Salthill Caravan Park Galway

... and "consume" in the western world ... but it perhaps more importantly it left me with a sense of hope that humanity can find a way for itself that will work ... the people I met last time seemed so much happier without all the trappings of consumer societies in the West ... but at the same time they deserve better than we give them ... my big fear is we turn them into more of us consumers, parasitic creatures with no respect ...

... ahead a ways, to see if we could find an alternative place to park. Sure enough, probably a little less than a kilometer away, I found a place to park, on a turn in the road, where there was actually a shoulder (most of the road had no shoulders). And sure enough, after the walked to the cliffs, we were rewarded with...fog. We couldn't see any of the cliffs. We were a bit disappointed, but at least we weren't one of the many people to pay to see fog! Also, at ...

... the Arts Festival. They are called the Firebirds and they have these motorized “flying” machines. We only caught the last 5 minutes of the performance. Yet, I’m glad we saw it because it was like nothing I had ever seen. Unfortunately my pictures did not come out because it was just too dark at that point. I headed home, a tired girl, and went to bed after working a bit more on my paper.

... This location seemed to indicate a lookout for ships that might invade the island. The hike down was much easier and we had a couple minutes until the bus left, so we went in to more of the shops. There were some friendly horses that were greeting all of the tourists near the buses. The next stop on the bus tour was a small, old cemetary that had sweeping views of the ocean.
After the bus tour, we had ...

... we decided to go to another part of town we heard about called Salt hill. Salt hill is right by the rocky coast and has a view of Connemara from the shores. We walked up and down the coastal walkway. There were a lot of people playing with their dogs and even one person swimming in the dreadfully cold waters! We had a ice cream cone and just relaxed by the sea. After Salt hill, we headed back to the hotel in prepped for the next day- Aran Islands!

Today was our drive from Killarney to the small coastal town of Doolin. The first stop was the Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. The Bunratty Castle was established in the 900's as a Viking settlement and had passed through many prominent lords over the centuries. The park is now set up to mirror how the Irish lived during the previous ages and the grounds have small thatched cottages, a schoolhouse, church, and the castle itself. The park ...

... was ready for bed that night!

After hearing so much about the Cliffs of Moher they didn’t disappoint. To get there we drove through an area known as the Burren, arriving after a beautiful hour and a half drive. The views were astonishing from the cliffs. People were laying down and leaning over the edge. We decided we didn’t want to have to cut the trip short with one less member of our family so ...

... matter of factly/seriously to us- the STI clinic- well you walk outside you walk to the carpark TO THE CAR PARK 9now I am thinking she is like yeah ahha go stand in the car park you freaks - because this is Ireland and NO ONE talks about serious stuff here!) but then she went on that we would then have to cross a bridge kind of walkway then look to our left and there would be a bungalow- but she was talking so weirdly i was not paying attention ...

... 3. Alana and I stumbled back to her house and passed out! the next day we woke up early had chocolate cake for breakfast then went and had crepes!!!! SO that was Christmas!!! I think a lot more happened but you will see in the pictures!!!! OH and I forgot to mention the presents I brought for Rav and Dave! I bought them PJ's!!!!! As we all know you need to have new PJ's for Christmas night!!!!! They LOVED them! Dave especially!!! Haha

... colour is lit from within--especially green. Though that may be because I already know Ireland is supposed to be very green.) It's late evening now. Time to let the weariness overtake me. As I've been writing, I've slowly realized that what I thought was howling wind is actually waves on the shore just across the road. They sound fierce, unsettled, but even so, this place seems much less forsaken if it's not the wind. I've never slept to the sound of waves ...