Day 15: We Laugh in the Face of Danger!

Today was a long and eventful day. We had to meet the taxi downstairs at 5:30 so I woke up at 4:15 am. We got on the bus to Galway around 6:30 and arrived there about 9:30. Our tour bus left at 10 am to do our Cliffs of Moher and Burren tour. It was so cool! The burren is just this rocky landscape that is natural to the area (seen in picture 1 below). It's actually quite beautiful and out there in the countryside you see all these ancient ruins just out there in random fields. You also got to see "famine walls" which are dry stone walls -- which amaze me still -- that were built during the famine years. People would come to these camps thinking they would get food but would usually die working on these walls that don't really have a purpose. Anyway, so then we stopped in Doolin for lunch and I bought myself a really pretty ring that has the Celtic Trinity knots on it. Anyhoo, after lunch it was off to the Cliffs of Moher. This has to be the single most breathtaking place I have ever been too. We were really lucky and had amazing, clear, warm weather while we were there. Now of course as you are riding up there the bus driver is telling you not to go off the official path and once you get out you see a billion warning signs saying not to go off the official path. They have a memorial for people who have lost their lives because they went off the official path. So what do we do? We go off the official path. I mean really though, they have a very well worn unofficial path behind this very short wall that just invites you to do this and it's not like we are the only ones who did it. They even tell you there are rangers patrolling, but we did not see such rangers. And it really wasn't even very scary because the wind wasn't blowing. The girls from the group who went last weekend said they went behind the wall but they were scared a couple time because the wind gusts were so strong. Anyway so we successfully lived through that then got an ice cream then got back on the bus.

Now here is where the fun part begins. So when we booked our tickets we knew we also wanted to stay on the Aran Islands that night. The company we did the Moher day trip with also does a ferry ride over to the islands. Now, the Irish aren't really big on specific times. For example, you look up times for a restaruant and it will say "open 5 pm to late." One might ask, "well, what is late" and the answer is pretty much whatever time the guy in the restaurant feels like that night. Anyway so the Moher day trip said we would be back in Galway at "approximately 5:30" and the Aran Islands bus to the ferry left at "approximately 5:30." So we call and they tell us many have tried to make the connection but most fail and that it really depends on the bus drivers. So we think, well lets go for it! When we get on the Moher bus we talk to the driver and he is really nice and tells us he'll try to get us back in time. And he really did try. He told everyone on the bus to be back from the cliffs in an hour an a half (its supposed to be a 2 hour stop) and everyone but 1 guy from Maryland is back in time. This guy is 20 minutes late and gets on the bus laughing and smirking like he's sooo funny. So anyway the bus driver is really trying to get us back so he rushes the rest of the stops and skips a couple things on the way back to Galway as well. As we are getting closer we hit some traffic that slows us down so he calls the other bus driver and is asking him to wait for a few minutes for us. I mean there are 5 of us who have already paid for the other ticket and really want to go out there! The other bus driver really doesn't want to wait but our bus driver is telling him we are crying and such and such and is holding him off a bit. So we finally get back and our bus driver tells us to run and the bus should still be there. He even has a guy up the road come out onto the street to point us in the right direction. So we take off like we are on Amazing Race and sprint (yes, sprint, and those who know me know that I DO NOT RUN!! but I was running for this!) up the road to catch the other bus. Chris, who was in front, gets right up to the bus and is waving his arms as it pulls away! Yes, seriously it pulls away with us RIGHT THERE! To say we were pissed is an understatement. So we go talk to the guy who was on the street pointing us in the right direction and he is amazed that the bus took off. He says that the driver was getting yelled at by the passengers and by the ferry people for waiting and I mean he did all the work he could have at least been like "well here are the people we were waiting for" but no, he did all the waiting for nothing.

So we stayed in Galway that night. We luckily had had foresight to book a hostel both on the islands and in Galway so we did have a place to stay. We went out and had a really yummy dinner and then just hung out at a pub near our hostel. We discovered a delicious shot called a Baby Guinness which is coffee liqueur topped with Bailey's to make it look like a Guinness. So all and all it ended up being a good day!