Livin' on the edge

This morning, we awoke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (okay, we may have resembled zombies for most of the morning) and boarded the coach heading to our first stop of the morning, the Gow family's dairy farm. On the way, we stopped in a small town, where we explored a small church, examined the thatched roofs on nearby buildings, and purchased a souvenir key chain, which somehow went missing approximately 3.5 seconds after it was purchased. At the Gow's farm, we discovered that, similarly to several other farms we have visited this week, they use a pasture-based feeding system, seasonal milking and dry periods, and crossbred animals to increase fertility. 

After our tour of the farm, a local pub valiantly attempted to serve the 47 of us lunch with only minutes of advance warning. While we waited for our food, we visited several major local attractions including the mysterious upstairs of the pub and the playground next door (life lesson: never turn down swings, especially not if they are several feet too short for comfort and you are constantly at risk of beheading yourself on its frame).

Once we had acquired more emergency provisions including but not limited to strawberry bon-bons and Curly Whirlies, we were prepared for our journey to the Cliffs of Moher, a beautiful and historic Irish landmark. At the cliffs, we succeeded in climbing the 600-foot-high paths, causing Kiera to have heart palpitations on multiple occasions (unintentionally, of course), and cross-country jogging back down to make it to the coach on time. Actually, Courtney, Julia, and Ian, out of breath from their run and clutching cramps, were outraged to find that Kiera, Anne, and Cassidy had somehow made it back to the bottom first, despite being spotted far behind only moments before. 

Having heroically made it to the coach with minutes to spare, we settled in for our ride to tonight's hotel in Galway City, where Julia and Courtney broke their vow to never take the stairs with their luggage ever again, and were strongly reminded why they had made said vow in the first place. At dinner, we tried lamb ribs and carrot/ginger soup, managed to spill sugar all over the table, and somehow ended up outside in an alley while looking for the bathroom. 

Quote of the day, courtesy of George as we drove through the town of Limerick:

"There once was a woman from Rubat,

Who had triplets named Nat, Pat, and Tat,

It was fun with the breeding,

But hell with the feeding,

When she found she had no tit for tat."