From Clifden to Doolin

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Good morning everyone,

Yesterday we left Connemara and went on the scenic drive to Doolin, along the western cost of Ireland. Along the way we stopped in Galway, which I now think of as Ireland's college town. The average age of most of the people there seemed to be about 23 -- lots of schoolkids and students. There was also a lovely pot smell through much of the city... good to see that some things about college towns are universal. We didn't do much other than wander around -- there isn't a ton to do or see in Galway, though the shopping streets are nice and typically European. There was also a fantastic cathedral (St. Nicholas) with green marble floors and a beautiful golden altar... and in a side alcove with a mosaic of Christ's resurrection, there are other mosaics of a priest praying to him and another of... JFK. He really is like a saint here. (The church was built in 1965, two years after he visited here while President. Apparently no one's ever forgotten it.)

Then it was on through the Burren (more on that in tomorrow's post) to Doolin, the live music capital of Ireland. For a small town that has almost nothing to do, there are a couple of famous pubs here (of course -- remember, 1 pub for every 4 Irish) that feature live Irish music every night. Besides that, there isn't a lot, so we'll be eager to hit the road Thursday and head to Killarney. But in the meantime, we stopped at the most famous site along Ireland's west coast, the Cliffs of Moher (pron. "Moore").

The cliffs are about a gazillion feet high. Some knuckleheads like to climb out to the edge and look straight down... no thank you. (You hear reports of the high winds blowing people who try this off the side -- no joke. Fortunately it wasn't that windy, and it's totally safe assuming you stay behind the fence.) Anyway, rather than go on and on about the cliffs, or the beautiful sunset, or the Aran Islands off in the distance... I'll just post pictures. Enjoy.

Actually, one more addition: we came back to our B&B after the cliffs and stopped at Gus O'Connors, the most famous of the several pubs in town. Great music. But we also ran into our new travel friends Mitch and "Mrs. Mitch" (the wife's name we can't recall), a pair of 60-something grandparents from Georgia who have traveled all around the world over the years. We first met them back in Clifden -- they were staying at the same B&B as us -- and happened upon them in the bar. Just the nicest people we've met on our trips, even amongst the Irish. We had some good "craic," listened to the music for a while, and got a good night's sleep. (Not all together -- get your minds out of the gutter!)

Hope all is well -- next up will be a short description of our day in the Burren!

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Photos

Quiet... it's the Quiet Man bridge
Erin on the "Quiet Man" bridge on our way from Clifden. (If you haven't seen the Quiet Man before, most of you will know it as the movie E.T. is watching as he drinks beer and gets Elliot drunk while at school.)

You drive me Wilde
Kevin and Erin make two friends in Galway: Oscar Wilde and Eduardo Wilde.

Shopping Heaven
The aptly-named "Shop Street" in Galway's city centre.

Ruins-of-something-or-other
You see these kinds of ruined stone houses and churches all over Western Ireland. This site is one of the more famous, but we left our guide books at the B&B and can't remember the name...

I want some Moher
The typical tourist photo of the Cliffs of Moher. You can't get much sense of the sheer grandeur of these things, so I'll just say this: they're really, really big.

Gimme some Moher
It's hard to keep coming up with Moher puns...