My two sisters and I are taking our first vacation together!

The flight from Boston to Shannon was uneventful. We landed right on schedule at 6 am. Food was fine (the chocolate pudding/mousse dessert was delicious!) I got a few hours sleep. I am, however, very envious of the legroom in business class. My poor knees were rather jammed…maybe next time…

Passport control was very easy, it took longer to walk through the empty crowd control lines than it did to talk to the immigration official. I am now the proud owner of two Ireland stamps!

Our original plan was to rely on public transportation and hired tours, but arriving early Sunday morning and needing place to drop luggage made getting a car work better. I was even able to rebook at a lower rate when prices recently dropped. At the counter, we were upgraded to Rav-4 (mini SUV.) Good news: it’s a hybrid — petrol is very expensive and the exchange rate is not in our favor! Bad news: it’s a bigger car, so a bit harder to manage on those little tiny roads.

We left the Shannon Airport and made our way towards Doolin. I checked the map to make sure we were staying on larger roads. We parked and walked around the dock area, with great views of the Cliffs of Moher, Inisheer, and Galway Bay. The waters were much calmer than our visit last year! We carefully picked our way across the huge, mostly buried limestones, a major geographic feature of the Burren.

We then took a quick walk through the typically quaint Doolin village, and had breakfast at Gus O’Connor’s Pub. It was easy to picture a large crowd listening to traditional music. The food was delicious. There were a few lads hanging around starting at 10 am, and yes, there was a pint or two on the bar.

Our next stop was Poulnabrone, a 5000 year old portal tomb. It had been one of my favorite spots on my prior visit. Cindy remarked that I had snuck in a museum…when I mildly protested “but we are outside”, she countered with “If there is something we have to stop and read, that means it’s a museum.” We have had a good natured debate about how many museums I’m allowed on this trip; I may have already reached my limit!

Next stop was Kilmacduagh, well preserved ruins of a monetary formed in the 7th century. Last year, we stopped and took a few quick photos — we were already running behind schedule for the ferry so we didn’t walk around. Today, we ambled around the grounds for a while. I’m partial to old cemeteries, I love to think about and remember those buried there. This cemetery was particularly interesting. There were a large number of plots which were beautifully decorated and well tended, often in memory of people who had died decades earlier. There were even monuments to people who had been buried elsewhere. There were also very recent burials, including two from about six weeks ago. A fascinating combination of old and new.

After a false start, we finally had directions that would get us on the highway for the rest of the trip to Galway. The small roads are indeed picturesque, but after little sleep and driving on the wrong side (and a near miss with a very large tour coach — their fault, not mine!), I was more than ready to drive an easier route.

While waiting for the Airbnb to be ready, we stopped by a pub in the Latin Quarter and the Quays Bar for beverage, snack, and people watching. The sun was out and people filled the streets.

For dinner, we head back to the Latin Quarter and at Busker Brownes. I had the requisite fish and chips. It finally started raining on the walk back to the AirBnb, but we were inside before it too bad.

It’s now almost time for me to go to bed. I’ve been up about 30 hours, with a five hour time change and huge expense of mental energy on driving.