Cliffs of Moher

I decided yesterday to take a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, leaving the travel and other decisionmaking to someone else. As I discovered, there are pros and cons to doing that. The pros are, you don't have to decide anything but what to take pictures of. The cons are, you don't get to decide where to go, or how long to stay there. Although it was a nice survey of the areas we covered, we didn't really "cover" them, and it left me wanting more. Some of the places we drove by or stopped at for 15 minutes really needed a good half or full day visit.

That said, it was a fun experience. The day started out with me meeting 3 Italian guys with paid tour tickets for 4; one of their friends couldn't make it, so I bought their extra ticket. They were happy and friendly, but with their limited English and my nonexistent Italian, we didn't get much further than that. I originally chose a different tour company, but when the bus came to pick us up, I realized the Italians had booked with Galway Tour Company, which ended up being fine. Go with the flow...it'll all work out. As I got on the bus, I heard for the first time in 2 weeks: American accents.

Our driver/tour guide/mechanic/comedian, PJ, was informative, funny, and made the trip worthwhile. We stopped at a castle, a centuries-old gravesite, an old church, and all of those other things that tour buses do. With just a dusting of background and connect-the-dots history, it was just enough to sort of make sense of it all. A stop in Doolin for lunch ("You have 45 minutes! If you don't get your food in 10 minutes, start yelling at the waitress that you're hungry!"), and then back on the bus to see the Cliffs.

There's a very uninteresting museum and gift shop there, but the Cliffs themselves are remarkable, if overhyped. Perhaps I'm jaded, but it reminded me somewhat of my experience in Dublin, where everyone said "You have to see the Book of Kells." It was my mantra until I saw it. It's a lovely exhibit and the history is fascinating, but seeing actual pages was underwhelming. The Cliffs are Nature at her most grand, and it was a beautiful day where the sun greeted us and the air was warmer. Maybe if I'd gone base-jumping off of them or something. I'll have to look into that next time.

The trip was enhanced by my seat companion, Hope, from New Zealand. She was tired most of the time (she came from and returned to Dublin, which is another 2.5-3 hours each way), but when she was awake it was fun talking with her about our different experiences traveling, both in Europe and the U.S., where she'd been a camp counselor in Massachusetts. I also talked with a few other Americans on the tour. I'm finding that whenever I'm able to share the experience with someone, no matter who they are, I have a better time.

Tour over, I got off the bus back in Galway, and started walking back home. And I realized I knew exactly where I was, and felt comfortable going where I needed to go. I love that Galway is becoming familiar to me.

Dinner at McDonald's (so shoot me...at least I had the salad instead of fries...and it's an actual green salad here, and the beef is sourced locally), and then home to do some work. At 9:20, I left for the Crane Bar, where the NUIG students were about to start their weekly session. When I arrived there were only 3 others there, but it very quickly grew to over 20 musicians--fiddles, guitars, flutes, accordions, a bouzouki, a mandolin, and even another bodhran player. The music was playful, alive, and full of energy. Most of the time 3 tunes that have some connection with each other, either in tempo or key or feel, are strung together for a set. At least twice in the evening we played sets of at least 6 distinct tunes. A few people sang songs, including me with my always-ready "Champion at Drivin' 'em Crazy," which went over great.

The accordion player asked to borrow my bodhran, which I handed over to him. He played top-end style and got sounds out of that instrument that I can only aspire to for now. He knew of Albert Alfonso, the instrument maker, and complimented the instrument. I'm realizing, the more I play it, it's just spectacular. I feel very lucky to play it. And play it I did, all night long until we ended at nearly 1 am. Talk about being in your element.

[Click on photos to see larger version.]

Dunguaire Castle

Poulnabrone Portal Tomb

Our tour guide kept warning us about "killer sheep." This lot looked particularly menacing.

Lunch in Dooling

The Cliffs of Moher themselves

Walking home to a lovely sunset