It's 5:30 and its dark outside

I dont understand why Ireland does the time change for daylight savings time. It doesnt save daylight. Now it gets dark at 5:30 and its light early in the morning. Who cares if its light in the morning. I kind of liked going to work with the stars still out, haha.

Last weekend Menno and I went to the west coast of Ireland. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get there from the east coast. It is crazy that you can cross the the whole country in 3 1/2 hours. That is about the distance that I drove from school to home! We took the 7 am bus on saturday to Galway- arrived around 10:30. Then took the bus to the Galway airport to pick up our rental car. We rented for 2 days and it was 98 eauros. At first I thought that was a lot, but it was worth it. You cant really see the countryside and do it at your own pace without a car. The only other way is catching bus after bus with a bunch of tourists and doing things on a schedule. After we picked up our car we drove down the coast to Doolin. Doolin is a town of about 200 residents, known for their traditional irish music. It is pretty much out in the middle of nowhere- but nowhere was beautiful! It was the first time I had really seen the irish countryside. It was neat to see the countryside change as we drove along. It was great to be out of the city- It was starting to cramp me. In doolin we stayed at the Aille river Hostel. I had never stayed in a hostel before but it wasnt too bad. Next time i will remember to bring my flip flops for the shower thought. Nothing i hate more than hair in the shower! It was 13.50 each night, so that was really cheap. It was right on the river in a beautiful location.

Saturday night we went to one of the three pubs and got some food and some drinks. I cant say that the food was really good. I got the baked cod and it was tasteless and like rubber. Menno had the irish stew and it was more like a thin soup with a few chunks in it. The apple crumble was great though!

Sunday morning we got up rather early and headed out. Then when we got at the restaurant we noticed that it was a lot earlier then we thought. It was nice to have the change of time on that day. We ate breakfast at this place called Marios. I had the french toast with bacon and juice. Best bacon i have ever tasted and it was all i could drink juice- had three glasses ;) From there we headed on down the coast. First stop, Cliffs of Moher. It was absolutely beautiful. We got there early so there were not too many tourists there. I dont think i would of liked it as much if there were tons of people up there. The wind was blowing really hard- the hardest wind i have ever felt. So strong it would blow you off the cliff. Some idiots were climbing over the wall to get closer to the edge to take pictures. sheesh. what people will do to get a picture.

After leaving the cliffs we drove farther down the coast. At this time it started to rain. The weather in Ireland is really unpredicitable. In the mornings it is usually ok. Mid afternoon it is rain and then by the end of the day it has cleared up. That is a TYPICAL day, the other days are just rain, lol. We stopped a few places on the drive down the coast. Stopped in Ennistimon and took pictures of the river and got some coffee at a little coffee shop. Took a different route back to Doolin b/c we didnt want to take the same route as we took down. Came back and took a short nap b/c i knew we would be going to another one of the pubs that night. We left around nine to the pub. This pub i liked much better. The band had allready started playing and it wasnts packed like the pub from the night before. Menno met a south african at the bar and he invited us to sit with him and his wife. So we sat and talked with them, had a few drinks and watched the irish band. They were really friendly, even bought us drinks. Well, only had two...b/c that is pretty much my limit. Tried to get me to take some tequilla but i refused, ha. The irish band was good. There was this guy that was playing two rib bones-it was amazing how he slapped those things together to make a tune. It's funny watching irish bands b/c most of the time they have no expression on their faces when they play, lol. We stayed till a little after 12 and walked back to the hostel.

The next morning we got up, had some breakfast and headed out. Went to the Doolin pier and then headed out of town back to Galway to drop off the car. Went to the shooping center and to eat, dropped off the car and caught the bus. The traffic was horrible so it took us an extra 45 mins to get home.

I really wanted to write in more detail about my trip but i am rushed as usual. My time is about to be up and I want to save this before the internet cuts me off. I am going to buy more time and post some pictures under this entry.

ta ta for now!


This little girl is awesome! Saw her in Kilvara and got menno to take a picture of her real quick.


Me outside the Aille River Hostel with the local cat.


The Cliffs of Moher.


Picture of me at the top of O'Briens tower at the Cliff's of Moher.


Me at the Burren cliffs on the road to Doolin.


River in Ennistimon.


The irish band we saw the 2nd night in Doolin.


Picture of me and Menno that night at the pub ;)

if you want to see a few more pictures, then go to Menno's journal. It also shows the route that we traveled just last weekend!