That night, when I got back to the hostel from the bar, I saw a pamphlet on the front desk that was advertising a day tour to the Cliffs of Moher. So I asked the receptionist to sign me up for the very next day.
That morning, I woke up at 5am in order to meet at the tourist center at 6:30. The tour group boarded a huge bus with our lovely tour guide, Conrad, and we were off! I quickly made friends with a lady by the name of Joanne who was sitting next to me and her two friends who were sitting behind us.
Our first stop was the cute little town of Limerick, where the story of Angela's Ashes took place. Super cool! We stopped beside the mighty river Shannon and took a look at the Treaty Stone that the English signed in 1691 and later betrayed. They kept the Treaty Stone in order to always remember the betrayal of the English.
 |
| King John's Castle |
 |
| The River Shannon |
 |
| The Treaty Stone |
We continued to drive with only a few pit stops for snack and restroom breaks, and before we knew it, we were on the opposite coast of Ireland at the Cliffs of Moher! This was one of the most breathtaking experiences I've ever had. I am still convinced that nothing beats the beauty of nature. I mean, Paris is beautiful...but there is something really special about true, organic beauty. There were paths all along the coastline, so we got to walk on the cliffs. I let the big group get ahead of me and had some alone time. It was really peaceful. The only downside was that it was extremely windy, to the point where it almost knocked me off my feet on multiple occasions. In addition, the wind was absolutely freezing. However, the weather added to the majestic feeling at the cliffs, it was sunny and beautiful, yet it was snowing. Quite unusual. It made for some really unique, gorgeous lighting against the cliffs.
 |
| First sight of the cliffs |
 |
| Hobbit hole tourist shop |
 |
| Snow and Sun |
 |
| The closest I've been to home in almost 7 months |
 |
The path along the cliffs
|
We stayed at the cliffs for about 1.5-2 hours and then we continued our tour. Our next stop was through the Burren National Park. It is 1500 hectares (whatever that means [I have yet to figure out the various ways of measurement]) in size and the terrain is almost completely made out of Limestone. It was a very odd place, I felt like we were on another planet.
By this time, we started to make our way back to Dublin, but we made a few more pitstops on the way.
We stopped in a little town (whose name I cannot remember) for lunch. I had lunch with my four lovely bus buddies. We all enjoyed some delicious seafood chowder and had some great conversation. After lunch, we continued up the coast and stopped by Corcomroe Abbey, which was founded in the 12th century, but has since been abandoned. Interestingly enough, people are still be buried there today. It was a beautiful little abbey in the middle of vast green fields.
From there, we continued on the road back to Dublin, but made one more stop in the quaint harbor town of Kinvara. We didn't do much in this town, because there wasn't much to do, but it was nice to explore nonetheless.
Finally, we were on our way back to Dublin without anymore stopping, so I was free to completely pass out on the bus. We got back to the city at around 7:30 in the evening. I took a lovely warm shower when I got back to the hostel, put some clean clothes on, and had a tranquil evening in the common room with my fellow hostel buddies. My roadtrip across Ireland was definitely one for the record books, it was one of the best days I've ever had. Ireland is a beautiful place that will always hold a special place in my heart.
Stayed tuned for tomorrow's blog which talks about my tour of the Guinness Storehouse :)
No comments:
Post a Comment