Home is where the Navy sends you...: Killarney to Galway

This morning it was up and at 'em for our trip to Galway. As we drove along the coast, Mel kept asking me if I wanted to stop and take a swim in the ocean, 14 degrees Centigrade, that would be about 57 degrees Farenheit. Yeah...no thank you.

Here are some crazies, swimming in the ocean.

Our first major stop was Lahinch, yes, a Golf course. Apparently it's world renowned. The guy who took the picture below was an American who's been coming since the '70's and is a member. My dad was practically green with envy.

Not too sound like a snob, but the clubhouse amenities weren't as nice as the country club my parents belong to. But I guess they spend their money on what matters most, the course.

Family at Lahinch.

Dad, with the course behind him.

The green/fairway.

After Lahinch, we drove past and stopped at a memorial for St. Brigid. Apparently, other than St. Patrick, she is the bomb diggity saint in Ireland. In the picture below, you can see a white wall with an opening in it. If you walked inside it was like a little cave, where people would put mementos of loved ones lost, candles, rosaries, etc.

On the other side of the road, is a monument to and the grave of Cornelius O'Brien. Good old Uncle Corney decided to build O'Brien's Castle at the Cliffs of Moher (pictures farther down). And built this little statue in memory of himself, he also wrote his own epitaph. He was, humble, if nothing else...

'Sup Uncle Cornelius?

We then made the drive over to the Cliffs of Moher. They have a visitors center you can walk through before hiking up the Cliffs. It explains how the continents shifted, resulting in the formation of our current continental set-up. And how, with sea levels rising, and more shifting the eastern/southern half of Ireland will be under water in 150 years. Hopefully the inhabitants of that area get the memo. It also had a 3D video of the animals/birds that live in and around the Cliffs, and you know our family, can't resist watching cute animals swim/fly around.

After touring the visitors center, we made our way to the main attraction.

Family at the Cliffs of Moher

So pretty

O'Brien's Castle

I wanted to go up to the top of O'Brien's castle, but that required 2 Euro (which I did not have). I tried the whole "can I get a family discount?" the guy looked at me like an idiot and sent me on my way. I'm sure he gets that all the time...

My attempt at doing some National Geographic work

I mean, how pretty! Good work Mother Nature!

On our way to Galway from the Cliffs of Moher, we drove past the Benbulbin. Now, I don't know if there is a secret Irish name for this but Mel kept calling it "The Burn" or at least that's what I thought he was saying. Apparently I need to work on interrupting my Irish accent...he also referred to it as "that God Damn rock" - so I just rolled with that.

We also stopped to take a look at St. Brigid's Well. I told you, they love them some St. Brigid. Looking at that Wikipedia page, I feel like I didn't do it any justice. Mel literally pulled the car over on the (wrong) side of the road and we just stared at it for a minute and then drove off. He didn't explain what a big deal the well seems to be, sorry St. Brigid!

St. Brigid's well.

We made it to Galway in the mid-afternoon. My mom decided to take a nap while my Dad and I took a walk around the city and scoped out our options for dinner.

After our little walk, we got back to the hotel for enough time to power nap and then head to dinner. After dinner, we decided to walk down the pedestrian/shopping street. We wanted to figure out our options for the next day's shopping spree and have a plan of action mapped out.

Also, I found a real life no kidding European gelato place. I cannot even begin to describe my excitement. I went to look at their flavors and my heart stopped beating. They have "After Eight" - which is basically mint chocolate chip but 1,000 times better. I hadn't had any since Italy 2006. Then I saw that they had Nutella flavored too...I, may or may not, have done a little happy jig right there in the gelato place.