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Cliffs of Moher
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Aswe headed out of the city the tour guide gave us some information on places we passed in the city, and a bit in the country, though he tried to let people rest until the first stop. The first stop was more of a comfort stop. It was at The Barack Obama Plaza. The guide explained that the plaza was named for Barack Obama because his ancestors came from the area. He also visited the area before. While there we decided to pick up donuts. Which meant we had two breakfasts! A thing that I noticed with donuts and pastries in the UK and Ireland is that the majority of the time they are served cold. Which is a bit surprising, but they still taste fresh, so I can't complain.
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Selfie from O'Brien's Tower, at the Cliffs
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We arrived at the cliffs around 10. We walked up the path to the benches, the cliffs were so pretty. From the benches we walked to O'Brien tower. The view was even better from there! The Cliffs are such that there are hills and bumps. So we kept seeing areas of the cliff that we wanted to walk to. We would get to that area, and want to keep walking. Every spot had a great view and I could have walked them for much longer, but we eventually had to turn around. We even walked through the unofficial area. It wasn't completely barricaded so people were allowed to walk there, but there was no wall between you and the cliff face! It was also muddy in thar section, but the views were worth it. Beside the cliffs, there were cows and sheep in the field, which was interesting to see too. There are cows and sheep in Arizona, but these were Irish cows and Irish sheep and therefore special!
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| O'Brien, |
After walking the cliffs we went to info Center which is build into the hill. There was interesting information about the cliffs there. How they formed, information on the caves that were near by, the animals that make a home of the cliffs, and families from the area. I saw a name that I recognized, so I took pictures of the shield. I don't knoe what county the O'Brien come from. I know Thomas Fitzpatrick and Bernard Fitzsimmons are supposed to have come from Clare County, but I didn't see shields for them at the center. A little more on family history we did drive through Port Laoise, Laois County, which isn't actually near the ocean at all, and is in fact one of the most landlocked counties in the country. This is because the counties that surround it do not board the ocean. I believe the tour guide said Port comes about because there are major rivers around it.
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| Stoney Outcrop |
We lunched at in Doolin. There were a few choices, so we walked up the street to a little cafe. I had a delicious ham sandwich with sweet BBQ sauce, a brownie and a Galway beer. Kelsi had turkey and brie, sea salt and Irish vinegar crisps (chips) and a brownie. She also bought some popcorn that was marshmallow flavored. Which she saved for an afternoon snake. I think she liked her sandwich and the crisps, but she said the popcorn wasn't good.
After lunch we drove to the Stoney Outcrop. This was created when the area was a seabed, it was revealed during the carnivorous period. Such an interesting features. It's very hard to describe, so I will just post some pictures!
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| Plaque |
Then we drove to an old Abbey called St. Maria's. It houses the bones of residence in the area from the distant past until the present. Since I love family histories, I appreciate places like this. I took a picture of a plaque that said the Abbey was founded in 1182 CE. Ascribed to Donnel Mor O'Brien and that his grandson was one of the people buried there. As I don't know much about the O'Brien's in my family, especially outside of the United States. I'm just going cross my fingers and think that perhaps they came from Clare Co. I looked at so many headstones, but most of them were too new or too old to be ancestors of mine.
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| Abbey! |
Once the Abbey was finished we stopped in a small seaside town for a pint or shopping. I picked the pint, but only a little one. We sat at the window facing the ocean which was great view! It was also fun to watch the people inside the bar.
That was the last stop of the trip. The rest of the ride was through the beautiful landscape of Ireland back to Dublin. I tried to catch some zzz, but the view was too pretty. Kelsi may have managed some. The bus played a film on the way back. It was called The Field. It was about a dispute over an area of land, and ended with a scene at the Cliffs of Moher. It wasn't a bad film, but I'm not sure I understand all of it.
Upon returning we stopped by the room for a little bit. Then we went to The Brazen Head the oldest bar in Dublin and had a pint. The bar was kind of interesting, it had a bunch of different rooms on different levels and it was very crowded! The table we sat at was reserved, but the staff said it was reserved for later. I think we sat there until after the reserved time, but the group had not shown up. Perhaps they never did.
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| Jameson's |
We left because we wanted to go to a to dinner, the restaurant was recommended by our host, but it was closed! The restaurant was near the Jameson's Distillery. We found out earlier that Jameson's was closed until 2017. They are doing updates to it. Since it was closed we were not planning to visit, but because we were close to it, I had to get a picture!
Then, we different bar, called McGillan's. It was a lounge. Which meant that there wasn't food, only drinks. Of course we had one! It helped us forgot our hunger, at least for a little while.
In the end we went back to a pizza place that we had past. It was nearly closing, but they allowed us to take away. We took the pizza away, and it was probably the best pizza. Although, we were very hungry.
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