10-day started off at 3:30 am in the Kartause, rummaging around the room getting ready. Heather, Anna and I made our way down to the lobby after checking to make sure Clare was awake and on her way. We got down to the lobby... no Peter. We waited for a couple minutes, but he still didn't show up, so Anna ran over to 4 Trakt. She came running back and a few minutes later Peter's roommate Ignas came tearing over. He reported that Peter was on his way and could anyone fit his hammered dulcimer in their bag? No luck in that department... Ryanair's baggage restrictions didn't coincide with Peter's musical aspirations, unfortunately. We all started getting worried about making it for our 4:44 train. Us girls started walking and a few minutes later Peter and Ignas ran up. (Ignas was heading to Vienna) They must have booked it from the Kartause, because it took a while to catch their breath! The walk to the station was longer than I remembered and we ended up running the last bit while Ignas held the train up! Finally we made it and had a little while to relax, hanging our heads out the windows and panting like dogs.
As the morning wore on and we switched trains several times we started getting worried about making our last train connection that might get us to the airport in time for our flight. The Austrian trains were running a bit behind and the wait was absolutely agonizing. When we arrived in Munich about 10 minutes late we sprinted to the platform, just to be affronted by the sight of an empty rail trailing off into the distance. No train. Crushed, we wandered around looking for other options to get to the airport on time. Taxis were too expensive and buses wouldn't get us there on time. Finally we had to concede: it was impossible to make our flight. Peter suggested that we look for a friendly whale, but alas, there weren't any handy whales wandering around Munich. So instead we headed to a casino across the street... don't worry, we didn't lose too much money. ;-D Just a few euros to the computers. After freaking out a bit we searched around and decided to book a new flight out of Brussels and use our Eurails to get there. Some Ryanair official and his family is probably basking in the Caribbean sunshine, funded by the three flights we each bought just to get out to Ireland. Trust me, Ryanair has now earned our eternal ire and disdain. "Cheap" my foot!
So we hopped on a few trains to get to Charleroi in Brussels. They had a really cool train station! It was all space-agey and reminded us of a bunker from Star Wars. We also had some yummy kebabs for dinner. Delish! Then we headed over to the airport and bedded down for the night. Heather built a fort behind a bench with all of our umbrellas. We all scrunched up and cuddled with the airport floor for the night. Round about 3 am our snuggle-session was disrupted by a rowdy airport janitor who was riding a miniature street-sweeper around, cleaning the dirty floor. He got about 3 inches from Peter's foot before he stopped and turned around. Anna and I gave up on sleep around 4:30 and headed over to a little stand where we got a cup of hot cocoa, a little carton of orange juice, and the most delicious croissant I have EVER had! It was probably so good because of our proximity to France. We woke everyone up a little later and made our way through security. Our flight was a delightful opportunity to sleep that I availed myself of with great aplomb. It was probably the most appreciated hour and a half of sleep that I've experienced in my life. When we finally arrived in Dublin we rushed off the plane and Peter kissed the ground. At long last Ireland welcomed us with open arms!
We headed into the airport and sat down in a cafe to sketch out our plan of action. As we were looking around for bus and train schedules to Limerick a spritely older man in uniform came over and told us we need not read every sign in the place. He then proceeded to give us a map of Dublin and explained how to get the least expensive bus tickets. Soon we were off into Dublin on a double-decker bus, headed for the train that would get us to Limerick where we would meet Simon, a friend of a friend of Heather's.
The train ride was thrilling... never before had grass looked so green or sheep so fluffy and sheepy. We arrived in Limerick and spent some time chilling at a corner sandwich shop with huge mugs of Irish tea and plates of toasted sandwiches. At an internet cafe across the street we discovered that Anna's ninja skills were definitely still effective in Ireland... she disappeared for about five minutes and finally wandered back after we'd nearly had several heart attacks, with no AED in sight for resuscitation purposes! This was only one of the many "where's Anna?" moments we've had this trip. It keeps us all on our toes, that's for sure! We called Simon, who told us to take a train to Adare and meet him there. We had some time to kill before the bus, so we tramped off in the direction of a promising spire not too far in the distance. When we got there we found we had discovered St. John's Catholic church, where a wedding was just about to begin. The little boys in their Irish tweed suits were so cute!!!
Upon arrival in Adare, a charming little town outside of Limerick, we found a beautiful little park, where Anna had fun mudsliding, and we sighted another wedding party. Simon came over and introduced himself and told us he'd be in Aunty Lena's Pub watching the football game and we'd head back to his family's home after the game. Then we visited the grocery store and retrieved some provisions for our dinner, which we ate in the park by the little Irish stream. My sparkling Tipperary apple juice was divine, as Heather might say. ;-) We finished up and sauntered over to the local 800 year-old church for Mass... it was just a few centuries older than our country!!! It was so beautiful! The homily was great, the pews were crowded even on a Saturday night, and the church itself was stunning. Anna was so happy she hugged the pillars! Oh Anna, how you brighten our days! ;-D
After Mass we went over to Aunty Lena's. We met Simon's wonderful parents, tried our first Guinness (Heather and I didn't like it, but at least we tried the real thing), and cheered for Ireland in the "football" match, a qualifying round for the Soccer world cup. Ireland and Italy went at it with gusto and finished in a draw after the most exciting last few seconds ever!!! Who would have thunk that Italy would score in the last 20 seconds?
Then Simon and his parents took us home with them. Peter, in the shotgun seat on the left side of the car, said he wished he had something round to hold onto so he could at least pretend he could steer! When we arrived at their lovely abode we met Mr. Patch, the Playboy Dog of Patrick's Well. Apparently he has quite the multitudinous progeny scattered throughout the region ;-D Simon's mother showed us to our charming rooms and turned down the sheets and offered us hot tea and homegrown apples. Despite our weariness we stayed up chatting with this dynamic lady well into the night. When we went to our beds I'm pretty sure all of us thought it was an experience to rival the Beatific Vision... never before had a real bed in a real house been SO good!!! We awoke in the morning at our leisure and had a huge and scrumdiddlyumptious breakfast put on by our favorite Irish lady! She made us eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, brown bread, black pudding, and tea and we ate it all with gusto. Mm, mm, good! After that satisfying culinary experience they drove us back to the Limerick train station, where we quickly discovered to our dismay that there are not very many trains on Sunday and that we had left out Travel Ireland book at our host's house. A quick call solved that though, as they picked up the book and drove it right back to us!
A little later we boarded the train to Ennis, where we spent several delightful unplanned hours waiting for a connecting bus to Doolin. We discovered an ancient Franciscan Friary and had a hilarious time gallivanting around the ruins and taking funny pictures after the kind museum-keeper showed us around personally. (I'll add pictures to this post later) After that we got some dinner and then sat outside a little cafe sipping hot chocolate and playing Pennsylvania Rummy. Then off we went back to the bus station to catch a ride to Doolin.
On the bus we made the acquaintance of a couple who was heading out to Doolin on something of an annual trip. They gave us tips about the best pub and routes to the Cliffs of Moher, and when they found out we hadn't booked a hostel yet they offered to let us crash on their hotel floor if nothing worked out for us! EVERYONE in Ireland has really been a living embodiment of hospitality!!! What wonderful people!
The bus dropped us off at Paddy's Doolin Hostel, where we spent that night, and the next one too. It was only a short jaunt to O'Connor's, the most renowned traditional pub in Ireland! We had a good time there, and Heather and I finally discovered a type of alcohol that we actually liked... Bulmer's Tipperary Cider (hard apple cider). I think the only reason we liked it is because it didn't taste like alcohol. ;-) The girls headed back to the hostel around 11, but Peter stayed around. He ended up singing with the band and entered a stage of such bliss that he completely missed the hostel when he was walking back... no wonder he returned so late!
The next day (Monday) we headed off to the Cliffs of Moher for our next grand adventure... and grand it was. We followed little pasture trails through flocks of sheep and small herds of cows and even some horses. We found some cool ruins of Irish farm houses and sat on a rocky bluff hanging out over the sea, where we ate lunch and Peter read Yeats aloud. Clare got her first sight of the ocean EVER!!! I got shocked by an electric fence... no one else felt it at all, but my arm definitely shot up against my will. Then we reached a spot where the trail got really close to the edge of the 200-foot high cliff edge... where a tiny rock jutted out over the edge and Heather went out on it first, Peter did some pushups and a Han Solo impression, and Anna did her ninja pose. Clare and I wisely abstained from that experience... After that our encounter with the shimmering serene waves of emerald grass ended and our fight with deep mud began. By the end Anna's shoe had been engulfed in the mud and rescued by Heather, I had gotten stuck knee-deep in much and narrowly escaped over a barbed-wire fence with my shoes intact, and Clare had nearly faceplanted in the mud and was coated from the waist down in cow-pasture mud. After our 7-mile trek through the wonderful land of non-touristy cliff country we were overjoyed to find a road! At this point my shoes were not wearable so I took them off. Peter told me that I had hobbit feet and Heather gave me her shoes to wear while we walked to the Tourist Center to call a taxi. Tony the Taxi driver picked us up in his snazzy silver Mercedes van and drove us back to Doolin, where we showered off the muck and did a little shopping.
That evening we went to dinner at Fitzgerald's, where we bonded as a family and discussed everyone's love lives. Then we went back to O'Connor's, for an amazing night of music! Pretty much the most famous flautist in Ireland was there with a number of other fantastic artists.... Peter and I sang "Farewell to Liverpool" to the bodhran accompaniment of Christy Barry, Clare and Anna wowed everyone with their Irish dancing skills, and Heather proved a great camera artist, as her bagpipes wouldn't fit in her backpack for the flight over. The couple we had met on the bus was there and we all chatted together and had a marvelous time. Us girls stayed till the pub closed, and Peter stayed later to hang out with the musicians.
The next morning we packed up our bags and said goodbye to Doolin after a breakfast of tea and chocolate chip cookies... our host's alarm didn't go off and he didn't have time to bake scones ;-) We spent the day making out way to Dublin and then doing a little exploring. We found Dony's statue (see Florence post) along the river and tomorrow we'll head off to merry old England. I'll post on that later... in the meantime check out Heather's blog (spurenaustria.blogspot.com) for a more complete narration!
