Day Five: The Cliffs of Moher

When the three of us awoke Friday morning, we had a slight dilemma on our hands. Originally, we had booked through the website Airbnb to stay in an "Irish Cabin" but upon arrive late the night before, found it to really be much more of a converted garage. There was nothing special about it. Nothing unique. No charm. Realistically, there was nothing notable about it at all. So we decided to pack up our things and continue on our way, choosing to not stay the second night and figure out a place to sleep as we were driving.

We waisted absolutely no time, hightailing it out of Gort and heading towards the western coast to see the world famous Cliffs of Moher. The drive out was spectacular enough. Following the winding road along the coast (of course making stops along the way). Amongst large dunes, passing through little seaside villages, along wind-swept gold courses, until finally pulling into the complex for the cliffs.

After a short walk we were on the edge and my breath was stolen from my body. People had told me they were spectacular. Huge. Vertigo inducing. I had never experienced something quite like this other than the Grande Canyon, yet this was different because out in front of me was just the abyss of the ocean. I saw no other land. Nothing to give me a perception of how high the cliffs really are (the highest point is actually 702 ft). It was humbling seeing anit-suicide signs lining the edges of the cliffs and the walls built to keep people away. But it was also surprising to see that after a certain distance in either direction, the walls just ended, allowing you to wander out as close to the cliff as one dared. Needless to say, I got pretty close for some photos, but never close enough that I felt in danger. We walked around for a bit, doing the touristy things. Posing. Soaking in the sights. Hiking up to O'Brien Tower (where my mom was just smitten). Overall, we were probably there for a couple hours before walking back to our little Nissan to continue the day.

From the cliffs, we decided to make a quick trip through Galway which is as cute as can be. It had the same feeling as Dingle in the sense that it was on the water, but it was much bigger, with more energy, and a more modern vibe. People were out and about drinking, eating, laughing. Unfortunately we were only able to walk around for a while before climbing back into the car and making our way back across the country towards Dublin, before turning north, to make out way to Belfast.

Our goal for the next day was to see Giants Causeway and Bushmills, so in order to save some time we decided spending most of Friday driving instead of Saturday made sense.

And yes - in retrospect, I know this post is pretty short. Mainly because we spent so much time in the car rather than out of it.

Next stop: Northern Ireland and the UK.