Twenty.2

Day 2
March 2, 2008
It's a windy one tonight in Doolin, County Clare. Doolin sits on the Atlantic Ocean, where the water rushes up on the shore full of rock formations, bringing the wind up to the village. The village is quaint, but has Gus O'Conner's Pub, where we ate a chicken salad and Guinness. This was th ideal IRish pub, with low ceilings, dark rooms, a huge bar and a band of a guitar, accordian and a pipe.
We took a bus from Galway to Doolin this morning for 14 Euro and it was worth every cent. The drive took us along a tiny road that led through some mountains and along the seaside. The Drive took us up to The Burren, which is a region that I really don't know much about other than the name. The most stricking thing about the drive was the realization that ireland is basically one big rock. The mountains seemed to be huge hills of loose rock and all on the countryside are pastures enclosed with rock walls.
We arrived at Doolin and got a dorm room in Doolin Hostel for 16 euro. And we were the only one in our room. The owner is very nice and directed us to O'conner's. After we were settled in, we walked along the main road, out to a feryy dock, where we could see the Cliffs of Moher. The seascape was thrilling, with the 10 foot waves crashing on teh rocks and the CLiffs towering off in teh distance. While the temperature is not bad at all in IReland, the wind on the coast is quite biting. So farrr the days start sunny and end rainy. And when I say rainy, I mean puring down rain. Thankfully, we got back to our hostel just as the rain started. On our walk back we saw about 6 men on horses in traditional riding gear enter a pasture where they met up with 20 more riders far off in the distance. The hostel owner told us that they were hunters looking for fox. About once a year they come here for the weekend and hunt. The best hunters in Ireland come to Doolin for the tradition.
Today was extremely relaxing, especially with a little 3 hour nap int eh middle of it. Tomorrow we are going to go to the CLiffs of Moher and then onto Limerick. Hopefully, the wind won't keep me up tonight. Yes, it's that strong.~