Day 4 (14 Sept 08) - A quick whirlwind tour of central Ireland

So not long after my last post Paul called and we were off. Off where, you ask? Apparently it was time to take a massive eight-hour tour of Ireland. Paul's friends Chris and Jennifer were in town from Tennessee and rode up to Shannon to pick me up and off we went further north, into County Clare.

The first destination was the famous Cliffs of Moher.

Atop the cliffs it was so incredibly windy you could lean forward and the wind would hold you up. This was quite a change from Georgia & Tennessee; but felt quite nice after being cooped up in the airplane for the trip over.

After this we headed off through The Burren, stopping along the way in Kinvara for a bite to eat and a pint.

Then we were off to Lough Dergh, in the middle of Ireland and we angled down to the southern reaches of it near the Holy Isle.

Along the way we pulled off to visit a prehistoric wedge tomb from about 2000 BCE that off the main road we were traveling on. Ater stumbling a little way into a cattle pasture:

Then it was back to Tralee and after popping in Paul's place for a few minutes we went out to a couple pubs in town.

The next day we all slept in and in that I was going on almost 48 hours awake I took full advantage of the opportunity. The next day we all woke up around 1:00 in the afternoon and Paul fixed us all a big traditional Irish breakfast, which we ate at 3:00 in the afternoon.

Then it was off to Dingle. I actually visited the Dingle Peninsula the first time I visited Ireland and we went back to at least a couple of the same places. After going down to the very end of the peninsula at Slea Head, we went back to the town of Dingle and started hitting the pubs. After getting a room – or two rooms, one for Chris and Jennifer and one for Paul & me – at a B&B we ended up in a late pub (stays open until 2:00) that Paul usually goes to in town.

We left Dingle and came back to Tralee where everyone just napped and lounged until going to dinner at Paul's old restaurant.

Apparently Chris and Jennifer left back to the states this morning and Paul is pretty much exhausted. Whereas I slept in and am finally getting things together, including this blog.

Starting Monday I have to start getting my trip in order...