When we left Galway it was foggy, but the weather was supposed to be very nice and by 11:00 it was beautiful. Our goal today was to see what is called The Burren, south of Galway. The Burren is a very rough chunk of land along the west coast of Ireland. We set our GPS with our destination, Doolin, and then just wandered. We were in Doolin shortly after noon but with many scenery stops and points of interest. Dunguaire Castle offered the first stop. Constructed from the 1200s to 1400s, it still stands on a pretty little inlet from of the ocean. Very easy to get to and enjoy without any crowds in the morning. We wandered through some beautiful little villages and ended up at the Burren College of Art, which owns its own castle. It only has 13 students, 10 undergrads and three post graduates. Talk about a great student to teacher ratio! It was Sunday, so no hoards of students clogging up the grounds, just the two of us enjoying "campus" with a little help from an American student who was there to open the doors so the students could finish their papers before they were due on Monday.

Over hill and dale we went, over a road that climbed a hill called Corkscrew Hill to test Dayna's driving skills and down to a little village called Kilfenora . Very tiny! But it had a cathedral, albeit, about the smallest one I have ever heard about. It is smaller than our house! So, some nobleman, hundreds of years ago, paid the church for a local status symbol. Two of the three rooms were in ruin status and the other one was a working church. It did have some nice "high crosses" from the local area that had been well preserved and the site was in the national trust.

Then on to the mighty town of Doolin. Actually, it is a village of about 200-300 and is the ferry terminal for boats going to the Aran Islands (which we will do tomorrow). The afternoon turned out to be a great one. After a stroll around town, we found a pub for a late lunch/dinner. Turns out that Ireland, today, had the "All Ireland Senior (Irish) Football Championship" game. Televised of course. The pub was rockin'. So, we spent three hours watching the Irish "Super Bowl" on a Sunday afternoon, in an Irish pub, drinking Irish beer, eating Irish stew, in Ireland, and hobnobbing with the gentry . They take their "football" just as seriously as we take ours, so we had a great time!

A trip down to the seaside to watch the afternoon sun settle and the waves crash against the rocks. From our B&B we can see the ocean and the Cliffs of Moher, and we can hear the waves coming to shore. It will do!