Moher Cliffs! But the Jurys out on Limerick ...

(Note: This post is in regard to Friday, July 25, 2008.)

This morning we checked out of the Hotel Meyrick in Galway (so sad - I love it here!), excited to move on to our other Irish adventures. Sabrena was armed with Sea Legs (the Irish equivalent of Dramamine) and we were prepared for a full day of travel ahead.

After packing up and loading on to our coach, we were off to the Cliffs of Moher, where we had 11:00 a.m. Irish time (6:00 a.m. USA Eastern time) access. The bus ride was quite bumpy (to say the least), and when we stopped alongside the road to take some pictures, I got some Sea Legs from Sabrena. (Note: As indicated by this and earlier posts, even if you've never experienced motion sickness before, you WILL need to come prepared with medicine for it if you ever visit Ireland!)

A short distance down the road we stopped at Liscannor to use the toilet and to stretch our legs for a bit. Our driver told us an interesting story about Liscannor - it is home of the Matchmaking Festival. Every year from late August to late Octover, people from all over come to Liscannor to "be matched: with their future spouse. Sabrena and I are contemplating a trip back to find our Irish matches in case anyone would like to join us! (Bec, maybe we'll find ourselves a Denny!)

After Liscannor we made a stop at the Cliffs of Moher, which are BY FAR my favorite part of the trip so far! After going through an exhibit which contained an explanation of how the Cliffs are formed and some legends about them, we made our way out to see them. All I can say is that they are ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL! Pictures DO NOT do them justice! Sabrena and I ventured on to the right side of the Cliffs first, on which an old castle sits, and then made our way around the rest. The weather was perfect. I can't describe the feeling of looking out at the water off of the Cliffs - so peaceful. And peering over the edge will definitely make your heart race - they are so high! (Again, pictures do not do them justice.) I could sit out there all day and just contemplate life, or read, or paint. Seriously, they are a MUST SEE for anyone that comes to Ireland. (And if you do, definitely ignore the PLEASE DO NOT GO BEYOND THIS POINT sign. It's SO worth it!)

After the Cliffs of Moher, we were Limerick-bound, but first we stopped along the way and grabbed lunch at a small sandwich shop called Joes. Once in Limerick we arrived at the Jurys Inn. For supposedly being a 3 star hotel, it wasn't so great. It smelled weird, most of the lights in our room didn't work or were very dim, and many could not open their windows (a problem since the hotel didn't have air conditioning, and it was actually a warm night). After dropping our belongings off in room 407, Sabrena and I headed to a pharmacy down the street so I could also get some Sea Legs for the rest of our travels. We then walked the perimeter of the city.

We had already noticed that Limerick seemed worlds apart from Galway. A port city, Limerick is quite industrialized, and therefore appears much like any larger city you'd find in the U.S. Save for the park we walked through (which is a bright spot among the dirtier appearance of the rest of the city, covered in tacky graffiti), and a little shopping area on Todd Street, I was not impressed. I also observed there were police officers clad in bullet proof vests all over the city, which was not the case in Galway. Later this observation made sense when I found out that Limerick is known as "stab city" due to extreme violence between 2 rival gangs.

Later tonight the whole group went to a medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle! So cool! We started off with some mead, and then had some brown bread and salt (to ward off evil spirits). We were welcomed to the castle by the lords and ladies who told us an interesting story about the mead we were drinking. Ours, made from honey, is a favorite of newlyweds in Ireland, as the honey is through to bring on fertility and virility. Thus, newlyweds drink the mead for one month, or one "moon," after the wedding - hence the term "honeymoon." We then moved to the banquet hall where we feasted (with only a knife as a utensil) - on soup and brown bread, spare ribs, roast chicken, potatoes, veggies, raspberry mousse, and unlimited amounts of water, red wine, and white wine - while listening to traditional Irish music sung by the lords and ladies that served us. It was beautiful! We ended with tea and coffee (a staple at every Irish meal, I've learned) before heading back to the hotel.

Knowing the dangerous reputation of the city, we were extra careful when venturing out tonight. Sabrena, Jessica, Suzanne, Laura, Bob, and I headed out and settled for O'Flannery's (mostly because there were cute Irish boys outside that all us girls were clearly interested in ... sadly they left soon). Having made it a goal to have at least a 3 minute conversation with an Irishman every night, Sabrena quickly scoped out a guy sitting in the corner and made her move while the rest of us socialized with one another at a nearby table. Turns out the guys she was talking to had lived in the U.S. for 6 months, during which he saw more of the U.S. than I have during my 23+ years of life there. Talking with him later made me want to travel my own country when I get home - there's so much I haven't seen!

Upon return to our hotel, Sabrena and I discovered our room was haunted! After laying in bed for about 10 minutes, our 1 working light (which was clearly turned off, as we were in bed) began flashing repeatedly. Two phone calls to the reservation desk and two visits from the sweet maintenance man later and the light was removed and we were thoroughly creeped out. Wide awake at this point from all the fuss (and the story the maintenance man told us of people throwing themselves off the Cliffs of Moher often), we stayed up chatting till about 1:30 a.m. Ireland time.

I will share at this point the growing appreciation I have for Sabrena. I considered her a good friend before this trip, and now I consider her an even greater one! This trip has been great, in part, due to us being together, and I think we have learned just as much about each other as we have about Ireland and higher education during our time here. Our conversations have opened my eyes to her, myself, and our many shared experiences. It's nice to know that I have someone in my life whom I can relate to so well on so much about life - particularly about some tough issues. I only wish we'd realized that sooner ... but better late than never!

That's all for now ... but Ev, you should know that when leaving the castle tonight I saw an advertisement for Avoca Weavers. I must be in "your" country! :-)