Dublin to Doolin, camping with the girls
Okay, where were we, distilling. From there, we went to Clonmacnoise which is a really old monastery set up by St. Kieran who was the second most popular missionary in Ireland. Most popular being St. Patrick of course since he converted the most people. From there, we entered the Burren which is a stretch of land named for the Gaelic word meaning barren and it is. It’s basically all limestone rock with grass growing up between the stones. It’s a very dynamic looking landscape. It’s like a huge kitchen with stone floors. In this barren place, we went to an ancient tomb which is marked by some balanced stones which look like the thinner version of one of the Stonehenge stones. Apparently in this barren place, between the cracks in the rock all types of plants grow, from arctic and alpine to Mediterranean, pretty crazy huh?
We stopped in a place called Gort to get some lunch and my nerdiness couldn’t help but say “Clattu baratta nikto” every time someone said Gort. On the way, James, our guide talked ALOT about different things and then played some Irish music including the song Lisdoonvarna which is extremely catchy and was stuck in our heads the rest of the day. It’s about the town we were passing through where they hold an annual match making festival. The ratio of men to women in Ireland is 3 to one, so they’re not too happy about that. There’s a particular county called Kerry where the ratio is the worst and it also has the highest suicide rate of any other county. That’s what happens when you can’t get no lovin.
We stopped in Doolin for the night which held a place called McGann’s that James boasted was the best Irish lamb stew in the world and I have to agree with him on this one. It was excellent! The best stew I’ve ever had! Truly. I ate the rest of other’s as well, I didn’t want it to end. And of course had a couple of pints of Guinness. That’s good stuff that Guinness, only beer I will drink and actually like. I drank more beer on this trip then I think I ever have. The drawback of this is that typically on these trips I lose weight, but on this one I think I’ve actually gained weight. I’ve got like a little beer belly going on. it’s terrible!! No more drinking for me for a while. Oye.
Anyway, we noticed on the way in that there was a huge bonfire being prepared next to a bridge and was set to be lit at 10:30 so we all left the pub with our drinks and wondered over to the bridge. Even though only about 100 people live in this tiny little town, there were at least 4 times that out there watching this huge blaze. It was quite hot too. Every once and a while, they’d throw in a sofa or what have you. While there I ran into to girls, Starin, an American, and Rebel, an Australian, yeah I know interesting names.
Anyway, we got to talking and then two Irishmen come up to them and they seriously look like they’re kids, but they start trying to hit on them in these nearly unperceivable thick accents. Rebel says, “what are you 12?” and they didn’t like that at all but were ever persistent. We all had a good laugh.
Oh, I almost forgot, I had asked James if there was a place at the hostel in Doolin where I could set up my tent. He looked at me like I was crazy but would call anyway. We got there and he said I could put my tent up in the back for 4 euro less. So I said okay. He thought I was a fecking cheapskate, which by the way apparently “fecking” isn’t a bad word and was allowed by the tourist company and he liked to say it ALOT!
Anyway, he made fun of me for it and I told him you watch, there’ll be a party in that tent tonight! So back to the bonfire, I told these two girls, Rebel and Starin, about my tent and they thought it was hilarious and I invited them back to the tent for cards. They agreed, so it was me, Rebel and Starin, Kelly and Natalie from the tour all in the tent playing cards till 2am. It was awesome.
Oap, I’ve just been informed that chicken is ready, so I must go. Will update more later.