Well, it's 20 to 4 on Friday, and it's been raining all day. The first rain since I've been here! It's been constant, but light - when I woke up I didn't even realize it was raining because I couldn't hear it against my window. I'd been thinking about walking back up Killiney Hill today, but due to the weather this morning I decided to sleep in, and spend the day catching up on emails and blogs and pictures. Also, tonight is the first church event (other than church itself) that I'm going to - so I'll be going out in a few hours anyway.
Yesterday was a very long, but very fun, day. I woke up a few minutes before 6 AM and got bundled up, breakfasted up, and out the door at 7 o'clock. Ray drove me into the center of Limerick City (about a two hour drive) and dropped me off at the tourist office at Arthur's Quay (which my mind ALWAYS incorrectly pronounces as "quay" and not "key"). The Quay, by the way, looks out onto the Shannon River where you can see King John's Castle. Now, I'm not sure, but is that the King John of the Robin Hood stories? As in, brother of Richard? I should find that out... because the whole time I was waiting for my bus, I was staring across the river at the castle and imagining a cartoon lion with a crown too big for his head, and a thumb just right for his mouth, who was crying "Mom-may!" all day long.
My bus came at 10:30. When I got on, I was surprised to see that many of the seats already had jackets and bags on them. Odd, I thought. I took an empty seat by a window and then the other seats filled as people filled onto the bus. The driver, who had just returned with a cup of coffee, asked if anyone had just joined them or if everyone had been with him since Cork. (Apparently the Cork-crowd had been with him since 8 AM.) I raised my hand and he said, "Alright, just a minute..." and then went to greet six or seven other people who had just arrived. He asked them if they were just joining, but didn't get their names yet (so he didn't get mine by process of elimination...) - and then he looked at me and said, "You're Laura?" I have no idea how he knew that - I guess I just look like a Laura? Anyway, as the new crowd got on, he asked the girl in front of me to move back so the group could stay together. She asked me if I was traveling alone, and said that she was too, and we exchanged names. She was from New Jersey, here for a week on spring break, and by herself because she makes it a goal every year to travel to a new country on break. Quite ambitious of her. We ended up talking quite a bit and since we were the only two traveling without a group, we paired up and spent the day talking and wandering around together at stops. When we weren't talking, though, the bus driver was - and he was a very enjoyable, informative fellow. My favorite part was when, during a silence early on in the drive, he said (as if somebody had asked him), "It's a bit early in the mornin' to be talkin' gypsies." hahahaha. I don't really know what that was supposed to mean...
It was an enjoyable tour; somehow the time just flew by, even though it didn't necessarily feel like it would. It was nice to just sit back and enjoy the ride, but a little frustrating too - if I'd been driving, I would have pulled off a million times and made so many random stops! We'd pass something by and barely have time to look at it. Mostly, though, the driver (Mike, I think his name was... at least that's what I'll call him) was pretty good at at least slowing down as he pointed something out, and sometimes he'd stop along the road and watch for traffic as we stood and took pictures. I don't know if it was because I was tired and thus more trusting than usual or because there was something distinctly likable about the fellow, but I felt that as long as we were in Mike's hands we were alright. Even though Irish roads are incredibly narrow and our bus was rather big. Oh, also, during the long stretches of driving, he would play traditional Irish music (with the occasional Flogging Molly song), which was fabulous.
We drove past King John's Castle and the River Shannon, and drove through the very scenic County Clare. We also passed by Galway Bay, which was beautiful - mostly because it reminded me of Mom singing "Galway Bay" the night before I left. I saw so many old castles and ruins of stone houses with thatched roofs - Mike talked about some of the ruins, but there were many that passed us by with no reference. We also saw a famine cemetery - during the famine, so many people were dying that there wasn't time or room for a headstone for each of them. So they had mass grave sites where 10 - 15 people were buried together, under one headstone. It was a beautiful but heart-wrenching thing to see.
We did make a few long stops; one at the Burren where we saw Poulnabronee, a huge stone "passage tomb" that was around 3,000 years before Jesus was born. Then we stopped at lunch in a town called Doolin, which is apparently where traditional Irish music originated. We got a traditional Irish pub lunch at Fitzpatrick's Bar, which was fabulous - sausage and vegetables and potatoes and gravy. The restaurant was packed (with our bus folk and many others), but New Jersey and I got invited to sit with a couple (Dublin and Kentucky), and we had a grand old time talking and eating and staying warm. It's funny - we all mentioned where we were from, and what brought us to Ireland, and what we'd seen and wanted to see... and then just before we left, we realized that none of us had introduced ourselves. I guess names aren't very important after all. Anyway, then we got back on the bus, bound for the Cliffs of Moher.
Unfortunately, the fog rolled in right as we pulled up - so we ran to the edge to try to see before the fog settled, but by then it looked like a white wall was standing just at the edge of the grass. Which was really depressing - because all over there were pictures of what the cliffs look like on a sunny day, and they're AMAZING. So my American friend and I walked along the edge for awhile (more truthfully, we walked along the fence - you can't go to the edge anymore) and then went into the exhibition center, which is built into a hillside nearby. It was raining outside, except it wasn't really rain - at least not the kind that an umbrella would help against. It was falling downward, slightly, but it was also just in the air all around - the air was saturated with it. By the time we got inside, my hair was SOAKED! It looked like I'd just gotten out of the shower (which made it look quite interesting for the rest of the day... rather like a curly poodle. haha). We had almost an hour left by then, so after looking at the exhibition and pictures and boards with information, we went into the cafe and got some coffee. After a while we looked out the window and saw that it was starting to clear up - and we had about fifteen minutes left. So we ran to the edge, and we could see them! It wasn't a perfect view by any means, but I was just so happy to be able to see anything that it may as well have been sunny and clear. It was beautiful. 750 feet down! We could see about five different cliff faces to our left, including all the birds that make their homes on the ridges down to the sea. It was really incredible, and I'm so happy we got to see that much.
On the way back to Limerick, we stopped at Bunratty Castle. It was only a twenty-minute stop, which is sad - Ray and Carole have told me great things about that place. But... I'm torn between feeling sad about missing an exploration of the castle, and feeling happy in the knowledge that I did what needed to be done at the time: I went to the nearby bar, Durty Nelly's, with Jersey and got my first Ireland Guinness. Apparently Nelly's is quite the famous little place - due to its proximity to the airport, it's become the local haunt for American policemen and firefighters who come to Ireland. And due to a long-standing tradition, they surrender their shoulder badges when they come in, and the badges are then pinned up all over the bar; there are literally hundreds of them. Mostly east-coasters... I didn't see any Californian badges. Anyway, it was a cool little place and I'm glad I went - because I'm not about to go into a bar by myself, especially in Dublin, bus I did want to get a beer in Ireland before I left. So the pressure's off now. :)
We drove back into Limerick then, and I had about a half hour to walk around the Quay some more before Ray picked me up. We drove back, and oh, the Irish countryside is so lovely in the dimming light of the evening. Just as I was starting to nod off, we got home. The boys had just been put to bed, but they ran down to talk with us while we ate dinner. I came up and did some writing and reading and planning, and crashed hard after 1:00. I didn't wake until after 10. Which brings us up to date! I'm looking forward to tomorrow... Sundays are nice.
And whew. That was long. I think I deserve a cup of coffee. Good morning, CA. I'm proud to mention your name when people ask where I come from.
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