Hitting the road

Today’s adventure was a little different than what we have done before. It was an organized tour so we had to start pretty early this morning. Along the drive we passed some amazing ruins and heard about Irish history and legends. On the way there our sunny day turned into rain, then into hail, then into snow, back to sun and then into rain again.

Our first stop was the whole reason we planned this trip - the Cliffs of Moher. When we arrived at the cliffs it was sunny with some ominous looking clouds. We got some gorgeous views of the storm moving in - and then we got hit with it. It rained on us and hailed on us and the wind was whipping, but it was so gorgeous we didn’t want to leave. We walked south for a while along the cliff side, then turned around and headed north for a while. 

Of course, Brian could be counted on to bring the Princess Bride with us to Ireland. He posted:

"Beautiful. Although.... Everyone knows you don’t bet with a Sicilian when death is on the line!"

When we headed north the sun was out again, but the northern path was crazy - there was a spot where the water was running uphill and over the path, like there was a sprinkler pointed up. We got soaked! By the time we hit the top of the north path the wind was so strong that we could barely stand up. Brian could lean back on his heels in the wind and stay balanced. It was crazy!

After an hour out on the cliffs we were cold and ready for a warmup so checked out the visitors center before loading the bus for our next stop - The Burren. It’s a really rocky area along the Atlantic with a very unique landscape. It was super windy but beautiful.

Up next was more driving along the Wild Atlantic Way. We passed by all sorts of neat things and heard stories about the fairies and Tir na nog. I know it's hard to see, but right next to this cool ruin is a tree with little pieces of fabric tied to them. Those are wishes for the fairies.

We passed famine cottages and famine walls. During the famine the government didn’t want the Irish people getting used to handouts so they made these small cottages and forced people to build famine walls (which were in the middle of nowhere, not really being used) to pay for the rent and food they were receiving. We passed tons of walls and several cottages along the way.

We passed houses being thatched, which was cool to see.

We passed this old cemetery and in the hills behind you can see the trails zig zagging up the hill. Those are famine walls. 

Our last stop is Galway, where we visited a fun area with little shops and pubs. We had lunch and then the most delicious ice cream before heading back for Dublin.

It was really nice to let someone else drive and share their knowledge. We saw a lot of beautiful countryside and gorgeous scenery today. The tour was a great way to wind up our time in Ireland.

A few things about Ireland:

1. I really connected with Ireland and the Irish people. I love their history. I love their stories and myths.

2. The weather here is crazy! We saw every kind of weather all in one day. And the wind here is always whipping!

3. We need more time here! There’s so much to see in Ireland and we wished we would have had more time.

Tomorrow we have a relaxing morning before hopping a quick flight to our next destination. Where will we go next???