Tai O’ShamJune 3
Back in April the first me was cuddling with Rachel and the second me was hiding from an evil cat in a suitcase in miri’s house. The suitcase lid opened up and miri started taking everything out of it (except me) and then loading it up with different stuff. She said we were going to go on a long journey across the US and then across the ocean. She seemed to think it was a big deal – obviously forgetting I’d already been to Italy with M. Darcy. She was working herself into a frenzy getting ready for the trip. I tried to calm her down and tell her it was no big deal. I also took a minute to explain the different money to her. I like that money better than the US money – it’s shiny!
miri explained that part of the reason this was a big deal was that her mom was going with us. Her mom had never been across the big ocean! I decided to hang out as much as possible with miriMom in order to help her through the trip. Here we are on the plane. (Don’t worry, Rachel, you are still my main cuddle partner.)
miriMom made sure I got a good view out the window and that I kept well hydrated on the long flight. She’s almost as good a mom as my own mom!
Turns out, we had to stop first in New York – which is kind of a second home for me. miriMom had never been to NY either. We met up with PepeNY and showed miriMom some sites. She really wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, so we took her on the Staten Island Ferry where PepeNY got a little forward with me. (Don’t worry, Rachel, you are still my main smooching partner.)
NY was a lot of fun, but it was soon time to head off to Ireland.
Seven hours is an awfully long time to spend on a plane – especially after having spent the morning/afternoon site seeing in NY. miri and miriMom didn’t manage to get any sleep. I did okay, though. I think being in the dark carry-on actually helped for once. After we landed, we had to stand in line for quite awhile to get a rental car. miri spent most of that time alternating between almost nodding off and being nervous about driving on the other side of the road. After paying a ton of money for insurance, we had a car and were trying to figure out how to get to the hotel. Well, miri, miriMom and some automated lady called a “GPS” were trying to figure it out while I was stuck in the carry-on or I’m sure I could have helped. I have a very good sense of direction, you know.
It took us far too long and 3 stops for directions, but we finally found the hotel. It’s right across from a soccer stadium – you’d think it would have been easier to spot than that! We couldn’t check in because it was so early in the morning, so we went to the hotel café and got some caffeine to help us perk up.
Next up, we toured the city of Dublin on a hop-on/hop-off bus, but miri and miriMom were too tired to think to take pictures of me. *sigh* After hours of exploring, we shuffled back to the hotel ready for some serious sleep.
The next day, we all overslept – traveling will do that to you – and when we finally got started, traffic was horrible in Dublin. The GPS lady was leading us in the wrong direction and miri and miriMom were getting very frustrated and lost. It was a stressful day (with one lovely and peaceful stop at Glendalough) and I decided that this must be stopped. When we finally picked a place to stop for the night, I got out the maps and studied them seriously. I then carefully planned our route for the next day. I wanted some stress free travel!
After getting all that take care of, I settled down for a good night’s sleep.
The next day, we had a lovely day – thanks to my map-reading expertise and planning, we didn’t get lost once. We visited the very beautiful Killarney National Park. The scenery was lovely and we even found an old abandoned church.
miri and miriMom decided that my map reading abilities were so good, they appointed me the official navigator for the rest of the trip! It was a big responsibility, but I was happy to accept it. I even offered to help with the driving, but that didn’t go over too well.
So, after staying in a slightly dodgy B&B, we headed out on the course I’d prescribed: the Slea Head Drive on the Dingle Peninsula. We saw an old stone fort – it was probably built over 2000 years ago! Now that’s old.
Next we saw some old beehive huts and Gallarus Oratory. The Oratory was built in the 8th or 9th century and is still water proof after all this time! I sat in a window in the back of the small building and pondered all the history that was there.
We also saw so much beautiful scenery…it’s impossible to describe how lovely it all was.
Next, we had lunch at a nice little pub in Dingle.
Then we headed north – taking a ferry across the mouth of the Shannon River and ending up at the Cliffs of Moher.
They were an awesome sight. We climbed up a bunch of stairs to see a tower at the top of one of the cliffs. Here I am posing in the tower window.
The view from the tower was fantastic! I wanted to stay and stay, but we had to get moving. For one thing, it was late and we needed some dinner. We drove to our B&B (Nellie Dee’s) in Doolin and the owner suggested a pub just down the street – McDermott’s pub. So we strolled down there, had some tasty dinner, a nice Guinness and listened to some live music. What a wonderful day.
The next day we took a boat over to an island called Inis Oirr – the smallest of the Aran Islands. We rode in a pony and trap to tour the island. I got a great view while being snuggled up in miriMom’s hood.
miri and I then climbed up a steep hill to see a cool old abandoned castle. The view from the top was wonderful! The sky was so blue.
Then we had scones and tea at a nice café and relaxed on the beach.
We took the boat back to Doolin, but instead of getting off the boat, we stayed on and took a cruise along the Cliffs of Moher. The waters were very rough and kept bouncing us all over the place, so miri made me stay safely in her bag. We then explored another set of church ruins, had a nice dinner and tucked in for the night.
On our last full day in Ireland, we headed north through the Burren – an interesting and unique landscape. We stopped at the Caherconnell Stone Fort. It’s a ring fort that has been around since about 500 A.D. One part of the outer wall had collapsed and I posed sitting on some of the fallen stones…despite the signs that said “don’t touch!” I’m such a rebel.
We saw a lot more cool things on the way to Galway and even stopped in the lovely town of Kinvara for a nice lunch. miri and miriMom were starting to feel the effects of all the travel, though. We arrived in Galway and crashed for the night. The next morning it was a drive to the airport in Shannon, a flight to NY, a 7 hour layover in NY (oye!) and finally a flight back to Austin. Whew!
Sean wrote:
June 27, 2007 at 7:34 am
Glad you enjoyed your visit to Caherconnell Stone Fort. Thanks for stopping by.
Sean