See, I told you this was going to get adventurous.
This morning we woke up bright and early to take a scenic drive down the western coast of Ireland, which also happens to be the most western part of all of Europe.
This part of Ireland is essentially one giant slab of limestone.
What do you do when you have an entire island of limestone? I’ll tell you what… you build rock walls for as far as the eye can see.
Which was quite appropriate considering we were about to embark on a couple of near-death experiences.
First of all the roads here are about as wide as the bike lanes in California and lined on each side with limestone walls and shrubbery. Somehow you are expected to fit two cars on them careening directly at each other at 100 km/h. I’m still picking the thistles out of my hair as we speak. Shoulda rolled the window up.
The second near-death experience and the ultimate destination of the drive were the Cliffs of Moher, which as you can see from the photos is quite literally the end of the world. The photos are amazing, but if you get the chance, you really ought to check them out for yourself. Looking down a 700 foot rock wall at certain death while the wind blows at your back will take your breath away.
Now this is the part where I must issue a warning to all the family and loved ones reading this blog. What you are about to see may make the little hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Jay and I did what we normally do, and went against our better judgment and ignored all warnings and caution signs.
All for the sake of a few photos for YOU, our loyal readers! So if you don’t want to see us nearly die… stop reading now.
OK, for those of you that are still reading… on with the show…
So far we haven’t had any major problems navigating or communicating in these foreign lands, but it’s clear that is all about the change very shortly. Today we took a 3-hour bus ride from Dublin to Galway on the west coast of Ireland. The street signs are slowly morphing from English to Gaelic, and the Irish accents are getting much thicker. It’s only going to become much more challenging from here on out. At least until mid-December that is when we anticipate touching down in Australia.
Today we picked up another rental car, this time in downtown Galway. This car however had a manual transmission… just imagine for a second shifting with your left hand. Let me tell you, it only adds to the excitements of driving on narrow windy roads in the rain with crappy windshield wipers with bad directions and no street signs, and large tractor trailers coming at you head on. Weeeeeeee!
Oh well, we somehow managed to survive another day and made it to our first hostel on the trip. Check out the view from Clare’s Rock Hostel. So picturesque!
Here’s a little panorama for your viewing pleasure.
After escaping from prison, we needed a drink. So we walked down to the Guinness Storehouse for a self guided tour inside the worlds largest pint glass. ‘Just how big is the worlds largest pint glass?’ you may be asking yourself. It’s 7 stories tall, and sits on nearly 60 acres of land! That land by the way has a 9000 year lease!! I guess ol Arthur lived by the mantra of ‘go big or go home’ even way back in the early 18th century.
At the top of the giant pint glass, at the Gravity Bar, we ran into a couple of fellow Californian ladies who didn’t like beer. I guess they got on the wrong tour bus or something, cuz why else would you come to Guinness!?!? So we inherited their free beers.
And despite splitting 5 pints, I still think we were some of the more sober people in all the land.
Well England was a blast, but the time had come to explore other lands. Ireland to be more specific. And we just barely made it to the airport in time too! Apparently there was a fire in Shepherds Bush (not our fault), which caused a massive traffic snarl. We got two totally different sets of directions, from two different people, which set us back a good 30 minutes. So we did what any frustrated American would do… we broke a few traffic laws and quickly fled the country.
Ireland looked like a good place to put er down, so we landed…
and made our way across the Liffey River…
Apparently, word of our flight spread quickly through the UK and the Irish Garda we’re on to us. So they captured us and threw us in Kilmainham Gaol.
Luckily however, before throwing us in shackles, they let us have one for the road (which by the way means your last drink before being strung up to die). So we opted to have that “one” at the Guinness Storehouse.
Whoa! Driving on the “wrong” side of the road is WEIRD!!! I’m not sure if it helps or hinders that the whole damn car is backwards too. Driving straight is fairly easy to get used to, but turning right, against oncoming traffic and then ending up on the left side of the road takes some real mind control.
So yeah, today we took a couple trains to Gatwick airport where we rented a little VW Golf. From there we took the scenic route through the countryside of England.
About 40 minutes in, our first stop of course had to be Stonehenge! I was totally stoked to see this landmark. I’ve ALWAYS wanted to see The ‘Henge. I thought it might be a let down and a lame tourist trap, but it was very well preserved (considering) and very majestic. Everything I had hoped for. An epic moment!
From there, it was about another hour drive through rolling green hills and farm land, to the city of Bath. Just as we arrive it started POURING rain. Luckily we needed to kill some time to find our way, so we did a little wardriving until we found an open WiFi access point. We plotted our next move, and by then the rain cloud had passed.
So we parked in the city circle…
…and then started our hunt for pork! Apparently there are 100 “art-pigs” throughout the city. Kinda funky. Kinda cool. We didn’t scour the city for all 100, but here’s a collection of some of the favorites we found along the way.
The trip to Bath was partially inspired by Trip Advisors Top 100 list, but mostly it was due to some of the photos of Pulteney Bridge. Very cool.
They do love their water their in Bath. Hence the name I suppose.
Then after a break for some Hoegaarden’s we had some dinner at The Walrus and The Carpenter.
Then back to London for our last night in England.
