On The Edge of Ireland

We arrived in Galway last night and after a cheap dinner at a pub and a few drinks listening to traditional Irish music it was early to bed for our self drive into the Irish countryside.

Our Drive started out at 9am the next morning passing through the city centre with Lianna behind the wheel and myself as the designated navigator. After a half hour or so we passed farm after farm before meeting up with the coastal road which snakes through western Ireland’s coastline. The farms began to thin out being replaced with a moon-like landscape known as the Burren which covers a large portion of land in the west.

Another hour of driving brought us through several charming towns clinging to the coast of the Atlantic Sea. The road became narrower and narrower with some close calls while passing many lorries and tractors en route to our destination, The Cliffs of Moher.

We caught our first glimpse of the Cliffs while driving the road south of Doolin. Once the car was parked it was short hike and free to enter through the gates, although I believe there is an 8 euro fee but there was no one to pay when we arrived. The Cliffs of Moher are one of Ireland’s most famous landmarks where millions of years of erosion have caused the land to drop straight down into the sea. It was impossible to take bad pictures of such a beautiful natural wonder.

After some time walking along the cliffs we drove to a small local town, Lisdoonvarna, which is famous for its annual matchmaking festival in September. A short walk around and it was time to head back to Galway via a different route passing by more dramatic scenes of the Burren, along with some of the sharpest turns imaginable on ‘Corkscrew Hill.’

Once back in Galway it was out for fresh oysters, prawns and Guiness and finished the night off with a couple more pints to help sleep through the late night hostel noise. It was an early morning again the next day as we had to drive the car 3 hours back to Dublin before boarding a flight for our next destination, CHINA!