Today we took a day long tour to the Cliffs of Moher. We started off our journey at Paddy's Palace where we met our coach and driver, Matt. Matt was super nice and entertaining, he even claimed to speak many languages. His main one being sarcasm. We hopped on the bus and after a quick coffee stop we were on our way to our first destination. Before arriving Matt gave us a brief history of Ireland. "First their were dinosaurs, then an Ice Age, next came the squirrels looking for nuts, and that is how Ireland came about." Matt later went into more detail and to explain about the Celtics and eventually the Vikings invading before the British gained rule (and lost it). He also briefly went over the Irish famine as we passed many "famine sites" where stone graves and ruins still stand.
Our first stop was Belfast, a quaint fishing town with a beautiful view.
My first of many pictures living on the edge :)
Our next stop were the baby cliffs. From these cliffs you can see the Cliffs of Moher. Though it was much more fun climbing up the rocks further to see the incredible and beautiful blue water.
We made it to lunch before all the other tour buses which was wonderful because the town we stopped in right before the cliffs had a total of like 5 restaurants and a souvenir shop. I'm pretty sure that their entire industry is tourism and no one actually lives there. We did however finally get to try some Irish potatoes, in crisp form, which were quite delectable!! We also got to see some awesome sheep which of course were my favorite :)
We finally made it to the cliffs which were amazing! During the summer over 10,000 people a day visit the cliffs. In the off season like today that number is much lower at around 2,000. You can walk for what seems like miles in each direction. After a while it becomes private property but you are still able to keep walking there is just no longer a nice path. We walked about half a mile in each direction before having to head back down to the coach for our last stop!
Our last stop was Bunratty Castle and drum roll please...... The ORIGINAL Durty Nelly's. This may not mean much to anyone outside my family but it is our favorite place to go before dinner the day after Thanksgiving and Easter! I got super excited and may have scared all the people we were sitting near!!
On our way back to Dublin we passed President Obama's ancestral village where he met his 8th cousin when he came to visit. The town if 200 then named like half the buildings and landmarks after him. He is also picture on many signs along the highway, one being for Guinness beer which he drank on his visit.
Once we got back to Dublin we headed out to find a good meal for dinner. We ended up caving and going to Hard Rock Cafe since we were craving not only American food but something edible and filling too. We are off to bed after a wonderful day in Ireland and prepping for our last day here tomorrow!
Fun Facts about Ireland
- If something went wrong it was probably from fairies
- Ireland never went through an industrial revolution, in the 1970s, 90% of industry was agriculture
- Hookers are actually small fishing boats
- Irish Coffee and Duty Free stores were both created at the Shannon Airport outside Limerick
- It is very hard to understand the Irish accent, all of their t's and th's sound like f's
- Grass grows 365 days a year so all meat is grass feed, not only is it healthier for the animals, but according to our guide it tastes better (I would not know)
- Ireland use to be under water, the extreme tides and erosion create huge cliffs along the now rocky country-- natives refer to the island as the rock
- The national language is Irish
- There is lots of rock all over the country, most being beautiful limestone
- The tallest building in Dublin is the second tallest building in Ireland standing at 15 stories. According to our driver it is being taken down as it is too tall.
More picture to come when we get back to Oxford and I can plug in my camera!!
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