Ireland: Day Two

Day Two in Ireland is our travel day. Janet and I had a little too much fun relaxing during our breakfast, so we were dashing to the tram to get to the train station. We made it with 15 minutes to spare. Both of us were a little stressed, but happy that we made the train.
I have nothing but praise for the public transportation in Ireland - safe, clean, on time, and very reasonably priced!
We enjoyed our table on the train and while we took in the scenery, we had some tea (first time I tried it with milk) and I taught Janet how to play Phase 10.
Many of the signs in Ireland are in both English and Celtic. Admittedly, I was a little shocked to still see that language used so prominently.

Our first leg of our journey was a train trip from Dublin to Galway. In Galway, we had a little break to grab some lunch at Skeff Restaurant. That is where Janet and I found Bulmers Cider. Little note: Magner's Cider is the American version of Bulmers...but like Guinness, Bulmers definitely tastes better in Ireland. Another thing I learned, that Corned Beef and Cabbage is called Bacon and Cabbage in Ireland, and it is delicious!

The next leg of our journey took us along the curving and hilly west coast of Ireland. I was very thankful for the bus driver navigating the road!

And we finally arrived in Doolin and checked in to Daly's House - our B&B for the night. Here is a view from the backyard and the little 500 person town of Doolin. Susan was the most hospitable hostess and greeted us with hot chocolate and Bailey's. I sure appreciated that refreshment as we had hiked up the lane to their home. (OK, it really wasn't that bad...it was worse later that night when there were no streetlights and we had to look at the stars to get back home. Note for future travelers - bring a flashlight.)

While Doolin is a small town, they have 3 very fun pubs and Janet and I walked to all of them. Now, keep in mind there are no sidewalks, so we were sharing the road with cars...little tricky. It's a good thing we did the pub crawl in the daylight hours!

I'm sure this guy was thinking, "Freakin Tourist!"
McDermott's Pub was a nice little joint with many US police squad patches on their walls. (I guess that's the thing to do.) McGann's pub was a little intimidating, as we came across a bachelor party, or stag party, as they call them in Ireland. Way too much energy there. And we finally settled in at O'Connor's for a meal and some trad (traditional Irish music).

And Janet and I were deciding just which way we should go on our walk about town.

Click here for more photos from Day Two in Ireland.

PS - Should I go back to Ireland again, I would plan to stay 2 nights in Doolin to allow more time to visit Cliffs of Moher, Aran Islands and The Burren.