We were ready to leave Kilkee early, but Brunhilda had told us last night that 8 was too early for breakfast (which I suppose makes sense since she was hanging out in the pub until late) and could we make it 8:30? We said sure; we were afraid not to acquiesce. At 8:30 we were sitting in the dining area, which had a lovely view of the water, and Brunhilda came to take our orders. I think I had the full Irish breakfast again, but I'm not sure. Eggs, bacon, toast, tea, something like that. Suddenly, Mary brought our food. There was no sign of Brunhilda. All we wanted to do was eat and go at that point, but now she was chatty and friendly and wanted to hear about our honeymoon and what we thought of Ireland, and were we coming back...it was awkward.
After breakfast we were on the road, headed for the Cliffs of Moher. It was about an hour north, along the coast. Pretty drive, and it was looking like a nice day, if a bit chilly. Somewhere before the Cliffs we encountered only our second tour bus of the trip. Unfortunately we were stuck behind it on a narrow winding road and it was going slow. Very slow. Luckily we weren't behind it long. I think it stopped at some touristy gift shop and we continued to the cliffs.
The Cliffs of Moher are beautiful. Also very windy. So if you go in November, it's QUITE COLD. And because of the wind, the surf is blown up over the cliffs and onto the walkway, so you can easily become QUITE WET. I insisted that we walk out to the little observation point (and tower, though the tower was closed that day), which meant walking through the surf. The tower is on the edge(ish) of the cliff, and back behind it, if you follow the coastline, it looks like the maintenance ends. There's a muddy lot with a feeble fence, and on it is a sign for the suicide hotline. So yeah, that was fun. We walked from end to end of the (available) cliffs, then headed back to the giftshop to warm up. There was also a movie in the visitors center that made it seem like you were flying above the cliffs. Or that was what it was supposed to do anyway. It didn't, but it was pretty anyway, and the key point here is that is was warm. We dallied in the giftshop for a while but even though it was our last full day and I was becoming frantic about buying souvenirs, I was still unable to commit and left without buying anything.
We got finished seeing the Cliffs fairly early, and James wanted to drive to Shannon, where we had our last overnight before flying out the next morning. He figured we could get our shopping done, as Shannon must be a bustling town since it has an international airport. (We were still very naive, even after almost a week in Ireland.)
On the way to Shannon, we drove through the Burren, a national park where the ground is basically made of rock (technically limestone, I think). It was amazing to see. And there were rock walls everywhere. We wondered when they were from and marvelled at how hard it must have been to make. From my handy guidebook, I learned that there was an ancient portal tomb, the Poulnabrone Dolmen, was in the middle of the Burren, just off the road we were on, so we stopped and had a look. It is mind-blowing to think about how old it is.
The interesting thing about our destination for the evening, Shannon, was that we had nowhere to stay. I had put James in charge of B&Bs for the week, with very strong suggestions about where I wanted to stay, and he had gotten everything arranged, except none of the places in Shannon had responded to him. We realized this a few days into our trip, and had used our downtime in the evenings to email other B&Bs. NONE of them responded. We had a B&B guide, and it was the offseason, so we weren't too worried.
And we got VERY lucky. James saw a picture of one of the B&Bs in the guidebook that was an aerial shot and looked like a castle. He wanted to stay there. However, we had no idea where to find it. He pulled into a gas station and the lady behind the counter said to him, "You're looking for Kells, aren't you?" In retrospect, we weren't THAT close, so it shouldn't have been obvious, but we got directions and were on our way. They had a room for the night, and it was easily the best place we stayed. The owners, Ron & Pauline, were delightful and welcoming. (I know I sound like a travel review, but it's true!) The house was great and had been custom built. I think he said it was completed in 2000. They had turned it into a B&B once their kids left home. It was mid-afternoon, but we hadn't had lunch yet, and Ron recommended the Weaver's Inn, just down the street. There was another couple who had just checked in, and that's where they were going, so we headed out to follow them.
We ended up having lunch with the other couple, they were older, retired and living in San Francisco. It was their second time in Ireland, and their second time at this B&B. They were shocked that we had showed up without a reservation and said how lucky we were to have found the place. We had a really nice time with them, and the food was outstanding. They had traditional pub fare as well as Indonesian food. I had the fish and chips (the first time I'd tried it in Ireland and SO MUCH BETTER than anything in the U.S.) and James had some kind of chicken curry. I think he would've ordered the cheeseburger, but they only had one left, and the lady we were eating with ordered it. There was another peat fire in the fireplace (yay!).
After lunch, we headed off to find downtown Shannon to do our big shopping. After driving in two big circles, we came to the inevitable conclusion that there was no downtown Shannon. Or, we were in it. We ended up at a strip mall which contained the Irish version of Target (I guess) as well as some other forgettable stores. We had coffee and a snack and wandered around for a while, then, discouraged, headed back to our B&B.
We had a wonderful evening back at the B&B. Ron made a fire for us (even though it was a bit on the warm side for a fire) then took us back to his well-stocked bar, located in a small room off the living room. I had to explain why I wasn't drinking, and he congratulated me and brought me a glass of some expensive fruit drink he'd bought that was imported from somewhere and that was supposed to do wonders for your health. The other guy that was staying there came down to the bar as well and Ron told a story about how once he'd gotten some Irish moonshine for a friend who was flying to the U.S., and he told the guy just to roll it in a sweater and put in in his suitcase and he'd be fine, but the guy insisted upon carrying it with him in his trenchcoat. He was caught (but luckily he didn't squeal on his supplier). Ron also had a picture of his very expensive boat, of which the boys were very appreciative.
