Weekend Exploring in Ireland

I’m trying to catch up on my blogging, since I was a couple of days without internet this week.  The next few blogs will be shorter, but since this was my solo weekend excursion, I thought I’d add a little more content for the places I visited.

I left my classmates Friday night and went solo Friday night on a 2 hour bus ride full of sleepy college students down to Galway.  The “lively” town of Galway lived up to its name, as every pub was packed full of students enjoying their Guinness.  

I decided to skip the public bus/winging it for a trip to the Cliffs of Moher, and booked a 1-day tour instead.  The bus was full of tourists, several Americans, and our bus driver was this short, flirty old Irish man who loved to crack jokes to “the ladies” on the bus.  He was pretty entertaining.  The roads on the way to the Cliffs of Moher were windy, bumpy, and narrow, and we barreled through it with a massive charter bus.  We tried to stop to see the Dunguaire Castle, but some woman called the Guard (cops) about our bus blocking traffic.  So we high tailed it to the Burren, and our next stop was to see an ancient burial ground, Poulnabrone Dolmen, which dates somewhere around 3800 BC.

Poulnabrone Dolmen

 After that we stopped in Doolin for lunch, another town known for Irish music.  It's also the closest little town outside of the Cliffs of Moher.  I had an amazing cup of chowder with some Guinness at O’Conner’s pub. 

From there it was on to the Cliffs of Moher, finally!  The weather conditions were so bad by the time I got there, that O’Brian’s Tower was closed, and they warned people not to go up to the high point (best for viewing) because the winds were dangerous enough to blow you over the Cliffs.  I had trouble walking because the winds were so strong.  The rain was soaking everything I had, so I couldn’t take too many pictures without risking my camera.  It was pretty hard to see with the fog, but I was able to snap a couple. 

Cliffs of Moher (aka "Cliffs of Insanity" from the Princess Bride)

After we left the Cliffs of Moher, we headed back to Galway, but took a different route through the Burren that allowed us to stop and take pictures of the Atlantic Ocean, with some smaller cliffs, and the Aran Islands.  The sun came out long enough for me to get some great shots. 

From there we continued driving along Galway Bay, and were able to stop and get pictures of Dunguaire Castle without the Guard coming after our bus driver. 

The Burren coast

The Burren coast

After I got into Galway, I took a cab to Salthill, about 10 minutes west of Galway along Galway Bay, for my first Irish B&B experience.  I was soaked and cold, as I had been all day, and I had a very warm welcome from Mary at the Marless House with a fresh pot of hot tea.  The next morning I had the best French toast I think I’ve ever had, walked along Galway Bay beach, then took a 3.5 hour bus ride to Donegal for a quick overnight trip before heading into Derry, Northern Ireland. 

See the next blog for Derry…