We only had one night in Dublin before we set off on a road trip to the other side of Ireland (which isn't all that far). We chucked our stuff into the car (by this point we had the packing down to somewhat of a fine art) and set off to Doolin.
We stopped in Tullamore for some lunch where I confused a poor girl who was making my sandwich. I asked her for a salad bun (in Ireland, buns are sweet, and you would never put salad on one). What I should have asked for was a salad roll. I then asked her to put capsicum on it which she replied with a rather confused look until I realised my mistake and corrected myself and asked for peppers. After we stuffed ourselves full of lunch, we continued on our journey.
We passed through Galway where we stopped for a toilet break and Roy's Mum gave us her rendition of the Galway Bay song. Roy's Mum had a song for just about everywhere we visited. We kept ourselves amused in the long car trips by singing these songs at the top of our lungs, along with various other sayings in Irish accents. I'm sure we must have looked and sounded very strange to the locals.
Galway is pretty much at the end of a long motorway from Dublin so it was pretty smooth driving going from one side of Ireland to the other. We left the large main roads to make our way down to Doolin. Any road that isn't a highway or motorway is fairly narrow and usually has hedges on either side of the road, so it was a fairly interesting drive to Doolin. Aside from the scary navigation and ducking and weaving to avoid oncoming traffic (sometimes large tractors and buses!), it was a very beautiful drive down to the little coastal town. We accidentally took a wrong turn, but soon discovered that it was a happy accident because the road we turned onto took us through the rolling hills of The Burren.
Excuse the very unglamorous photos because they were taken through the window of our moving car.
We continued winding through the Burren and stopped only to have a quick stretch and to appreciate the view. By the time we reached Doolin, we were all thoroughly sick of being in the car and you can imagine the state of our bladders after having stopped for a Guinness along the way...
We arrived at our lovely little B&B, dumped our belongings, emptied our bladders and stopped to admire the charming town of Doolin. We'd heard stories of great, live Irish music in Doolin so we were very keen to head to the local pub for a meal (with a Guinness too, of course). It was great to just sit, relax and enjoy the music and atmosphere that surrounded us. We were entertained by two little kids who were enjoying the attention they were getting from people watching them dance.
This is our B&B! I would have loved to have stayed for more than one night because we were looked after so well and it would have been great to have had longer to see the rest of the town.
Us enjoying one of many Guinness'.
How cool is that? A shamrock drawn into the froth of my Guinness!
After a pleasant night of live music, food, beer and a good laugh, we headed back to our humble B&B for some rest. The next morning we filled up on a tasty breakfast, packed the car and headed to the amazing Cliffs of Moher.
I think I will let the photos tell the story for these beauties. I don't think my words will do them justice.
Gift shops built into the side of the hill. It was nice because they didn't detract from the landscape.
So after we took in the awe-inspiring views of the cliffs, we set off on the drive back to Dublin. With a few detours, pit-stops and Guinness stops, we made it back to Dublin and settled back in to our hotel. We had a rather interesting time getting some dinner the night we got back from our road trip. The sun goes down a lot later than what we are used to in Australia so the night kind of got away from us and we headed out pretty late in search of food. Much to our surprise, most of the places we tried to get a meal had closed the kitchen for the night. We walked from pub to pub only to be told that they were no longer serving food. We got a little tired of the search and stopped for a quick pint of Guinness to wash away our sorrows. Eventually we found a local fish and chip shop which was still serving food (ahh the relief!). mmmmm... greazy chips, a vegie burger and a nice pint of stout.
After spending two days confined in the small car with each other, it was nice to have a little alone time! :P
With a full day to ourselves in Dublin, we thought we might go and check out the Guinness Storehouse. We'd been drinking this dark and mysterious brew pretty religiously during our Ireland leg of the trip, so we thought it was time to gain a little insight as to how it came about. The weather was a little miserable also, so we didn't mind staying indoors (especially when it involves a glass of stout). I was a tad disappointed with the tour, as the storehouse is just a museum and not a working brewery. Roy and I had been on a brewery tour in China and it was great to see the actual process and packaging. But it was still interesting to see the history and facts about the great brew.
Barley
Day-dreaming of stout, no doubt.
The harp from the Guinness logo.
After we toured the storehouse, we headed up to the Gravity Bar for a free pint and a 360 degree view of Dublin city. I'd say that it's a fine art to pour a pint of Guinness but we were utterly impressed when the girl that served us our pint, poured two at once! That's a talent I admire!
I would have to honestly say that I wasn't all that impressed with the city of Dublin. It wasn't bad, but there wouldn't be enough to keep me busy if we had of stayed longer than we did - unless we looked in the wrong places. I did have a nice time though!
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