Ireland Picture Post #1: Clonmacnoise, Birr, and Galway

I'll be switching gears for a little bit to editing and posting photos before I pick up the story again.  First up are the photos from Day 3, Dublin to Galway via Clonmacnoise.  Click any image to view it in the photo gallery. Enjoy!

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Clonmacnoise Monastery

Ireland Intermezzo #2: Driving in Ireland

Our happy little Fiat Punto.

Today's guest post is written (and partially illustrated!) by the official "make-sure-we-don't-die" expert extraordinaire: Jason.  Enjoy!

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I loved driving in Ireland – sure, we had to repair a punctured tyre and bent rim, but isn’t that all part of the adventure?  And how else would I have met that nice mechanic in Galway?  As the old saying goes, “You can’t know a city until you’ve fixed 2 tyres in it.”  (Okay… I might have made that up.)

Ireland Day 3, Part 1: Dublin to Galway via Clonmacnoise

Up early at 7 am to pack the bags up and shuttle to the airport to pick up the rental car.  Sleeping went fairly well, except when I woke up at 2 am feeling extremely hungry (that’s 6 pm Seattle time; I guess my body was expecting dinner.)  Breakfast was yogurt we picked up at Tesco the day before, and granola we snagged in Chicago (before realizing the need for a mad rush to the international terminal).

After Jason did a few loops around the parking lot to get a feel for the car (Fiat Punto!), we hit the road, heading out along the M6 toward Galway.  I think Irish roads are somewhat given a bad rap, so I’d like to clear the air just a bit.  The highways (prefixed with “M” or “N”) are a completely reasonable width.  

M- and N- routes in Ireland -- not unlike any other highway.