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Published: April 26th 2012
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Geez! Tough traveling with these two! Jeanne suggested she edit my blogs going forward because I repeated a word and misspelled another in the previous one. But she can't, because the party's over and we're back to our real lives. Unequivocally the best vacation any of us have ever had. (I think we agreed on that but in case that may hurt any feelings, then it may be equivocal) And the best part? Since that seems to be the question du jour, it was definitely being together. No drama, no arguing, just the occasional tease - but that's OK, right? Since "taking the piss out of each other" approaches a national sport in Ireland.
On Sunday we headed north to the wild west and drove through some little towns on the way. Red door, yellow door, green door, etc. Fewer photo ops until we got to the burren. It's the only terrain we crossed in Ireland that we suspect could be found nowhere in the states. In other words, Marge wouldn't be able to say "we have this in New Jersey!" as she did when Michael proudly drove us throughout the English countryside pointing out some of the lovelier landscapes.
Not a contest, Marge! So, the burren (which means great rock) is a massive expanse of flat, limestone rock with criss-crossing crevices (see figure 1) along the Atlantic coast. We had fun here. Jumping across the stones like kids playing hopscotch and, without realizing it, spontaneously breaking into a seemingly ritual ancestral dance akin to a native American raindance. There's just something about being in a land where you know your ancestors once lived that makes you feel like it's yours. Also helped that there was no one else for miles around to observe the "shenanigans". Stopped for a pint up the road in a pub the size of an average dining room. Here is where Claire's translatonal skills were completely useless as even Anthony's utterances were unintelligible. All the bartenders are so proud of their ability to get the proper head on a pint of Guinness. "You won't find a pour like that up the road!", and so on. Picked up some new expressions here too. Did you know it's a better whack you get with the Guinness? Not sorry we left the house a day early to experience this part of the countryside. Was tough there with no
internet to look up the correct answers to the inevitable questions that arose, like the correct spelling of Connemarra - or the last line in "Mary had a little lamb". We all seem to have a hard time letting things remain in question. Or maybe it was just me. I have to have the correct answer or some horrible fate will befall me. (Or should that be "will have befallen" me?)
Stayed at the G in Galway. It's a hotel built during the boom and is reputably one of the finest hotels in Ireland. Anthony was visibly disappointed to find out that we were "fancy girls" and we blew our image by staying there. Funny hotel. The guy must have been on acid or something when he designed it. While the rooms are lovely with white satin bedding and toiletries we'd never buy at home, the common areas were like a 21st century brothel trying to look like it was vintage 1970s. I was particularly taken by the neon pink and green velvet papasan (had to look that up too) chairs with a chrome base. Claire "didn't care for" the lack of lighting in the halls, especially since the walls were black. I told Claire not to drink the bottle of water in the room because it was $19.00 euros. That's when I started to think that Mark might be on to something when he told us the hotel was fully booked. But the water was free, and the attached card was just a clever marketing trick about turning the water into wine for that price. Drove the following day to a Dublin airport hotel that just about put Claire over the edge. She had all of her bags hermetically sealed so no bedbugs could climb in and we spent most of the evening in the lobby which was actually quite nice. Jeanne and I had to take turns walking around our room as there wasn't enough space for both of us to stand at the same time. And I think we had to take more than "a half" to make sure we slept.
When Denis, the Dingle tour guide came to the house to pick us up, he said if we were any more west we'd be back in the states. And that's where we are now, safe and sound. .........Until next time.
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