PaDdY WaGoN ToUr DaY 2

Saturday, December 6th

We got breakfast at the hostel this morning, and then left for another action packed day. It was a really scenic route, and our first stop was at a real wishing well. To properly make a wish here, you have to stand on the ledge, and throw a penny over your left shoulder with your right hand, and it has to make a plopping noise when you throw it in the water. The Irish are all about luck, and are VERY superstitious!

Our driver continued on and gave us a little bit of history about the potato famine and the IRA. He was a funny guy who related well to our younger audience.

Our next stop was another castle where we took a brief stop. Apparently you walk around the castle clockwise and that brings you good luck. There are a million ways to bring good luck here. And there are rainbows everywhere! No wonder the legends about Leprechauns and rainbows are all from here. We only saw one, but our friend Chad who met up with us last night said that he had seen a ton the day before. Another witty person on our tour asked our guide if there were a lot of midgets in Ireland, hoping to get jobs as Leprechauns. Our guide responded no- there are more midgets because the Leprechauns breed with the general population. Hehe.

We cruised along the west coast of Ireland for the day, driving past some fishing villages and surfers. Yeah- surfers. Apparently it’s huge here, and has some massive waves. Even in December…

We took another stop at some crazy landscapes to get out, stretch, and enjoy the scenery. There were cliffs all full or crazy looking limestone (I cant really describe it… look at the pictures), and a rocky shoreline. It was really cool. Its also really weird to see furry white and brown cows grazing in vast fields and hills covered in nothing but rocks and marshland. A bit different than our cattle culture back home…

The next big stop was the famous Cliffs of Moher. Absolutely beautiful. We climbed up the right side and got a great view, however had to go through some ridiculous mud to get through there. The side is barricaded because it is so easy to go over the ledge, and there are signs everywhere for suicide hotlines because it is obviously a great place to get the job done… Anyway, we were paranoid we were going to fall in the mud, especially since we only brought one pair of jeans for the weekend. We did just fine, and didn’t get too dirty.

The scene was sooo pretty. You look down from so high above at the waves crashing into the rocks and the seagulls flying below you as well. It reminded me of scenes from the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ or ‘Jurassic Park.’

We walked to the other side and there was apparently a barrier that said you couldn’t go past this point. Well, Cody, myself, and about 200 other tourists walked past this sign, down the footpath, and across this area to a really scary scene. We could get to the edge of the cliffs- possibly the scariest thing I have ever done. It wasn’t windy at all today, but I wouldn’t have done it if it were. I didn’t go so ridiculously close that I would have fallen, but wow, I sure was paranoid the whole time. Our guide later told us of some stories where it had been so windy that people literally blew over the edge of the cliffs. And on one other trip he lead, he wouldn’t let people off the bus because it was so windy and some people got a little rowdy and opened the door anyway, causing the windshield to blow out. Wow!

We left to browse through the gift shop and I got back on the bus because we were cutting it pretty close for time. I laughed because Cody was still inside and the bus driver started to drive away to scare her. We ended up having to wait for some other new people who were joining our tour, so it was ok.

Once we collected everyone, we raced over to the ferry that would be leaving promptly at 4:00 to get us across the River Shannon. From here I watched a gorgeous sunset over the water. Absolutely beautiful. I sucked it up to go outside the bus to take some gorgeous pictures. The trip really wasn’t too cold- much warmer than it had been recently in London, very much to surprise. However, it got pretty cold on the water with all the wind on the boat.

There were also a group of pre-pubescent boys that kept running up to the bus, tapping on the windows, and taking pictures of the girls. The went up on the ledge of the ferry later and were pointing at us making gestures that said ‘I love you.’ We laughed quite a bit. They were ridiculous. Haha.

We arrived in Killarney at about 6:00 and checked into a room in the hostel that housed every person on our trip. That was 12 people in one room, where I expected everyone to come back loud and drunk since most people are on this trip for the pubs. Crazy- however, surprisingly, the most sleep I had gotten the whole trip. People were actually really good about it- maybe I’m just used to crazy people on my trip.

Anyway, Cody and I walked through the entire town center… in about 15 minutes. There wasn’t much, and certainly wasn’t much open. We went past a club called ‘Mustang Sally’ and I felt the obligation to go check it out in tribute to my good friend, however there was a dress code, and we were in muddy jeans, so that wouldn’t have gone over very well… We continued on, and really wanted some ice cream, but the shop that we passed was closing and really expensive anyway. Oh well, I guess we will have to wait till we get home…

We went back to the hostel, freshened up a bit since everyone had left now, and Cody played a concert for me while I was getting some stuff done. We went into a music shop in Galway the night before and bought penny whistles and instruction books. Being the music person I am, I have found it fascinating to collect musical instruments from different cultures.

We left soon after to go to a pub where everyone was meeting up for dinner. It was very good. From here, the rest of the group was going out to another pub, but Cody and I wanted to go to a different one where there was supposed to be some live traditional music being played. What an excellent decision. We went to ‘the Music Pub,’ and I got some Bulmers (apple cider beer), and we watched the funniest group of old men play some great music. The ensemble consisted of a banjo/mandolin player, an accordion, Irish drums, and a guitar. They were witty old men who kept making jokes about their wives and sang some funny songs. The music was all REAL traditional music, unlike the music last night (which was good, but not exactly what I would consider authentic), and Cody and I absolutely loved it!

After the concert, we left to go back to the hostel and get some sleep.