We landed at the quaint Shannon airport to find that most of our luggage had not made the trip! So we had to wait at the airport a few hours for it. Waiting in the airport after a long night of flights is kinda' miserable, but we were glad to *finally* be in Ireland. Then we had to pay double what we thought for the rental car...so things were off to a bit of a rocky start.
The adventure truly began when we checked out our rental vehicle...a Skoda Octavia. Sounds like a super-villain, not a car (I have never heard of this make/model of car). I was terrified when I started driving: the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car + the stick shift is on the opposite side of the card + you drive on the opposite side of the road + the roads are narrow + our internet directions were not good and we got lost several times.
We finally made it to an amazing, quaint bed and breakfast called Carey Farmhouse. We had a wonderful, friendly Irish hostess named Margaret. She took good care of us and gave us hospitality and good travel advice.
After a much needed nap we headed to Gus O'Connor's Pub for dinner and shared a tasty meal of authentic Fish & Chips and veggie soup. OK, so we did not share the soup -- Lyndy ate it. It was kind of pureed, like baby food. Lyndy said it was "interesting." We learned you have to go order your food at the pub. They don't come to the table to take your order. It is a good thing we learned this or we may have starved to death.
We then headed to Doolin pier, checked out some weird rock formations and cool signs. And I planted a big ol' kiss on her the EXACT moment of our anniversary!
Our day was capped off with an adventure to the Cliffs of Moher. Our hostess Margaret told us to go in the evening to avoid the crowds (and not have to pay the entrance fee). It was incredible. Lyndy ran up the stairs like a giddy schoolgirl. It was so cool to see her dream of visiting Ireland finally come true. I got so wrapped up in watching her meet her dreams head-on that I tripped and fell on the stairs in front of God and lots of people of many nationalities. We got some amazing pictures and had a wonderful time of exploration. We came back to the farmhouse and crashed.
It is now day 2 and we just had a scrumptious Irish breakfast: scones, coffee, orange juice, eggs, ham/bacon-y stuff, sausage, etc. Yum. I uploaded pix on Facebook, wrote this entry, and now it is time to hit the road.
Slainte'!
Barry
