The Cliffs of Moher

Since Dublin is pretty small, we agreed on taking a trip somewhere else for a day.  A man at the tourist office convinced us to go on a tour to Galway.  For 40 euros, we were taken on a charter bus from Dublin to Galway and along the western coast of Ireland.  We departed Dublin around 7 a.m. and didn't arrive back until 9 p.m.  Our bus driver (Damion), was not only hilarious, but very informative and gave us an amazing tour.  I don't remember how many stops there were on the bus, but he let us get off to take pictures throughout the day.  Most stops were only 15-20 minutes but we were able to see a lot in one day.  The main destination of the tour was the Cliffs of Moher.  A popular tourist attraction and known for appearing in one of the Harry Potter movies. 

Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher

We stopped at this castle and so the photoshoot began :) The driver had to remind us to be careful crossing the road because the Irish drive on the RIGHT sides of their cars but on the LEFT side of the street! 

An old house with a straw roof

Dunguaire Castle in the background

 

 

 

I love the landscape that we saw throughout our trip.  Lots of water, green fields, limestones, stone walls, castles, colorful buildings, and farm animals. 

 

These stone walls are everywhere! Each one is put together by hand and because of the fact there are holes, they don't blow over because the air goes through them.  Our tour guide said that sometimes animals nest in between the stones.

This site was another one of our 15 minute stops.  Poulnabrone is one of the oldest memorials in human history

 

 

 

Here it is!

 

A closer view.  Some guard was standing here protecting it, I can think of better jobs :)

Before we stopped for lunch, Damion stopped the bus so we could take pictures of this bar.  There is a huge match making festival in a town called Lisdoonvarna every year that attracts a lot of singles.

After our lunch break we were off to the Cliffs of Moher! We were so lucky that it didn't rain and we were able to get some beautiful photos.  I'm not a Harry Potter fan but one of the scenes from The Half Blood Prince movie was filmed there. At their highest point they reach their maximum height of 214 metres (702 ft). The Cliffs are one of the most popular tourist destinations in Ireland and topped the list of attractions in 2006 by drawing almost one million visitors.

 

 

O' Brian's Tower. Built in 1835 by Sir Cornelius O'Brien to impress female visitors. From the cliffs and from atop the watchtower, you can see the Aran Islands in Galway Bay, the Maumturks and Twelve Pins mountain ranges to the north in County Galway, and Loop Head to the south.  (2 euro entry fee)

 

It was a little VERY, VERY windy!

Trying different methods to keep my hair out of my face

After about 30 minutes we couldn't take the cold and wind so we went inside to the exhibits.  When we got back on the bus, someone asked "how many times do people jump off those cliffs"?  Our sarcastic Irish guide replied, "Well only once, you wouldn't make it for a second time".  Here is Kate next to one of the signs. 

Needless to say we had a great day trip full of amazing views of the west coast.  On our way back, we stopped for an hour in Galway.  Although we didn't have much time to explore, we did stop to find some hot drinks and we were on our way back to Dublin. 

Kate posing alongside the ocean, with rain off in the distance.

Those were some serious waves

 
Now for an Irish lesson :)  I absolutely love their accents. 

Craic- Pronounced  "crack"
"How's the craic"? = What's good? What's up?
"The craic was 90" = Something was really, really awesome
"It was good craic" = It was a great time, it was really fun

See how an American could assume a different meaning? How's or where's the crack doesn't sound right in the states.

Sláinte (SLAHN-cha) is a word literally translating as "health" but is used as "CHEERS!"

Bollocks (n): anyone you think is stupid
Bolloxed (a): very drunk


Now that I've left you with gorgeous pictures from Ireland, I'll leave you with two really nice Irish proverbs/blessings to go by :)

May the sun shine, all day long,
everything go right, and nothing wrong.
May those you love bring love back to you,
and may all the wishes you wish come true!

 

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been
the foresight to know where you're going
and the insight to know when you're going too far.