Ireland: Day 3 (Cliffs of Moher and Ashford Castle)

Getting out on the open road in a foreign country can be very liberating...for the driver at least.  For the passenger...it's merely hours of torture with frequent flinching, seat grabbing, and frantic air braking.  Both Michelle and I experienced both roles today in our road trip from Enniskerry, on the east coast of Ireland, to Ashford Castle, on the west coast of Ireland, by way of Limerick, the Cliffs of Moher, and Galway.

Tower at the Cliffs of Moher

As I mentioned before, driving here is very much an experience.  The roads are very narrow (often with walls or high curbs just off the shoulder), curvy, and at times bumpy.  The only saving grace is that the traffic is very light.  Most of our day today was spent on the roads.  The weather wasn't so great...rainy and foggy.  Hence, the pictures are few and mostly terrible. 

After leaving our hotel, we passed through Limerick on the way to the Cliffs of Moher. From what we could see driving through, there's not too much excitement in Limerick. Seemed like an industrial town. Kind of like dropping a mini-Pittsburgh in the middle of Ireland...not too appealing. Anyway, we sped through and headed over to the main attraction of the day, the famous Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs are by all accounts the top sight in Ireland. Unfortunately, the fog only got worse on the coast (go figure) and we were able to see next to nothing. The good news is...we have the pictures to prove it.

A beautiful day at the Cliffs of Moher

After the Cliffs, we drove up to Ashford Castle passing through Galway. Beautiful drive along the coast, from what we could see of it at least. The castle (where we're staying the night) is pretty sweet.  Hopefully we'll be able to get some good pictures of it tomorrow.  Unfortunately, the bell hop was able to wrangle my suitcases away from me on the way in...he ambushed us on the front steps.  This was quite disappointing because I was able to avoid the bell hop at the Ritz by crafting a careful entry and exit strategy, which consisted of multiple, randomly staggered trips back and forth to the car carrying one bag each time. Sheer brilliance. Perhaps I was too distracted by the moat to execute my plan at the castle.

Anyway, that's about all the excitement for today. Since I realize this one was kind of boring...I'll through in a little terminology I thought up the other day that you can use to spice up your next car ride. Michelle was driving in the left lane (slow lane here) and was passed by a car in the right lane.  She then sped up and passed the car back.  I decided to name this maneuver the "check raise."  Drawing from the poker maneuver in which a player "checks" or passes his turn to bet, his opponent bets, and the player then raises the bet...usually when he has a strong hand. Well...that might be more boring than our car ride, but there you have it.

Tomorrow, castle viewing in the morning then on to Northern Ireland in the afternoon.  Full pictures from today here.