July 21st + 22nd - The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher

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(Rural Ireland = crap wifi once more. I gave up after three photos... sorry.)

Yesterday I headed to Galway. Fun times looking for the bus stop since of course Citylink doesn't stop at the bus station... that would be too easy 😉

Giving my name to the driver was fun. More accurately, hearing him try to pronounce my name was fun. The drive was uneventful. Passed a few fun things, such as "The Shire" pub which had a giant sign that said: "let's get Legolas" which is just brilliant ok hahaha. (Forgot to mention the other day, one of theoubtain ranges heading oit to Dingle is also called the Misty Mountains since the tops are always in the fog/clouds. LotR is alive and well in Ireland.) I also saw a lot of businesses with "Moriarty" as part of the name, and a line of cows marching through a field. Good ol' Irish.

In Galway I didn't do much. It was a laundry day and other than that I wandered the pedestrian zone and did some shopping, ahem.

OK the fun stuff was today. Things rarely go as planned, that's what makes it fun! So, I booked a tour to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. You can get off wherever, so I booked a night in the Burren at Lidsnoovarna. Idea was to get there at around 1:30pm, bus up to Doolin for some hiking and then rejoin the tour tomorrow for the Cliffs.

Sigh.

Someone really important in the community died and there was a massive funeral procession between Lidsnoovarna and Doolin so we did the tour backwards. The driver was annoyed I had to go the hostel (tough shit) so he said I might have to see the Cliffs today and tomorrow... as if that's a bad thing?????

Anyway. Driving through the Burren was really cool. It reminded me of Dartmoor in England. So much limestone, so much rock. We randomly saw an alpaca farm (???) but the vast majority of farms are cattle here. So many cows.

I terms of information and history, the tour with Galway Tours was exceptional. Pretty much nonstop info along the way without being dry. I liked the story about the small windows and half doors (doors you can half open) on a lot of the really old houses. For awhile there was a big tax on glass, so the Irish were like fuck it and built smaller windows and half doors so you could open the top for sunlight. Brilliant!

It was supposed to be scattered showers, but it was awful sunny so we had glorious views of the Aran Islands as we drove into Doolin. In Doolin we had a lunch break so I ate my sad premade sandwich but treated myself to see Rocky Road fudge from the local chocolatier. Yummmmm.

Cliffs of Moher were beyond fantastic. Absolute perfect weather for it - no clouds, no haze, no fog. It was windy as eff though so looking through my photos is hilarious just because I didn't have my hair done up.

Speaking of photos, care to wager how many pictures I took today? 557. Even I'm surprised by that.

Anyway. The Cliffs were spectacular. I think it's funny that they tell you not to leave the gated path... when there's a foot path right beside it that's slightly higher up so you can get actual photos. Our driver was like don't you dare go on the foot path because people fall in and die.

Yes. People who A) don't know how to walk and B) don't know how to stay ON a frickin;' path. I hate how sanitized some places become because some tourists don't respect the power of nature... whether it be wind or water. There is no need to stay on the gated path if you respect the foot path and the cliff edge. Needless to say I took the ungated foot path and "lived dangerously" *eye roll*. I will say while on the foot path I saw at least 5 different idiots who weren't respecting the cliff though... I cringed hoping they wouldn't fall. Especially considering how windy it was...

From the Cliffs I got dropped off in Lidsnoovarna. No idea if I'll do the Cliffs again tomorrow or finish the other half of the tour. Either way I'm happy.

I wandered around Lidsnoorva for about an hour. I literally walked the entire town... it's itty bitty. I do love these rural areas - everyone said hello on the streets.

I just ate supper at the Roadside Tavern and it was beyond amazing. The Burren Smokehouse is renowned in Ireland, and their product is served at the Roadside. I had a local black (... dare I say better than Guinness) and the hot bake salmon over a green onion potato mash. Best salmon I've ever had and the mash was really nice with the onion.

So... no idea what's happening tomorrow haha. Wish me luck!

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