The Cliffs of Moher and Burren

Laura, me, Grace

We woke up rested in the Amber Lodge B&B and after packing headed downstairs for the full Irish breakfast. We ate our share and then left the bed and breakfast. Our first stop was Laura's hostel for the next night so that we could drop her baggage off before the tour we booked. The tour was with Galway Tour Company and was going to take us around the Burren, which is the land on the west coast of Ireland to the South of Galway and to the famous Cliffs of Moher. The tour was full of all sort of sights, though, and here they are!

First up was the fairy fort. A fairy fort is a fort from the early people of Ireland that is basically a ring of earth that their huts were within. Also, in the center of the fort was a small tunnel that went into the ground. This was used as a sort of ancient refrigerator. The people would simply bring their food down their to keep it cool. However, after these people had left and others found the fairy forts they believed that the tunnel must have been where the fairies came out of the earth, hence the name "fairy fort." It was a very green and beautiful place and the entire time my eyes were peeled for leprechauns; if they were here I was not going to find them anywhere.

Fairy Fort

Can you see the leprechaun?

Up next were the dolmens. These are megalithic tombstones. It is essentially a few rocks laid on one another to form a structure and the body is buried underneath. They are scattered all over Ireland and basically just look like a pile of rocks. Many people don't even know they are looking at them and even if they do they still just look like a pile of rocks.

Dolmen

While on the bus the driver pointed out the famine walls. These walls were built by people during the famine in exchange for food and government aid. It was basically the CCC English style (Ireland was then part of the UK). The major difference between this relief (which came from England, who many criticize as not helping the Irish people enough during the famine) and the New Deal's CCC is that these walls served absolutely no purpose. They were simply walls running up and down the mountainside that were built so the British had a reason to give the Irish food because the British refused to give them something for nothing, even food that keep them alive. All in all, I've learned that The Great Famine is simply depressing; there seems to be absolutely no silver lining to it unless you were worried that the island was getting too crowded.

After driving through the Burren landscape we stopped in Doolin, which is known for its traditional Irish music. We got lunch at a pub and the food was just ok, nothing to write home about and since my blog is in a sense a way to "write home," I'm not going to write about it.

Up next was the main event: The Cliffs of Moher. They are one of the things in Ireland that everyone has heard of or been to, and I have to say, they did not disappoint me. They are just so massive and powerful that  I couldn't help but be taken away by them. We walked up to the cliffs and there was a wall around them so that people would not blow off. Although you may chuckle at this it is not something that they take lightly after too many people have met their fate falling the 700 feet off the cliffs. There is even a memorial there for these victims. Anyway, the wall was distracting from our oneness with nature so we went over to the area that was apparently private property. That of course did not stop hundreds of tourists from going onto this private property and taking in the cliffs without a wall in their way.

And so we took a walk on the wild side (literally) and went into the "private property." As we were taking pictures there a couple that seemed to be kind of giddy asked us to take their picture. While they were posing a man passed and said congratulations to the couple. Then I noticed the giant diamond on the woman's hand so I asked if they just got engaged and she said yes! The man had proposed on the Cliffs of Moher! How cute. And then they snacked on some apples.

The rest of our time at the cliffs consisted of the three of us basking in the sunlight and watching the waves hit the cliffs. It was simply perfect.