heads into little shops, stopping in at the claddagh museum which holds the worlds smallest Claddagh Ring(it can be seen only under magnifying glass. We ate dinner there that night and walked back to our room. The next day we woke and began our day, Cortney started a little earlier than I did. My stomach was a mess and my head ached like hell. The last thing I wanted to do was be personable, even to some of the nicest people ever. Noon time hit and I finally decided to make a day of it, atleast what was left. We walked into Salthil which is a smaller town that is closer to the B&B we ate some food there and then walked into Galway. By the time we had finished doing the same thing we had done the day before we made the three mile walk back to the B&B and relaxed. We decided to head into town later that night and check out some Irish Music AKA drink at a Pub or a "Pawb" as the locals would say. We hit a couple of places that were told to us by a women on the train a few days previous. They were crowded with people and the drinks were overpriced(I thought I left Boston two weeks ago?) We hit the off license shop or better known to us as the package store and cruised back our room. I finished up a book I've been reading and called it a relatively early night. The next day we awoke with the aspirations of seeing the Cliffs of Moher. When we woke up Anna asked us what we were going to do today and we told her our plan. She made a few phone calls and we were informed that we had missed the last bus. We considered our options; Walk back to the train station with our bags in the cold, hop on a train to Dublin, then to Cork. Or we could stay another night and see the Aran Islands as well as the Cliffs. needless to say the decision was made rather quickly to stay. I don't know if the queen sized fluffy as a cloud bed had anything to do with our decision, but either way we were Cliff bound in a day. The weather was miserable out, rainy cold, and irritating. We took a bus into the city and then found the local listings for the movies. We caught 5 o'clock showing of My Best Friends Girl Ironically it's a comedy based out of Boston. It was nice to see a slice of home. Heading home that night I was real excited about seeing the Cliffs and moreover escaping the city and seeing more of the countryside of Ireland. Eight thirty came fast the next day and after eating breakfast we got on a Lally tours bus that was driven by a classic Mic. He was nice and rolly and had a thick Galway accent. He drove the 40 ton bus down the windy roads, and guided us through the limestone walled streets. We climbed up the million year old Burren hills that from a far looked like a sleeping Dragon. We were on a tight schedule but within a 45 minute stop at the bar fitzpatric's I managed to squeeze in 3 Smithwicks and a bowl of vegetable soup. Once we all were full one way or the other it was off to the Cliffs. We hit the Cliffs around 3 o'clock and had an hour to mill around. What a breathtaking site. It's very similar to some of the landscape of Coastal 1 in California, but much more vibrant in color and in height. When the waves hit the shore they were illuminated by the sun and added an amazing flare to the wonderful day that it was. We boarded the bus right on time and we headed off to the Ailwee Caves(http://www.showcaves.com/english/ie/showcaves/Aillwee.html). There are hundred of caves in Galway but Ailwee is the only that has been explored, it is privately owned and open to the public. We entered the cave which upon entering showed the remains of a European brown bear, which are now extinct. The cave is a host to many stalagmites and also a underground waterfall. The cave stop was well worth the twenty nine Euros spent on the tour. The cave was the last stop of the tour and as the bus rolled over the sleepy million year old Hills, I was sweetly lulled to sleep. When I woke up it was back to tradition. A 1800 bus to Dublin awaited us at the terminal and once again, we were off. We arrived in Dublin around nine o'clock and we checked into the Avalon House at abut 11. I had not been feeling that well so I immediately went to sleep. Over-sleeping I hit the snooze button on Cort's Blackberry it was 9:50 and we had to check out at ten...oops. We hit the reception desk at about 10:15 and left around 10:30. We then made the walk down Historic Grafton street past the olde Temple Bar and onto the street to wait for the 90 bus to Heusten Terminal, we paid the 1.30 Euro each and we were off. We got to the terminal at about 11:40 just in time for the 12:00 train to Cork. The train ride was about 3 hours and was covered by our Eurail pass. Which I must say has come in very handy. Once we got into Cork it was a short 5 minute walk to Sheilas Hostel. This was the first time in our trip experience that we have had such a short and accessible place to stay. We hit the reception desk and paid for our rooms. I also was able to drop off a load of laundry which was much needed. I have been for the past 3-4 days wearing the same purple V-neck shirt and hooded sweatshirt. I took a quick shower, and popped on the Internet.
Cortney is currently sleeping and once she wakes up we will discover Cork and the city. Tomorrow our plans are to head over to the Blarney stone and do whatever you do there?? Tomorrow will be a "touristy" day but from what we have been told, it is well worth it. It's nice to be in Cork and out of Dublin, it's also nice to see peoples reaction when I tell them that my mothers maiden name is Driscol. The O'Driscols rule this town and I feel in good company.

Til next time, love and peace.

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