Post 1: Arrival, Cilffs of Moher and the Burren

Sunday June 5, 2011
This group is fabulous! After meeting up (all on time, by the way) at Charleston airport, we sat at our gate and chatted for the two hours before our departure. We left on time for Newark and arrived there in perfect time for our 5-hour layover. We all went straight off to find lunch, since our previous flight had not even given us pretzels along with our “beverage service.” I tell ya, airplane food really is going downhill. After eating, Maggie, Drew, Charles and Charlie decided it would be either incredibly ironic or awesomely fitting to spend some time at the “authentic” Irish pub close to our gate. We had pints (except for me, of course. I had a Jack & Coke) and sat there for the next 2 hours, chatting about James Joyce and other such literature-enthusiast things, until the rest of the group drifted in and we finally meandered down to our gate. After another hour or so of waiting, we found out our plane had “a slight mechanical problem” which thankfully only delayed us 30 minutes or so.
The plane is rather smaller than I really like for such long flights with only 3 seats on either side of the central isle but it could’ve definitely been worse – like the 2-seat-by-1-seat-er we had from Charleston to Newark. I shall indeed count my blessings.
I’ve been trying to keep a migraine under wraps since we landed in Newark but I seem to be fighting a losing battle, so I will rely on my Tylenol PM and the next 7 hours of (hopefully!) sleeping to knock it out. I do not relish the idea of arriving in Ireland feeling crappy!
I think dinner has arrived! I’m off to eat and pop my sleep-maker.

Monday, June 06, 2011
Well, the sleep-maker did not work its magic. I dozed fitfully for only about an hour before we arrived in Shannon around 7:20 am so I am rather...out of it. We all got through customs smoothly and met our bus driver-slash-tour guide extraordinaire for the next 8 days, Nigel. We hoped into our private bus (which is big enough for us to all have our own row; an incredible luxury after the 7 hours in the squashy plane), and we off to the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland. These stunning basalt and sandstone cliffs soar over 600 feet into the air from the sea. They were featured in both the Princess Bride movie as the “Cliffs of Insanity” and (we think) in Harry Potter 6 as the cave where Voldemort has hidden the locket horcrux (and yes, we realize that knowing that definitely designates us as dorks). The cliffs were spectacular. I kept thinking that it was so sad that so many people would never see them in their lives, and how incredibly fortunate I am. It’s easy to imagine Cuhulain and the Tuatha de Danaan who figure so prominently in Irish myth standing in this same place, seeing the same rugged, sweeping, majestic beauty that I am. After the cliffs, we bussed to a place called the Burren, coming from the Irish word meaning “rocky place” (or something pretty darn close to that). It’s a rugged deposit of limestone that used to make up the seafloor when the oceans were much higher. It’s a lonely, wild place with striated deposits of rock jutting out of the ground and going right up to the present-day shore line, where it plunges down cliffs again (though not as far a plunge as Moher). At this point, Nigel took us all to a real Irish pub called “The Irish Arms” since we were all starved by this time. We had a fabulous time there enjoying soup, bangers and mash, fish and chips and, of course, Guinness.
Now, back at our lovely hotel (with free wireless!) we are all struggling to stay awake until at least 7 o’clock to get on the right time schedule. I think the boys gave in a took a nap so they can go out tonight, but I really don’t think that will be on my agenda. For tonight at least…
P.S. If I figure out how to post pictures to the blog, I will, but if I can’t, refer to my facebook page for pics of each day’s adventures.
P.S.S I do apologize for this rather boring post. My brain is still reallllly foggy. I do hope to safely say that the quality will go up from here on out :)