Ireland trip day eight: Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, and Galway

Our last full day in Ireland.  Alas.

After several of these lengthier posts, I hardly know what to write any more.  How do real bloggers do it?  Ah well.  Let's look at a grey Sunday in Ireland that featured a drive to the Cliffs of Moher in the morning.

I don't have much to say about the Cliffs in terms of their geology or whether they have cultural significance.  They are impressive. 

A pity the weather wasn't all clear, blue skies for us.  In fact, it was a chilly day at the Cliffs, a wind cutting through us all and sending me scurrying to the comfort of the gift shop after getting some photos of the site.  A jaunty new hat for me! 

How that busker was managing up there in the cold was beyond me. 

He deserved all the coins he got.

From the Cliffs it was on to the home of a musician and his wife, an artist.  No art lessons, alas, but a performance of traditional Irish music by Christy Barry and his friend, James Devitt. 

A fiddle,

a flute,

a whistle,

spoons. 

Our tour guide, Des, and Peter (not me!) got up to dance at one point. 

A peat

fire burned, and we were served a light lunch while enjoying the tunes.  Our last cultural activity of the trip, and again I was gratified that this was in someone's home

and not in an impersonal center of some sort.  Yes, I know that they, like the sheepdogs demo and the soda bread making, are thriving tourist businesses and cater to folks like us.  It was just nice, though that it was in home and felt homey.

The afternoon ended in Galway with a chance to do some souvenir shopping in the city as well as a casual walking tour with Des pointing out sites of interest. 

It wasn't too far to walk to our dinner destination (and I loved the octopus across the street). 

A last group meal in Ireland for us.  McSwiggan's

was a nice choice - a comfortable setting, a good glass of cider for me for a change, and decent food.  Chicken liver pate, Irish stew, and banoffee pie for me.

I'm not sure what else I can say about the Sunday.  The scenery was excellent, to be sure, and the music was fun.  But the trip was ending, and I had to devote time after dinner to packing up all the souvenirs I had bought as well as dashing off some last postcards.  I think it was midnight by the time I got to bed.

Monday came, we ate breakfast at the hotel, and then most of us were in the bus to head to Shannon where we would depart from the airport. 

Already the group was splintered, and with only five of us aboard the same flight, it became all the more so.  A loooooong day ahead of airports and airplanes, and then it was over, and I was getting picked up by my two guys and Olive, ready to stare down a week of jet lag.

Ireland trip day seven: Derry to Galway

Derry Girls.  I have heard a lot about that show, but I have never watched it.  I've enjoyed one of the stars, Nicola Coughlin, in Bridgerton, but no, never Derry Girls.  Perhaps I should have.  There was a lot on this morning in Derry that made reference to the television show, and there were definitely some among us who were fans.

I got up in the morning and made my way past the town's central square

over to Starbucks to begin my day.  We had a walking tour of Derry ahead, and then a drive to Galway with a stop planned.  A day that would be spent largely in the bus, the countryside rolling by.  Can I confess that I put on a napping music playlist during some of that later drive and let the verdant areas slide past my closed eyes? 

If you know me, you know how very well I can nap.  Anyway, Starbucks on a wet morning. 

Ah, but I had brought an umbrella with me to Ireland, so by the time we got in the bus to drive around Derry before the walk, we were safe from being rained on.

We had a local tour guide, Tony, join us.

A charmer of a man, a talker.  We drove outside the walls first,

and once again were told a very cursory overview of what we were seeing related to The Troubles.  I once again let that pass without comment and without photos.  If we're not going to be confronted and ask to reflect, then I don't want to otherwise engage.  You know that.  Moving on....

We came back inside the city walls

and began the tour on foot. 

Derry, I should add, is the only walled city in the UK with a complete set of walls.  We didn't walk the full length but rather walked part of it, Tony pointing out things like the cannons

and churches

and more. 

He spoke of the history of the city like the apprentices who closed the city gates when the deposed Catholic king of England tried to invade with the support of the French king.  We finished in the same central plaza where I had passed through in the morning. 

A good walk before getting on a bus, which we did almost right away, taking us south and back into the Republic.

Lunch was at a rest stop - no photos, it was fine enough for a light bite and a chance to buy a bit of Irish junk food.  As we continued south, we stopped in County Sligo

at Atlantic Sheepdogs for a fun little demo. 

The wind was bitter, and a rain blew through (leaving a rainbow afterward),

but Ben was a very good boy indeed,

and Martin was an engaging host. 

Sheep! 

I love dogs, and so I was delighted to see the demonstration.

Another longish stretch (for Ireland - the distances would be considered as modest here) and then we rolled into Salthill, essentially a beachside bedroom community for Galway.  The last hotel

of the trip and two nights there.  I got a little glimpse of Galway Bay

from my room

but a better glimpse before dinner from a quick stroll across to the seashore.  Lovely sunset.

I'm posting the dinner photos because I have them, but I cannot say it was an especially good meal.  The hotel dining room seemed to be staffed with students from the local university, and although friendly enough, they didn't provide the most polished service.  Ah well.  The soup was fine,

the pork was hammered,

the dessert was inoffensive. 

Harsh, but true on those.  The company more than made up for it, and I took a boulevardier from the hotel bar to my room to wind down and look forward to a last full day in Ireland.