Ballyvara House Doolin

... 30th.<br><br>Next I'll spend 3 weeks in New Zealand, mostly on the South Island, and fly from Auckland to LA on May 22nd. <br><br>After a final 3 weeks in America I will fly from New York to London on June 17th.<br><br>I have bought and scrounged everything I need to take, and I have typed up more notes than I can handle. I'm very excited to finally be so close to going, after years of planning and hoping!! <br><br>My next post will be from India!!!<br>

... cliffs. If the height isn't awe-inspiring enough, the proximity in which you can approach the edge is. Walking along the edge has proven to be one of the most outrageous things I have done to this day. You litearlly walk along this cliff edge and look down only to see a complete vertical drop to the ocean. Most of it is fenced off, but there is a certain area that those who are willing enough can cross over and hike their way ...

... Breakfast everywhere in this overly expensive country is 10 euros alone, so why not get the mini luxury of a B and B, privacy, cleanliness, and hospitality and catering...all for in reality, 10 euros! We went to the first place we saw, got a price, and bartered the sweet old man down 10 euros each. Beautiful breakfast in the morning included. <br><br>So it wouldnt be a normal day if we didnt get lost for minimum an hour in Ireland ...

... the national history museum in the morning and the Guinness museum in the evening was a very interesting contrast. I think I'm getting old...I almost enjoyed the former more. Maybe that's just because it was free :)<br><br>After the Guinness tour, it was about 7pm so we decided to try to find dinner. I've never really realized that I've adapted to Spanish culture until that point. We were out, wandering around trying to find ...

... the carlsbad caverns, but i guess thats me just being spoiled. Then we went on to the Cliffs of Moher and what a beautiful site! I have to say that we could not have picked a more perfect day! It was a bit cloudy when we first got there but the sun came out quickly and It was absoloutly gorgeous. In Palos Verdes we have alot of cliffs, but they really have nothing on these bad boys. They were absoloutly HUGE! (215 meters high to be exact) It was ...

... Early on our bicycle ride, we stopped to pet a dog that was roaming around by himself (not unusual on the island). The dog followed us up a hill to check out an old cemetery. When we were there, two more loose dogs ran up and tried to start a fight with the first dog. We broke up the would-be fight and got the two instigators to head home. After that, we had won a true friend! Our new dog friend followed us around the ...

... even singing old 80&#8217;s pop songs on deserted country roads to pass the time. It was a great trip.<br><br>One of the best parts of the holiday occurred in a place called Ennis. We had happened upon the town on a stopover on our way to Doolin. While there, we had eaten lunch, wandered aimlessly around town for a good cider/Guinness, and then, found ourselves in front of a beautiful church. We weren&#8217;t sure if we should go in at ...

... House and Restaurant was situated a few miles down the road on a cliff next to the Atlantic Ocean. Our room had a decent view of the ocean. There were even ruins of a castle situated on the property. Unfortunately, my mother was still sick and desperately needed to nap. <br><br> After a little rest and relaxation, we discovered a computer with internet access in a drafty room off of the bar in the labyrinth-like hotel ...

... older Irish man who happened to be headed to the same place that I was - O'Connells pub. Doolin is located in Clare, which is famous for its traditional Irish music. And traditional Irish music I got - it was fantastic! Hopefully I can get some of the videos uploaded (it's seriously prohibitively slow to upload to this site), so you can check it out. I got a cd too, so you can have a listen when I get back. I also ...

... this old in Ireland, especially since we missed Stonehenge while in England. Another time we stopped at an extremely old stone church that had a number of Celtic crosses in its graveyard. There was not a soul around except for a friendly Border Collie, chasing cars on the side of the road. We got out to pet the dog and as if she knew where we wanted to go, led us right to the church, waiting for us in ...