Back on the web, for now!

My apologies for no blog story on Monday.   After arriving back in County Cork from London on Sunday, we headed west for the coast and the internet and wifi are not as easily accessible as they are in the east.

Sunday night, after a day exploring Killarney, we enjoyed a wonderful night at Bunratty Castle for a night of traditional Irish food and Irish song and dance.  Traditional Irish stew (lamb) and plenty of potatoes and wonderfully talented Irish dancers made for a terrific evening.

What we are lacking in bandwidth, however, we are making up in sheer beauty.
Yesterday (Monday), we travelled to the coastal area of Galway Bay and the famous Cliffs of Moher. Galway Bay is quickly becoming the "California coast" of Ireland.  Surfing has taken off and there are surf shops everywhere you look.  Somehow, surfing when it's 50 degrees out doesn't jive with this former Californian!  The waves and wind were big and the bold were out on their boards. Two of our own couldn't resist the pull of the ocean and waded in to "catch some Irish surf."

Right up the road from the Galway Bay Area are the Cliffs of Moher.  Oh my goodness, what a beautiful place.  Dangerous but amazingly beautiful.  We all climbed and climbed and filled our SD cards with pictures of natures beauty.

Monday night had your Eagles competing in our second match.  The opponent tonight was the Limerick Ladies and your Eagles fell 0-1.  Too much climbing on top of a couple of mornings that began at 4:00 ish zapped us of energy.

Today (Tuesday), we slept in for the first time and started our trip back to Dublin for our final match and the final night of the trip.  Our final match was against the women's team from UCD (University City Dublin).  A top notch team from the Irish National Women's League, their facilities  and players looked like a mid size Division I program from home.

Our ladies saved their best performance for last as they played the UCD ladies close but fell in the end.  By far, the best soccer of the trip.  Communication and ball movement was much improved and our team defensive performance was mid-season level.  A good sign as we begin preseason in just two weeks.

We are off to the airport in the morning and heading home.  We will miss our Irish friends and we will cherish our time here in beautiful Ireland.  Until next time, Slainte! (That is Gaelic for Good fortunes)
All best.