Good Galway, Miss Molly

Short story... Ireland is gorgeous.

If you want the long story, you're in the right place:  We landed in Dublin yesterday, then drove to Howth.  They don't pronounce the W, so I was expecting to visit the site where the Battle of Hoth occurred.  I mean it was a major victory for the Empire, and the single worst battlefield defeat suffered by the Alliance during the Galactic Civil War. Sounds like it would be a touristy stop. Unfortunately, it was only a gorgeous little fishing village...

Fibber Magee's!

Then on our way to Galway, we stopped in a tiny little place called Athlone.  I will never forget Athlone, as the ATM ate my debit card! So that sucked, and I'm still working on getting it back, but Athlone also has Sean's: the Oldest Pub in Ireland. We're talking like since 900 A.D. old.  It has about 4 bar stools, and about 100 people trying to take pictures.  After Athlone, we settled into our hotel in Galway.  Nice place, very pink.  Only 1 block away from a great pedestrian-only shopping/pub area. We also wandered to the center of town, which had a pub with my favorite name so far.  

A little liquid sunshine to start the day, but it cleared up before we hit Ashford Castle.  Nice place, for sure...I wonder if RUPCO will help me buy it if it comes on the market. 

A stone's throw from Ashford Castle is the town of Cong.  Everyone kept talking about how it was the town in the John Wayne film "The Quiet Man".  I guess I should watch it & see if it's true.  The town was cute, and we got to explore a little section of woods that held a monastery back in the day. The coolest part was this fishing hut. They built it a hole into the floor so they could sit inside & fish.  So clever! Apparently fish is brainfood.  It's hard to tell scale, but the walls are only about shoulder-high. (I'm thinking this is more the size/condition that RUPCO has in mind...)  

Our big stop for the day was at the Cliffs of Moher. Cliffs + Coast = WIND!! It was certainly cold, and everyone returned to the bus with horribly disheveled hair.  Even the bald guy, I'm sure. But I think the purpose of the wind is to put air back into your lungs after the breathtaking views (God, who says crap like that?)  Seriously, gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.