14 April 1979 - Inishmore to Dublin

"Saturday

Kilronan

I am cheating and writing this the day afterwards - and it's kind of hard - it seems SO long ago now - I can't believe that I ever did it.  Spent most of the time travelling back to the infamous Maples Guest House.

I woke up several times in the night because my nose was freezing and I could hear the wind howling - when I finally got up this morning it was pouring rain - so Thomas, Veronica, Joanne and I decided to rent a bus to Kilronan - then the husband, Mr. Connolly offered to drive us in.  I spent most of the morning reading "Travels With Charlie" by John Steinbeck.  I absolutely LOVE that book.  It's weird but I think I prefer my authors to die of natural causes rather than commit suicide - so maybe that's why I prefer Steinbeck to Hemingway.  I got kind of sad though - the part about "...and it was Sunday and it was raining and it was Oregon".  Something about those words brings Oregon so clearly to my mind I get the feeling that even in the short time Steinbeck was there, he caught the essence of Oregon.

So we rode down to Kilronan - that ended up costing 50p and had tea at the old lady's cottage again.  We watched our boat pull in and got on after the passenger disembarked - it seemed like there were far more passengers this time - the people who come out here for a day are crazy - they can't see anything of the island in the two hours before the boat leaves again.  77 kegs of Guinness got unloaded at Kilronan - I don't know whether to be amazed or appalled - or both.  

Cliffs of Moher

The ride back was lovely, the weather cleared up, and I could see the Cliffs of Moher to the south and Connemara to the north.  The Burren looks like an enlarged Aran Island - rocks, dark and angry.  We pulled into the harbor at 7:20pm - got fish and chips and left Veronica and Thomas to catch the 8:30pm train to Dublin - it did not pull into Connolly Station until 1:15am .  I saw another beautiful sunset - ink black clouds, then blue-green, a line of yellow, and then orange to the horizon. 

The Savoy

Lots of people were still out around Dublin (Joanne and I slept on the train).  A movie let out at The Savoy as we walked past, and all down Drumcondra the "Take Aways" were still lit and open.  We threw rocks at Sheryl's window - she came right out - both she and Susie (my room mate) have cut their hair - short, short!  I was all hyper and woke up Susie and talked to her for a long time while I looked at my stuff from my Bunny Pal.  Also FIVE LETTERS!  Two from G.C., one from G.W., Dorothy Sheard, and Helen B.  The Home-Coming."      

Maples Guest House