I woke up at 6:55 a.m. Since I was feeling somewhat congested again, I decided to have a smaller breakfast today (a sunny-side up egg, a piece of white toast and a sausage with coffee and some small glasses of apple and orange juice); I couldn’t help but notice how convenient that was, since the Greenhills’ offerings were definitely more modest (though the quality of what they had was still quite good).
Our bus departed at 8:12 a.m., taking a quick detour through Limerick so Jill could inform us about some of its history. Examples include how it was founded by Vikings, who were later driven out by King Brian Boru, but was then conquered by the Anglo-Normans; that it was the sight of a great battle between William of Orange (a.k.a. William III) and Patrick Sarsfield, giving it the nickname “City of the Broken Treaty;” and that during the time of the Famine, the citizens were paid by the government to build walls around the nobility’s properties (known as penny walls) which still stand to this day.
Not to be confused with this kind of penny, which itself is serving as a wall.
The first stop on our drive today were the Cliffs of Moher, which had a neat little visitors’ center showcasing the various wildlife that lived there; for those that felt particularly daring, there was also the opening to a footpath along these cliffs that connected with the village of Doolin (travel time approximately 4-5 hours).
As we left the cliffs, we had an excellent view of the nearby beaches (all of which are publicly-owned) and briefly stopped at a small town. This turned to be good timing, as I was in sore need of sinus relief pills; since I wasn’t familiar with what brands were popular here, I picked up several boxes and bottles of nasal relief from the town pharmacy (known over there as a “chemist”).
Our tour bus barely made the 1 pm ferry leaving County Clare for County Kerry. It had been a long time since I had been on a ferry large enough to transport cars, let alone buses and/or trucks (all of which were on this one).
After our coach departed the ferry, we stopped at a spot overlooking Killarney Valley and the Lake of Learning at 2:45 p.m. for a group photo, followed by a stop at roadside store for some Irish coffee.
For those wondering, the lake is named such because it was supposedly the place where Brian Boru (who’s kind of a big deal in Irish history) was educated as a youth by monks. We were also told that this area was where this guy spent his youth as well.
After driving through more countryside, we arrived at the Killarney International Hotel at roughly 3:45 p.m. Unlike the previous two, this hotel was smack-dab in the middle of the downtown area. What was even more of a surprise was the room itself, easily being the smallest one I’ve stayed in so far, in addition to the hallways leading to it being the longest and narrowest.
After resting for an hour or so I went to the day’s optional event, a céilí with some local musicians and dancers at Muckross House & Gardens (formerly owned by a noble family, but given to the public so long as they maintain it as it was when the family left in the early 1900s).
For those of you wondering what a “céilí” is, it’s essentially a gathering of at least 10 people where music and dancing is played. The last time I had participated in one of these was back in my college days, specifically with the Fordham Gaelic Society. Despite all of us giving it our all for them, it just couldn’t compare to an actual Irish one like tonight’s.
It started off in a schoolroom, replete with plenty of old items that would have been used back then as teaching aids (some maps, some chalkboards, a globe, etc.). One of the hosts gave us a brief lesson on how to properly pronounce some Gaelic idioms, and also told us about how most schoolhouses had a fireplace near the teacher’s desk which would be used during the day for warmth.
Following that, everyone went to the dining/assembly area, where we were greeted by the three musicians for the night (a guitarist/singer, a fiddler, and an accordionist); later two step-dancers performed a medley of some styles. At three different points in the night we were asked for volunteers – one for a step-dance style that incorporates brooms, one for a playing a hand drum known as a “bodhrán,” and finally to hold the lyrics to a song refrain (a la Bob Dylan’s video for Subterranean Homesick Blues (and/or the parody of it by Weird Al Yankovic simply titled Bob)) so we could sing along. While all of this this was going on we had our meals, which consisted of a bacon-topped salad for the appetizer, a plate of bacon with a side of turnips and mashed potatoes with cabbage inside it for dinner, and for dessert was an apple tart (my drinks were a glass of Chilean wine for the meal and tea for dessert).
The céilí concluded at 8:40 pm, with us promptly returning back to the hotel. As it was still nice outside, I decided to go for a walk around the area, occasionally popping my head into a few of the stores that were still open.
At the very least, it does feel nice knowing I won’t have to worry about packing all of my luggage up tomorrow morning, hopefully meaning there will be less of a rush in the morning to meet up with the group for tomorrow’s excursion.
Random Doesnt Even Begin To Describe It 