- Getting to London, riding the HOHO, visiting the British Museum
- Avebury and special access tour to Stonehenge
- Day tour of London and afternoon tea at Claridge's
- Heading to Dublin and enjoying Irish folklore and music
- Galway City and Bunratty Castle Medieval Banquet
- Bunratty Village, Cliffs of Moher, return to Dublin
- The HOHO in Dublin, Guinness Storehouse, and return to the USA
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We got up Friday morning and went downstairs for breakfast. The tour description online didn't mention it was included, but perhaps it was assumed, as most fancy European hotels offer some kind of complimentary breakfast. It was a buffet set up in one of the hotel's banquet rooms, offering a selection of hot and cold items.
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After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and met up with the day tour at the Bunratty Castle entrance. The tour director asked if we had any luggage and was surprised that we only had backpacks!
An official guide showed us around Bunratty Castle. We saw many richly decorated rooms and even went up to the very top to get a panoramic view of the countryside.
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After the castle tour, we had free time to explore Bunratty Village. A few buildings had actors re-enacting daily activities, such as baking pies using a wood stove. The finished products were sold in a small cafe in the village.
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| beautiful lane |
After some time in the village and souvenir shopping, we boarded the bus and headed towards the Cliffs of Moher. Bottled water was complimentary on board. The tour director gave us some narration on the road, including a story about fairies that lived in certain trees and bushes, and how this superstition rerouted the highway we were traveling on!
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There was a lunch-time stop at O'Connor's pub in Doolin.
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| bangers and mash, very good |
After lunch, there was a little bit of time for souvenir shopping. We got back on the bus and drove a short distance to Doolin Point to see Crab Island before getting back on the main road.
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Shortly, we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher! Outside of the strong winds, the weather was clear and the skies were a perfect blue to provide contrast. No fog...what a blessing! The Cliffs of Moher was used as a location for several films (such as Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, The Princess Bride's Cliffs of Insanity), so if you feel like you've seen them before, you probably have.
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| the Cliffs of Moher |
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We peeked inside the visitor's center; it was filled with exhibits that would be interesting for school fieldtrips. There was a cafe for refreshments and an official souvenir store. Outside the visitor center, there were independent shops built into the surrounding hill.
Back on the bus, we drove around The Burren, filled with lunar-like landscape. We also passed by a town called Lisdoonvarna, with a claim to fame of holding a month-long matchmaking festival every September, visited by tens of thousands of people looking for love.
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| cool to see medieval towers just pop out of the landscape |
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| looking for love? |
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| if you lived here, you'd tell your friends "my house is right next to an ancient castle" |
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We returned to Galway City train station, where we bought some sandwiches for dinner on the train back to Dublin. The overnight tour to Bunratty Castle, the banquet, and visiting Cliffs of Moher was great for the limited time we had, as we got to experience a lot in two days.
Arriving in Dublin, it was starting to get dark. We took the LUAS back to the Celtic Lodge Guesthouse with no problem at all. Our bags were still at the hotel. :) That night, we dropped by the Celt pub again for a few beers (this time I joined as well). It was pretty crowded with no open tables.
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| ticket vending machine |
Tomorrow, we hop on the HOHO bus to see the city and also visit the Guinness Storehouse - aka the "mothership"!
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If you missed any of the segments of this trip so far, refer to the links in the Trip Index at the top of this page. Thanks for reading!
