Ireland Trip Part 4...Cliffs of Moher and Doolin Cave

After we spent a lovely morning at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, we drove on to the Cliffs of Moher.  When we arrived we noticed the wind was blowing pretty great, and it was definitely chillier.  It was also super-duper foggy!  Pretty much the entire time we were in Ireland the sky was covered in clouds and it sprinkled on us a little each day.  The Cliffs are simply breath-taking.  They are also somewhat famous, being the "Cliffs of Insanity" in The Princess Bride, and they also make an appearance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  Anyway, there is a nice exhibition center, a few shops, and then of course the Cliffs.  There was a safe trail to walk along part of the way, and then we came to a fence that said "DANGER! KEEP OUT! PRIVATE PROPERTY!" that everyone and their dog were hopping over to keep walking along the cliffs.  So, we trespassed with the rest and got some more  pictures and maybe got a little too dangerously close to the edge.  If it hadn't been so foggy, we might have paid the extra euros to climb up in O'Brien's tower, but the further up we got, the less of the cliffs we could see due to the fog.

So after we had our fill of the cliffs, we saw a sign on our way out for Doolin Cave.  So we drove on a little bit further and visited the cave.  This was the first cave I've ever been in that wasn't part of an exhibit at the zoo. Afterwards, I decided I am not a cave person.  I didn't like the water dripping on me, stepping in puddles, crouching through narrow passageways, hitting my helmeted head on the cave ceiling, or the overall spookiness of it.  But we did see what the dude said was one of the largest free-hanging living stalactites in the world.  It was pretty cool I guess.  So we stared at it for a while, learned more history of the cave which was interesting, and then climbed the 120 steps back up to the top.  Again, I'll leave you with a few pics.

Us at the Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

The great stalactite at Doolin Cave

The great stalactite at Doolin Cave

Ireland Trip Part 3...Bunratty Castle and Folk Park

Our first adventure was to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park.  This castle was maybe 20 minutes from our hotel so it was a good choice for the husband, who was still getting the hang of driving on the wrong side of the road from the wrong side of the car.  After a bumpy start the day before, we now had a GPS and were good to go!

There is a long history at this site, but the present castle structure was rebuilt in 1425.  This was my first experience with castle "stumble" steps, and I can tell you honestly that I hate castle steps!  They are called stumble steps because that's what they were designed to do...stumble enemies that tried to run up them.  They are narrow, spiral, and all different heights!  So I walked like a 100-year-old woman up and down these steps, while Michael ran.  Show-off.

They didn't allow flash photography inside the castle, and it was too dim for me to get many pictures.  However, I took a few in the Folk Park, which is a 19th century village outside the castle.  I love thatched roofs! Bunratty was one of the nicer castles we visited, and the village was really cool too.  I would highly recommend this to anyone traveling to Ireland.  Lots to see in one place!

The Castle

Me at the top

One of the cute houses in the village.

Church tower

Ireland Trip Part 2...Limerick

Way back in February when I booked the trip on Orbitz, I selected a hotel in Limerick to stay in.  Limerick wasn't far from the airport we were flying in to, and it seemed like a pretty central location to everything we wanted to see.  The Clarion Hotel Limerick had received good reviews and it had a waterfront location, so I booked away!  Later on I decided to Google "Limerick", and kept reading stuff about it being nicknamed "stab city".  Great!  So I had no intentions of leaving the hotel and wandering about Limerick ever. But, the husband had different ideas.  We did a lot of walking and exploring on the streets of Limerick.  And we didn't get stabbed or witness any stabbings.  In fact, people we met in Dublin said that the "stab city" nickname was all political in order to make Dublin look better.  Limerick isn't that bad.  HA!

Limerick isn't the cleanest of towns.  There is a major problem with dog poop on the sidewalks.  There was graffiti everywhere ("true artists", as one local explained to us).  But the River Shannon was pretty, the people were nice, the beer was cold, and the food was decent.

Michael in Limerick

Clarion Hotel Limerick

River Shannon

I told you it was a major problem!

Ireland Trip Part 1...Airplanes!

Before we went to Ireland, I had flown on a plane approximately 3 times.  Once was a short trip from Kansas City to Wichita when Vanguard airlines had cheap-o flights and my sister and I got to fly back from a trip to our family in Iowa when we were young.  The other time was from Dallas to Des Moines, and back, with the husband to see my grandmother for the last time.  These were all fairly short flights.  So I was a little anxious about making 4 flights in one week!  Yep, we had to fly from Dallas to New York, then New York to Shannon in Ireland.  Then of course do the same, but in reverse, to come home.

Our first flight was about 3 hours long on a small, little plane.  It was an uneventful flight.  We had about a 5 hour layover in New York, and then boarded a much, much bigger plane for Ireland.  This flight would take almost 6 hours and we would arrive around 8:00 a.m. in Ireland.  Once we boarded the plane, the captain told us we would probably taxi for about an hour, since a lot of international flights leave at night.  So we sat without moving for a little while longer when the captain came back on and said that a passenger hadn't checked-in on the plane, so they had to get their luggage off the plane.  So we had to wait for them to throw all the suitcases off the plane and find this no-show person's bags!

Finally, we were moving and up in the air!  I had planned to try to sleep as much as possible on the plane, but first they served everyone dinner.  That took for-ev-er.  Then they dimmed the lights for a bit and I snoozed off and on.  It's hard to sleep in economy class seats when your 5'10" knees are shoved into the back of the seat in front of you, but I did manage a few cat naps. (This also helped me develop cankles from HELL!)  Before I knew it they were turning the damn lights back on to serve breakfast!  We had just eaten, and now were eating again.  It was ridiculous. 

So I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted, but it was ok. Now, the flights back made me hate how entitled people feel.  On the flight from Ireland to NY there was some dude who would repeatedly push the flight attendant call button, which makes a dinging sound throughout the whole plane each time one is pressed.  I thought maybe he was having some kind of emergency when he pressed the button like 20 times in a row.  But apparently he just wanted more Coke.  The rest of the plane hadn't even been served yet!  And from what I had seen, they really don't give refills on your complimentary beverage. 

But the people with the biggest entitlement issues were on our 4 hour flight from NY to Dallas.  There was a couple on an exit row.  If you don't know, exit rows have TONS of leg room.  As soon as everyone got on, the man started complaining that his seat was too hard.  Mind you, we were in economy class on some rinky-dink little plane.  So he told the flight attendant that they wanted to be moved to the front of the plane.  She said she would be right back and when she came back she told them they could sit at the back of the plane.  Well, the man said he wanted to sit at the front and if they couldn't do that, they would just stay there.  Hello, front seats are better and cost more! If he wanted to sit up front, he should've paid the price!  Anyway, this man wasn't done bitching.  The flight attendant started to explain to them about the exit row they were on and what to do in an emergency, when the captain started speaking, so this complainer man started saying in a very rude tone that he couldn't hear what was being said so she needed to be quiet.  So she came back and started to explain again after it was quiet and the man again was just very rude and insulting to her.  He was just going on and on about his hard seat and the flight attendant being stupid and not knowing anything, so my husband and I piped up and said we would trade seats with them. Hello leg room!  That was agreeable to all, so we stretched our legs out and enjoyed the extra room!  Then the man started to complain that he better get a pillow and blanket.  Again, 4 hour flight...they don't do that!  Then he saw the first class people getting meal and the rest of us get pretzels or peanuts, and he wanted to demand a meal.  Seriously?!  Again, pay the extra money if you want to be up front!  Otherwise, shut the hell up!

We went on a holiday!

Ok, so since I am from the states, I guess I should call it a "vacation" instead of "holiday".  Yep, we finally took our trip to Ireland and had a blast!  I will probably be writing several blog posts in the next few days, rather than make one huge post that never ends.  You're welcome.

I'm totally turning into my parents

For reals.  I am totally turning into my parents, and I don't know how to stop it.  Maybe I should just embrace it.  My latest transition has been dishes.  Yes, dishes.  More specifically, washing dishes.  Our house has a dishwasher.  For many years we have used the dishwasher and for many years we have re-washed dishes and scraped pieces of dried on food off dishes.  I guess the husband and I finally came to our breaking point.  It may have been partly that the dishes weren't coming clean all the time, and partly that it takes the two of us forever to fill up the dishwasher, so we would run out of bowls constantly.  So we have purchased a dish drainer and have begun to hand wash our dishes. *gasp!*  Now we say stuff like, "think of all the water and energy we are saving!".  "Look how clear our glasses are becoming!"

So, you might be wondering how in the world washing dishes means I am turning into my parents?  Well, once upon a time, a long, long, looooong time ago, they had a dishwasher.  Then they decided it wasn't getting their dishes clean and could use the cabinet space, so they began washing their dishes by hand.  Every night, after dinner.  Just like the husband and I are doing now.

Here I go again!

So school is finally out for the summer!  I am counting down the weeks to our Ireland vacation!  In the meantime, a friend and myself have signed up at a local gym that opened last fall and is different than the other gym in town because this one offers about 55 classes a week.  You pay your dues and attend what you want.  (There is no contract or sign-up fee, you just pay month-to-month, which is nice!)  We started going to classes on Monday morning. Now, it's Friday evening, and every single inch of my body hurts.  I have been sore all week long, but have gone back each day to work through the pain and get stronger.  But now, I am glad I don't have a class the next two days!  (Ok, so there is a boot camp and a spin class tomorrow, but since I am new to this I think I should rest. Ha!)

So far I have attended two spin classes and my hiney is so not used to bicycle seats!  OUCH!  Spin was the first class I attended, and at one point I seriously thought I was going to pass out.  But I went again today and it was much better.  My "sit bones" still hurt something fierce though.  I also attended some stretching/yoga type class, which was nice.  Tuesday I had to work, so I went to a circuit training class in the afternoon and about died again.  (Did I mention that most of these classes are 1 hour long?)  Wednesday was our last day of work and I decided to give the body a break.  Thursday I went to shadowboxing (but we got to put gloves on and punch stuff..score!!!) for an hour, and then did another class called "Body Slay".  I think that is what has finally caught up with me today as I feel slayed.  That was a class where you do all sorts of exercises holding a weighted (mine was 12lb) bar the entire time.  Then today I decided to go to spin and then try the abs class.  Spin was much better today, I didn't feel like passing out.  The abs class...well, let's just say I tried.  I have like zero abdominal muscles, and I am pretty sure I banged the hell out of my back doing situps since I can't really slowly go back down (because of the lack of ab muscles) so I just slammed back down on the floor instead.  Repeatedly.  Good times. 

Now I am in misery.  Ok, I may be a little over-dramatic, but I did get out of doing dishes tonight.  I can't wait until next week so I can do it all over again!