Up early showered and out the door. Except we got an email telling us to check In to our flight and print proper boarding passes. We don't want to make this mistake again so back into the hotel. Check in and email boarding passes to the reception lady and all printed up.
Handyman gets out a tiny screwdriver and fixes my belt. Sweet!
7 min drive to McDonald's for quick breakfast and down the highway to the Cliffs of Moher!
Again with the tiny highways and high speed limits until we hit an M and we are flying for a while! We worked our way to the coastline and the views got more extreme with every turn. At last we pulled into the car park and were blown away (literally and figuratively) by the view and the wind.
Now picture this - Cliffs on the side of the ocean. 100 mph wind thankfully mostly blowing in from the ocean toward the land but swirling often and moving you sideways, fowards and backwards as you try to maintain your footing while not falling, tripping or rolling your ankle while trying to admire the view.
I cannot believe there isn't a rotating number of people dying or falling off the cliffs in this 3km stretch like the number of people served sign at McDonald's. The number of people willing to hang over the side to get just the right photo with the completely unpredictable swirling chaotic wind is astounding. Little kids running along side the edge with a parent 20 feet behind. Are you freaking kidding me? This place is nuts.
Quite simply one of the riskiest things we've ever done as a family. Wow.
The majestic beauty from this place cannot be captured with a smart phone. It's just one of those places you need to go to. Just incredible.
We did a bit of shopping and jumped in the car and headed north. We stopped in the next town for soup and sandwiches and bought some artwork for home.
We took off and drove another hour and a half along the rugged coastline of the Wild Atlantic Way until it ended.
The landscape changes from wild coastline on one side to deep sloped foothills on the other side for a but of farming but mostly sheep and cattle was magnificent. It would be so great to do a bus tour stopping at a few places instead of the mad dash formula one race with cars jammed in front and behind you. It's like a Nascar race everywhere you go. Except everyone is driving a smart car sized vehicle or an Audi/BMW.
The tide went out and made the landscape look drastically different. Driving past all the farms with millions of rocks formed into fences and ledges of every size and shape known to mankind was brilliant. One house and barn made almost completely out of the same stone used for the fences was so beautiful - for the 3 seconds I saw it rocketing past with no place to stop or pull over or even turn around to get a photo. And the farm equipment. Combines driving down the road at 5pm rush hour with cm between their pickup and taking the entire side of a car speeding by with clearly no regard for property or their own life was just shocking.
Every hour you need to pull over and detox and just breathe and then somehow get yourself all geared up again for the autobahn down the narrowest roads you've ever seen. It has been an absolute experience I'll never forget.
We went a little east and grabbed the M18 home. Posted speed limit 120km/hr. Actual speed limit 140-150. Cars doing 120 in either of the 3 lanes get honked at by everyone. Holy crap.
We got back to the hotel and I made the kids go swimming. If I was going to pay all this extra money for a hotel with a pool - get your butts in there. They only had an hour as the curfew for 16/under was 7pm.
I miraculously swam 6 lengths of the pool without touching the bottom. Now for those of you who didn't read my blog from Italy - I don't swim. I sink. I drown. I drink water. I cough and sputter and puke and gasp for air while desperately seeking anything or anyone to hang onto.
Until last week.
The buoyancy of the salt water in Italy and whatever magical chemicals and heated pool combination has converted me to AQUAMAN!!
Or maybe it's the Olympic spirit!? Whatever it is - I've fallen in love with swimming. Can't get enough of it. Ready to swim the English Channel tomorrow while the family takes a flight. If I could have a safety boat pumping out ACDC and other 80s rock music beside me, I'd seriously give it a go. Once Wendy Kelman have me some pointers on keeping my legs almost straight when I kick (who knew ? You mean you art just supposed to kick your legs violently and as awkwardly as Seinfeld's Elaine dancing?)
Well son of a gun...
I rewarded myself with a little hot tub time and struck up a conversation with an Irish lady about my age soaking up before an aquacize class.
No sooner had I sat down did Thing 1 and Thing 2 (N and J) climb in and start yapping. Stuck with them 24/7 for 3 weeks and finally get them into the police and they're glued to me like duct tape. Great.
Then a miracle happened.
I truly believe this.
The pool guy came over and kicked the kids out of the hot tub because the were under 16!!!
THANK YOU LORD!!!
Back to my conversation with the Irish lady. We talked Canada for awhile and her cruise to Alaska and off she went 20 mins later for her class.
I jumped back in the pool and swam 4 lengths and then stopped aghast at how much I'd accomplished.
A lady in her 80s asked me why I looked so excited and I had to explain my 'I should have drowned 30 minutes ago but I haven't so that's why this smile is plastered on my face' expression.
We got to talking about all my holiday adventures and turns out Sister Rita is a nun! And was in Rome a few weeks ago and 'almost' met the Pope. Apparently he is more difficult to see now more than ever because of his popularity and early accessibility being such a scare for security. We had a great visit and she even wanted to be late for her class to keep talking. Seniors love a good visit - I've always been a great listener to them since I worked in a grocery store in the 80s. Kids had to leave the pool because curfew was in in effect so we went upstairs and changed before heading across the street to Chung's restaurant. Not just any Chung. Wang Chung.
EVERYBODY WANG CHUNG TONIGHT!
I can't believe they didn't have to song playing as we came in!
We had a delicious meal and got some groceries for breakfast and headed back to the hotel. T
regrettably we didn't really see much of Limerick as the kids are glued to electronics and Krista needed time to 'relax'.
So we will pack it all up and get ready to bust out to Dublin in the am and return the car and get on our flight to Exeter England to spend a couple days with Krista's Uncle Paul and Aunt Ann before toodling off to London on Friday. Time is wrapping up quickly. We will really miss Ireland - its rugged beauty and kind enthusiastic people. I can't say enough about Irish hospitality and the beautiful people and places wherever we went. As we bid farewell, an Irish cheer - Slainche!!
I
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