Becki and Nanci’s European Adventure

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Today was a moving day to Galway, so bags out at 7:30, then breakfast, then on and gone by 8:30. On the way to Galway we stopped for a comfort stop (restrooms, snacks, and drinks). The place we stopped was just in front of Bunratty Castle. It’s a place Marsha, Shealyn, and I visited on our trip to Ireland! What a coincidence!

We also drove by a golf course. Now I’m not a golfer but this was the toughest looking golf course I’ve ever seen. Look at the pictures. I’m not sure a golf cart would go across that land.

Our first goal was The Cliffs of Moher. These cliffs are absolutely breathtaking!! They rise above the ocean 702 feet and you can climb up the left side or right. We opted to take the golf cart shuttle because Nanci didn’t think she could climb and it was threatening to rain! I’ve been to the cliffs and there’s always the chance for fog to cover them during rainy weather. We were lucky and got some great pictures before that happened., but just as we were leaving the fog was rolling in.

This was also a lunch stop and a chance to hit the gift shops. We opted for the seafood chowder and it was delicious! We also had a coffee (it was chilly) and some Irish soda bread! Now Irish Soda bread is a very dense, dark bread that I just love! However everyone’s recipe is just a little different. Some of the best I’ve ever had was at my favorite pub in NYC close to Radio City. Sadly after COVID it closed.

Once we boarded the bus it started raining….again. Anyone who knows me knows I do NOT love rain. That being said, when you’re traveling you just have to get out in any kind of weather. Even though we’ve had rain several days we’ve not been in too many downpours where we got soaked!!

We drove through some beautiful Irish countryside, complete with cows, sheep, stone fences, and green, green grass!! We drove through some cute towns and villages. One was called Lisdoonvarna. It’s a small village (839 in the 2015 census) that was famous for its music festivals. The music festivals stopped in the late 80’s but it still hosts a matchmaking festival every September!!

The most interesting place we drove was a series of hairpin turns down a mountain. It would put any hairpin turn you’ve ever been on to shame! Kudos to our bus driver for getting the bus down safely, especially with all the traffic coming from the other direction. I hope you can see some of the road in the pictures I took!

Once we got to Galway, we had only one goal in mind….to get to the original Claddaugh ring shop! The Thomas Dillon family had been making Claddaugh rings since 1750, so that’s where we headed. They also make one type of Claddaugh necklace in house.

The Claddaugh ring shows two hands holding a heart which wears a crown. This motif is explained in the phrase: “Let Love and Friendship reign”. It is a symbol of romantic love or deep friendship. If you wear the crown pointing toward your fingernail it means you are taken. If you wear it with the heart pointing to the fingernail it means you are available!!

We made our purchases just in the nick of time as the store was closing in less than an hour. Right down the street was an Aran weaving store. I wanted to go there a buy some Aran wool products.

Aran sweaters, scarfs, gloves, toboggans, blankets, and other kinked products originated on the Aran Islands just off the west coast of Ireland. They can often be seen from the Cliffs of Moher. The residents were fishermen and farmers living at the mercy of the North Atlantic. It was here that the original Irish fisherman’s sweater was produced. The very intricate patterns were no accident, they were designed to represent the various clans to which they belonged and sometimes even helped to identify the family if a fisherman who washed ashore. They also produced some generic patterns like cable stitch, zig zag, tree of life, and honeycomb, made in various colors of the finest merino wool. We had fun looking at all the beautiful designs and colors!

Next up was finding a place to eat. We asked a local who sent up to a fish place known and recognized for its fried fish. The minute we walked in I said to Nanci that this was the Ling John Silvers of Galway!! It had similar tables and benches, had a similar menu complete with fried chicken, but to be honest, it was just okay.

After eating, We had a little time to walk I and out of shops on our way back to the bus. We even sat in a food arena and had a cup of coffee as it was cold and rainy! We headed off to our hotel and we’re happy to get in for the night.

We had an early day on Saturday as we had to forgo the last day of this tour in order to make it to Switzerland to join our next tour. We had to take a bus straight across Ireland to Dublin and the fly to Heathrow. We were spending the night there , where we could do laundry, before flying to Zurich to join our next tour. Our bus left at 6:30 am Saturday morning so it was lights out and to bed!!

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