Ennis Sucks, Rory Rocks

Not sure if I had actually heard of the Cliffs of Moher before, but upon reading about them I decided to check them out.

Bus to Ennis just south of Galway. Walking around aimlessly in the rain with my pack, waiting, hoping a random girl from couchsurfing.com would respond so I could score a place for the night. At sunset I give up and walk to the only hostel in town, conveniently closed for renovations. I was stuck with a bonfide hotel room, though as a result my pack and his dank innards did get to air out a bit...

Now Ennis is apparently the largest town in an area of Ireland famous for it traditional Irish music. While loitering, I noticed three pubs advertising live local music nightly. On a Monday night in the middle of January there was none to be found. None. Not even some guy whistling. Just rain.

So I whistled myself around having a beer in each of these desolate pubs, getting lost in a depressing mini-suburb. Night over, I got another 'Full Irish' in the morning and started walking toward the Cliffs.

A ride with a Lithuanian truck driver hauling coal. We spoke the 7 words of English he knew quite often. I get a ride with an Irish roofing contractor whom delivers me right at the cliffs. In this area, it is harder it get a permit to build a retention system for eroding earth (very common in this area), than it is to get a building permit. He calls this ‘bull sheet.’

Shear drop and misty beauty. An underground visitor’s center under construction. Take a terrific walk to Doolin and then to the coast, easily making up for the very sad, wet night.

Start trying to catch another ride about 2pm, and begin getting worried just before sunset. The only car I don't stick my thumb up for is the one that stops to pick me up. Four Aussies who rented a car for the day take me all the way back to Galway (SWEET!) Visions of sleeping in a field with no tent in the coastal rain make this a very celebrated event.

Hostel and go out to a club with the Aussies. Don’t make a fool of myself that night, but the next morning I wake up severely dehydrated and hung over, complete with 'mud butt' as they say. Bus to Dublin and meet up with Rory after trying for hours to call his phone- apparently I just suck at dialing Irish phone numbers.

I met Rory on couchsurfing.com, a website anyone traveling or not should check out. He's currently a lawyer in training, but was previously a Roman Catholic priest. Really great guy, selfless and unbelievably generous. I am now an official couchsurfer.