Volume 18 - Day 110/255, 2026 - Monday

We got up and out at about 7:15 this morning, as I remember, and had a small breakfast at the hotel. Paulina escorted me to the pick-up point for my ALL DAY tour, and then she headed to her office to get some work done. Here are a few pieces of trivia that I picked up along the way today: Many homes in Ireland have small windows, because when it was overseen by England, they charged a 'daylight tax,' so to overcome that, they made smaller windows or painted the windows so the daylight could not penetrate. Guinness Brewery wanted to purchase the land it is situated on, but the owners would not sell, but they agreed to a 9,000 year lease which is still in effect, at 45 pounds per year. The term 'raining cats and dogs' originated here, because animals (cats, dogs, rats, whatever), would seek warmth and shelter in the thatched roofs, and if it rained hard and long, the thatched roofs would collapse, along with the cats and dogs, so therefore... The tour took us to a few counties, we covered about 700 kilometers, and we did it all in only about 12 hours, not thirteen. Lots of castle ruins, one actual castle, the Cliffs of Moher, small villages, and this and that. Plenty of photos to look back upon in my old age. Paulina and I had dinner, and we are bot tired, so it is time to call it a night. Tomorrow is a tour to Northern Ireland, which will include visiting the place (not sure what that means) where the Titanic was built. I smell even more t-shirts.