Woke up this morning and Mark looked out the window. “You’re not going to believe this but there’s blue sky out there.” He was right, I didn’t believe it but it was true! Blue sky! Today’s destination: the Cliffs of Moher. Almost every traveler we had talked to along the way said this was a 4-star site and both guide books we have relied on heavily (Rick Steves and the Frommer’s Ireland from $90 a Day) said it is not to be missed. Mark was really whipped after the Dingle driving yesterday and we had looked at booking a tour for the Cliffs but he woke up full of energy this morning and said he’d like to drive. My first waking thought was that I hadn’t seen the ticket for the parking garage since we checked ... read more

We were promised wi-fi internet in this hotel but my computer does not even note that there is a wireless connection available. At the last hotel, we had not been promised wi-fi but turns out they had it and we could get a weak signal. Here, nothing. But they do have a computer in the lounge for guests to use so I checked the weather forecast last night. Gloomy. As usual, we woke up this morning and Mark looked out the window. “It’s overcast and raining.” At least our hearts will never give out from the shock. We slept in a bit today as we had decided to stick pretty close to the local area and explore the National Park. We went down to breakfast at about 9:15. We were greeted warmly by the waitress and ... read more

Happy Fourth of July! On Good Morning Ireland this morning (Ireland’s equivalent to Good Morning America, we think) they had the owner of a Dublin Restaurant called Captain America cook some “traditional” American food. He made hamburgers (okay) topped with grilled pineapple and thousand island dressing (???) I guess it’s a matter of interpretation. We both slept well last night. Mark was beat and we had “a bit of a lie in” as they would say over here. We got up about 8:00. Mark looked out the window and said, “It’s raining!” Well okay then! We fixed our continental breakfast and got ready to get to it. When we opened the door to our room, Yvonne had taped a note to our door: “Mark and Beth, please don’t forget to come get the parking pass before ... read more

We slept well last night. I think we were both out by 9:30. I woke up this morning feeling miserable. While Mark was in the shower, I called the front desk and said I needed to see a doctor. Note to self: when calling the front desk of a hotel telling them you need to see a doctor, say, “It’s NOT an emergency but I need to see a doctor.” They called back in a few minutes and said the doctor couldn’t be here for about a half an hour. At that point I said it wasn’t an emergency and there was a disappointed pause. (Guess I ruined the good story for the pub that night!) He said, “I will ring you back,” which he did in short order. He said he was really sorry ... read more

Off to Ireland! I woke up at 4:00 a.m. with a wicked burning in one spot in my throat. I drank some water, convinced myself it was dehydration and went back to sleep. When I woke up at 7, it was all over. So it looks like I am off to Ireland with a cold. I think it has something to do with 4 1/2 hours of sleep Friday night and 4 hours Saturday night. Ain't graduate school grand? I had a bunch of errands to run today to finish getting ready and then had to finish packing. The weather forecast doesn't look too promising, at least for the first few days, so we are both packing layers. I pulled out my raincoat which includes a substantial liner and Mark said, "You're taking your heavy coat?" ... read more