Our tour group was really small, so we got a small bus, which was really great because it made everything more personal. Our driver/guide, Chris was friendly but a bit creepy. He sort of attached himself to us, which in the beginning was funny. But, he was creepy in the sense that he gave us really wacked out dating advise. He was a single guy, in his 60's and said he was glad he never got married and that it was better to date around because then you can just leave the person when you're tired of them...creepy. He also told us it was ok to date multiple men and call them our boyfriends, and that it wasn't necessary for them to know about eachother... creepier.
While we were driving, we passed a ton of SHEEP :(, cows, and llamas. Our first stop was Dungaire castle, which was spectacular in the early morning light and located right on the water. After that, we drove through the Burren, which is a bunch of limestone Mts that used to be underwater. Apparently, it is the best place for botanists to study flora and fauna because it's unique in that everything from several climates can grow in it. The entire area, which is in County Clare, (which is where my father was born), is famous for its stone walls, which really give it that story book feel. It also borders the Atlantic Ocean, which makes it really scenic.
Our driver dropped off most of our tour group who was doing a walking tour, and took us to the Aillwee Caves, so that we could do some cave exploring. Driving up and through the Burren, it began to get really misty, despite the constant sunshine, which along with all the stone circles that surround the whole area, made for a slightly strange and ethereal feeling. All the mist made me think I was in like a King Arthur movie.
The Aillwee Caves were AMAZING. Again, we had a smallish group, which reminded me of my four person basically private tour of the Catacombs in Rome. The caves were small and narrow, and led us deeper into the mountain. They were also very poorly lit. The stone formations, consisting of Calcite were beautiful. The ceiling was encrusted with fossils of underwater creatures, and bones from extinct bears litter the floor. There's also a really interesting stone formation that looks like two hands joined in prayer. The cave was full of drop offs and in one room, our guide turned out all the lights so we could experience utter and complete darkness. That was pretty damn creepy. There was also a waterfall that was still flowing, which was a beautiful site. Overall, the caves were amazing, and I'm so glad we did them.
Back outside, the mythical early morning mist disappeared, and we could see the spectacular vistas from the top of the mountain. We drove down and had time for a little stroll in the village, were we took pics of the small side streets and awesome street sign. Picking up the rest of our group, we continued on towards the Cliffs of Moher. We passed more ruins of Castles and went past Blackhead lighthouse. Our driver pulled over to the side of the road to what he called the mini cliffs of moher. These are only 285 ft above the Atlantic, so they're safe enough to walk to their edge, which is exactly what I did! I got some amazing pics, and jumped across stones and over large holes to get to the edge. The rock formations in this area were amazing. I gotta say, between Blarney Castle and its grounds and this bus tour, I felt like Indiana Jones, climbing over stuff and exploring and such.
Passing an old monastary, we headed into the town of Doolin (home of traditional Irish music) for lunch, before embarking onto the Cliffs of Moher. We drove past another castle and finally, after an epic drive up a steep road, we had reached the cliffs. We proceeded up the trail and I got my first look at the impressive Cliffs, almost 700ft above the Atlantic Ocean. They were still a bit misty, but looked amazing with the sunlight behind them. The ocean was so blue, but dangerously rough, and in the distance, I could make our the Aran Islands. We trekked towards an old guard tower, taking tons of pics, and I even saw some dolphins coming to surface from where I was standing. It was an amazing adventure.
After the cliffs, we drove a bit further into the Burren, stopping at Lemanagh Castle. In this area, I saw quite a bit of wild horses, which was a really awesome site. We stopped a bit further in at the Dolmen, which is an ancient tomb and burial site attributed to celtic people, and is a good 2,000 years older than Stonehenge. AWESOME.
Then, we headed back towards Galway, stopping to looks at a few ancient forts and to observe the perfect straight lines that rainwater had carved in the limestone.
Back in Galway, we headed down to catch the sunset over Galway bay, collecting more pottery along the way. Me, being the ditz that I sometimes am, accidently choked myself on a rope attached to a boat because I stood up without looking where I was going. TYPICAL lol.
We picked up paninis and ate at our hostel. After resting for a bit, we headed out to the King's Head pub to listen to some Irish music, but ended up going the Tis Coli, another pub across the street, which looked even more lively. As we approached the bar, who did we run into, but Bronwyn and Jesi, the Aussie girls from Dublin. It was an AMAZING coincidence, and we all grabbed a couple of beers, exchanged emails, and caught each other up on stories. I also taught them a few phrases that they loved some much that they wrote down so they could bring them to Australia, which consisted of "this is why we cant have nice things", "this is why we cant take you anywhere", and "this is why mommy left us". Jesi actually used on of them after I spilt a bit of beer on my jeans lol. I also successfully scored a pint of Guinness from an American boy named Dan, from Wisconsin. That was a GREAT SUCCESS. (I love free drinks). I'd have to say that besides New Year's Eve night, this was the best night out I've ever had.
AMAZING :)
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