Our arrival in Shannon & on to Galway

Finally had some time to get on the Internet to post an update. We had the shortest flight to Europe I've ever experienced. It was supposed to be 6 hours but we had a strong tailwind and made it in just over 5. That put us on the ground at 6:30 am. The Shannon airport is very small so customs was a breeze and we were on the road before 7:15. Since we got on our way so early and had some extra time, Joe, our driver/guide, suggested we rearrange our itinerary a bit and visit the Cliffs of Moher. We drove along the coast and stopped in Lahinch where we had a great view of the rocky coastline with big waves rolling in from the Atlantic. It was beautiful and even though I was pretty chilly, we saw several suffers in wetsuits making their way out into the ocean-pretty crazy!

We had plenty of time to enjoy the Cliffs of Moher. They are 750 feet high and we had a great view of them and the ocean. There was also time to have some coffee and look at the exhibits in the visitors center.

We intended to have a leisurely drive along the coast to Galway, but had a few wrenches thrown our way. The first was that we had a to stop because there was a film crew shooting for a French movie. The actors were dressed like Vikings so some of us joked that they were filming a Capital One commercial. Shortly after we finally got going, there was a detour that had us back tracking quite a bit so we lost some time in getting to Galway. We were all pretty tired so not the the best time to be delayed but all in the group were troopers.

On a positive note, our rooms were ready when we arrived so we were able to check in, freshen up and have a bite to eat.

After lunch, we headed into Galway City for our tour.  Though Galway is not a super big city, it only has a few main roads leading into the city center and our not so good driving luck followed us and led us right into a traffic jam. It took us 20 min just to drive a couple of miles. Luckily we were able to "ring" our guide and he walked to our bus and we started our tour while we waited for the traffic to clear.

Once we got to Eyre Square, we learned more about the 14 "tribes" that founded Galway. We had s very interesting walking tour that included  the St Nicholas church, the Lynch Castle, the King's Head Bar and learned about the history and meaning of the Claddagh ring that so named for the village (where it was originated) that was nearby.

After a very long day, we were ready to have some dinner which was topped off by celebrating some birthdays in our group. After so many hours without good sleep, a full night's sleep in a bed felt great!

We were all feeling much better Saturday morning. As it is getting late, I will post the update for Saturday sometime on Sunday, but will say we had a great day today.