Continued from Galway Day 2.

We were not attacked by over sized spiders last night. Thanks god! But, after that scare last night, neither of us slept well again this night. We skipped breakfast today, got a long day of driving ahead of us and we wanted to get a head start.

Let’s negotiate the seemingly simple, but actually semi hectic streets of Galway.

We tried to go around the outer loops of the city to bypass the busy city center, but of course, we were rewarded with a intersection where we were not allowed to turn onto the road leading us out of town….which led us to this place. An large office park where on our maps shows that we can cut through and get back on the road….or so we thought…

Errr…what the fuck is this? This looks like the starting line of a running event and we are driving right into it….

Oh shit, it really is the starting line of an organized run that’s about to happen!!! SHIT!!!! How the hell did we end up here? There were no signs indicating that we can’t drive this way and no one told us to turn around. Fuck…how do we get out of here now…We asked some of the people working the course, and no one seems to have any clue on what’s happening or how we can get out of here. We are trapped!!!!

Then some organizer guy came and told us that the race is starting in 5 minutes and we need to get out. Yeah, I know, but where do we go? He didn’t know either, just told us to follow another car that seemed as clueless as us.

The other clueless car that’s we are following….

Freedom!!!!!(In Mel Gibson Braveheart voice). We finally made it out after they removed a temporary fence so that we could leave the running course….Seriously, who the fuck organizes a race that allows cars to drive past the starting line within 5 minutes of the race starting?!?!…I feel like some sort of joke was played on us and we’ve been recorded on video as the dumb clueless American drivers.

Finally out of Galway. For a city of 70 something thousand people, getting out of the city was too complicated.

Galway being the hub for many tourists visiting Cliffs of Moher, soon after getting out of the city, we get stuck going slowly behind many big tour buses. Ugh!! I miss the more secluded roads of Northern Ireland.

Castles and keeps everywhere in Ireland.

Finally, free from buses!! We elected to take the twisty coastal route to get away from the buses.

We are in a region in Ireland known as The Burren. It’s much rockier and less green, but no less beautiful than the rest of Ireland.

Oh crap…more buses. Ugh…I guess this is just how it’ll be until we make it to Cliffs of Moher.

Done with coastal route, now heading inland and up in elevation a bit to make it up to the Cliffs of Moher.

Parked the car in the parking lot for Cliffs of Moher and was charged 6 Euros a person for entry. The attendant charged us for 3 people instead of 2…I had to go back and get a refund for the extra ticket. Wonder if he was trying to skim at his job, I bet a lot of people don’t notice if he charges them an extra ticket and then if they do he just gives the money back like it was an honest mistake…he just seemed like that kinda guy for some reason.

The cliffs are just up ahead. All the tourists are here, but despite that, it’s still not too many people. Love traveling in the shoulder season. And of course, it was sunny for most of the morning until we got close to here, and it’s drizzling just a tiny bit. Not an issue except that the rain drops annoyingly gets on the camera lens.

Harpist. RL said that if I learned how to play the harp, I wouldn’t be any sexier…

Ireland has been so consistently beautiful and after climbing the sea cliffs of Slieve League, which are almost three times as tall, Cliffs of Moher seemed a little bit underwhelming. We both felt like we had to fight the tour buses a little to come here just to check it off of our list, and not much more.

One last quick look, and off we go. Back in the car where hours of driving awaits on our way to Dingle.

But of course, not before restroom break at the visitor’s center here.

At least the genders are treated equally.

Look at all of those tour buses here!! This is the first time for us to see so many tour buses here in Ireland.

Pass!

Skipped breakfast, haven’t had lunch, and it’s past 1pm, getting hangry. Must stop and get something to eat on the road.

Yes, fried food!

Chicken with mustard, easy for RL to feed me in the car while I keep on driving.

Oh nice, one of the rare big highways here in Ireland.

And of course, more turning circles.

And of course, more castles.

There are many of these speeding camera signs here in Ireland…I wonder if I’ve gotten caught, or maybe I should ask myself how many times I’ve been caught. Most of the time, on the small roads, I can’t even drive to the speed limit without flying off the road, but then in the few bigger roads, there are so few cars that it’s just so easy to speed. Sigh.

Such a beautiful country. I think of all the places I’ve traveled to, Ireland takes the cake for having the most beautiful countrysides.

Dang!

Heading into the mountains on Connor’s Pass. On the other side is Dingle.

Looking back to the coast where we just drove up from.

Up and up we go.

There’s a little waterfall with a little lake on top along the way.

My little mountain goat.

Beyond that ridge is the small lake.

The waterfall is constantly pouring out, I wonder what’s feeding this small lake so that it can constantly drain out water? There didn’t seem to be any streams that feeds into it.

Ready…

Jump! She made it.

Moss!!

OK, time to head down and then head back up some more in the car.

Tricky narrow one lane mountain pass with passing bubbles.

Eek! One lane mountain road with blind corners…

Almost to the top.

Made it to the top of the pass!!

Where we came from. You can see the road winding up the mountain.

From the same spot as the previous photo. We are heading to Dingle, which is located in the bay in the center of the photo.

Dingle town.

Found our B&B, on the quieter side of main street.

We got the only 3rd floor room, and this is the view out the window. You can see our car parked on the lower left corner.

Pretty sweet, ocean view from our room.

This is what $88 a night gets you in Dingle within a 5min walk into the very center of town.

The flowers survived the drive over here and are still blooming. Gotta stretch that 50 Euros as far as possible.

Giant room, decent sized bathroom, but still tiny shower. Our room also has one of those electric showers that are so popular here in Ireland. It says Mira Sport as the brand and model…What’s so Sport about it, that I don’t know…

We were really pooped after such a long 6 hour day on the road. Unpacked our stuff a little and both of us laid down on the bed and immediately fell asleep. Couple hours of sleep later, we decided to head out for some dinner.

Kegs just sitting on the side of the road. They like to drink here, just like the Germans.

This place will do. There was a busier pub, but we are still tired and wanted something quieter.

Guiness beef pie, hearty! Decided not to head out after dinner to a pub for Irish music, too tired for that.

Some of the bars here in Dingle are one thing in the day time, and another in the night time. This place is a hardware store by day, and bar by night.

Ahhh yes, ice cream!!! So tired, must go home and sleep.

To be continued at Dingle Day 2.