Well, what have we been up to today?
Back to an early start...we had to be on the bus by 8:00am as we had few things to get through today.
Our first stop was in the small village of Killbeggan. It has the oldest liscensed distillery in Ireland. We arrived about 9:30 am and Nigel (our tour director) told us that he had a treat for morning tea. Now, I have started to enjoy a bit more alcohol, but 9:30 in the morning is going a bit too far...oh wait, he's wasn't offering whiskey he was offering a cup and tea and a cake...that's more British than Irish.
Nevertheless, tea was probably a more sensible option. They make a good cup of tea at Killbeggan Distillery...who would have thought. After our short stop we were back the bus heading for Galway. We passed through lots of lovely country lined with the traditional stone fences.
When we got to Galway we were taken on a short bus tour around the town. We saw people fishing in (and I do mean in) the river. Nigel said he wanted to take us pass Hooker Square. They celebrate the hooker in Galway, they even have a festival for them. When we got to Hooker Square Nigel was very disppointed, there were no hookers. Apparently a hooker is a boat...you learn something new every day.
Galway is one of those towns you get to and just want to spend time exploring. It has lots of quaint houses and quirky streets. Although, they are not very imaginative when it comes to naming those streets. The main street where all of the shops are is called "Shop Street". I wonder how much time the spent coming up with that name? I took a photo of our lunch receipt to prove it really is Shop Street.
The name of the street doesn't live up to the vibrancy of it when you walk down. It's very busy with a huge variety of stores and interesting buildings. It's seems to be a favourite hang-out for buskers. Some of them were very talented.
After lunch we headed across limestone landscape to the Cliffs of Moher. These cliffs are 700 feet high and are quite spectacular. There were people everywhere it reminded me of the Great Ocean Road's Twelve Apostles. It was a long and winding road (have you started singing yet?) up to the cliffs but it was worth it when you got there. It's very commercialised but you can't overshadow the beauty of the landscape.
Our evenings entertainment was a medievil banquet. It was held in Knappogue Castle which is a tower house built in 1467 and extended in the mid 19th century. We were greeted at the door by the butler and the ladies of the manor. Inside we were offered a glass of mead (an sweet honey flavoured wine) in a very dark foyer that smelled of old fireplace smoke. When we finished our mead we were lead into the banquet hall where we were served a simple but delicious meal. It something like I would cook at home and came along just when I was longing for a home cooked meal. The entertainment was also great with traditional medievil entertainment. The girls voices were very sweet and beautiful. The whole night was an unexpected surprisel
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