CN Tower
Niagara Falls
Golden Gate
Mt. Fuji
Great Wall
Grand Canyon
Hoover Dam
Pyramids
Petra
Colosseum
Leaning Tower
Parthenon
Stonehenge
Big Ben
The Chunnel
Eiffel Tower
Mt. St.Michel
Empire St Bld

Alaska glacier
Tokyo Tower
Forbidden City
Sum'r Palace
LaBufadora
Bilbao Museo
BlarneyStone
Disney Paris

Because many of Ireland's arcky ruins are scattered across the Western countryside, I sign up with Shamrock Backpackers 3-day Western Ireland tour.  I join a group of about 40 Americans, Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis and Brits for the bus tour, headed up by our friendly Irish tour guide Paula.  Our tour includes ancient ruins and dramatic ocean cliffs.  Highlights include Blarney and:

Temple Bar, Dublin

Rock of Cashel
Monks used to hide out in the tower from attacking Vikings or other Irish tribes.

Cliffs of Moher

On Ireland's West Coast, the Cliffs of Moher are Ireland's most dramatic landscape.  Yes, it's a long drop off that edge, but almost everyone in the group risks their lives for a cool photo.

Dingle Peninsula

On Ireland's West Coast, the Dingle Peninsula features many cliffs overlooking the sea.  We check out Paula's cliff couch. Comfy.

Tour guide Paula and Kev.

The Three Sisters rock formation is on the horizon, just to my right.

Clonmacnoise Monestary
The Cross of Scriptures features Biblical scenes.  It's at Clonmacnoise (my mnemonic is Clones Make Noise) Monestary, on the river Shannon in central "bogland" Ireland.  The old monestary is behind me.

Polnabrone Dolmen
Ancient tribes built this dolmen as a tomb several thousand years ago.

World Cup

We catch the 7:30 am World Cup kick off game of Ireland vs. Cameroon in Killarney.  Yes, there's a crowd in the bar at 7:30 in the morning.

Pubs: Jig Music
Band in Killarney plays traditional Irish music.  The guy at the far right's playing something so traditional, I have no idea what it's called. 

Back to Dublin
At the end of the tour, I grab dinner with the Aussie couple and my birthday buddy, who shares the same birthday with me.

Those are quick trip highlights.  Then off to Scotland.

Our Irish tour guide Paula gives teaches us some Irish slang.  She says the Irish use the word fecker all the time, even her ma and grandma.  And if you see someone doing something dumb, you call them an eejit (idiot).   On the trip, Paula calls us her lumps of love, and also, affectionately, her fecking eejits.  If we're late for the bus, we get an Eejit Award, like a dare from Truth or Dare. She also says we're going to have lots of craic - don't worry.  While they sound the same, craic is Irish slang for "fun."

The edge I'm sitting on in the large picture on the left is in the upper left hand corner here....I don't think I would have posed for the left-photo had I seen the ledge from this view.

Another view of the cliff.

We spot some lambs hanging out near some ruins.

This lady charges 2 euro to enter these ancient beehive dwellings because they're in her backyard.  I want to tell her "They belong in a museum," but instead, I just take a photo.

Indy style at the Monestary.

Back on the bus.  Receding cliff rocks in central Ireland.

For being late getting back on the bus, Andrew from Canada gets an Eejit Award.  The eejit awards are basically embarrassing acts, like dares from Truth or Dare. Here, Andrew must teach aerobics to shocked bus-waiting bystanders for two minutes.  He's better than Richard Simmons.

Glenn's plastic hammer says Hammered by the Irish.  I know because I get a close up view when he bops me on the head a few times, my payment for taking the photo.

Traditional Irish singer sings some tunes.

Whiskey taste-testing competition at the distillery tour.

Traditional Irish meal consists of Irish stew (so bland even in Ireland, you have to add lots of salt and pepper, unless you're from the Midwest).  And a glass of Guinness, which the Irish call Mother's Milk.