Plan B

Ireland - Day 5

Today's plan was to go to Fleadh Nua, a music festival in Ennis. I saw a couple jam sessions, but thanks to last night's dinner consisting entirely of chocolate, I wasn't feeling very good. Instead, I decided to go back to the Burren and see the parts I'd missed the day before.

Like discovering I didn't need to take a plane back to Boston.


Or see a home that's under siege by sheep.


I also practiced my Vanna White skills at Poulnabrone Dolmen, a megalithic tomb. I asked a nice Frenchman to take my picture for this one.


Near lunch time I discovered flapjacks. My fellow Americans may believe flapjacks to be pancakes, but in Ireland the term is used to describe a super yummy oatbar which is sometimes found topped with a layer of chocolate. I'm going to look into flapjack recipes when I'm home, and I'll make sure to post the recipes I like best.

In the evening I head back toward Galway and the Salthills for dinner, and I couldn't stop laughing when I saw the Prom Hotel. Look closely and you'll see that there is no hotel beyond the facade. Me thinks I smell a trap.

Oh and can I just tell you the beaches in Galway are GORGEOUS!!!

The Burren

Ireland - Day 4

"It is a country where there is not enough water to drown a man, wood enough to hang one, nor earth enough to bury him"
-Edmund Lundlow, regarding the Burren-

Today I was off to see to the Burren (pronounced burn) meaning 'rocky place' in Irish. Although the guidebooks highly recommended a visit to the area, they did a poor job of making it sound appealing. Based on their descriptions I was expecting a giant slab of limestone with a bunch of plant life growing in the nooks and crannies. Doesn't that sound exciting? But I have to tell you. I absolutely LOVED the Burren. I drove along the shore line.



and gazed at the white beaches (minus the sand)


And read odd signs in the bathroom


The best part was by far the Cliffs of Moher. Perhaps you know them better as the Cliffs of Insanity from Princess Bride.


Along the edge of the cliffs is a trail that is marked as out of bounds signs and safety warnings. As I was jumping over the wall back into the inbounds area, I heard the quote of the day. One girl was trying to convince her friend to join her on the trail.

GIRL 1: Look, everyone else is doing it.

GIRL 2: And if they jumped off, would you too?

Oh and here's a picture of me by the ocean thanks to the self-timer on my camera.