The Key to a Sunny Day

Cliffs of Moher

When we woke up this morning I had no idea what to do.  I told Jeff, 'You're in charge of today's entertainment.'  Next thing I knew we were on a tour bus to the Cliffs of Moher.  Even better we were driving into some much needed sunshine.

Included in the tour was a stop at The Burren.  I was pretty excited to see this area.  I wish I had a geologist with me while we walked around.  A botanist would have been great too.  The area supports plants from the Arctic, Mediterranean, and Alpine regions. Unfortunately the extended winter this year meant the spring flowers that are usually blooming between the limestone slabs at this time weren't up yet.

Now we know where all the rock for the thousands of rock walls come from.

Sheep grazing in one of small grassy areas.

A small pond formed in the limestone rock.

One of the 90 megalithic tombs in the area.

Part of the great fun of these bus tours is going through all the wonderful little towns. We got to see ruins, buildings with thatched roofs, and lots of animals.  One of the towns we went through a little town called Lisdoonvara which is known throughout Ireland as The Matchmaking Town.  Every year the town has a matchmaking ceremony for the entire month of September.  40,000 people we go to the town for the music, dancing and more importantly the matchmaking.

I was slow getting my camera out and I missed the actual town.

Cutest grocer shop ever.

One of the many tower houses.

I don't remember the correct name but this place was built by the O'Brians

 

After we stopped for lunch in Doolan where we briefly lost William we headed for the cliffs.  On a side note, our lunch, while okay, we all agreed was the worst meal we've had while here.  I think the pub we all went to was a bit overwhelmed with two tour buses at the same time.  So I'll give them a pass.

The beautiful Cliffs of Moher

The view from a bit higher up.

William letting his hair fly.

Cheesy squinty grins courtesy of the bright sunshine.

The boys holding on for dear life.

I wasn't sure we wouldn't be blown away

Looking away from the cliffs

We thought we'd survived some pretty rough wind here in Galway.  The wind gusts on the cliff were crazy!  There were times when it was hard to walk in a straight line or even stand still.  At one point Jeff climbed out on this large rock plateau and laid down on the edge to take a picture.  I couldn't look.  I was terrified he was going to get blown off.  I found out on the trip back that my fear wasn't that unfounded.  Last year 16 people died from falling off the cliffs, 6 people have died so far this year.  The latest one was just last week when a 20 year girl stumbled and went over the edge.

I took a brief nap on the way home.  All that fresh air and walking did me in.  But now we know how to find sunshine - get out of town.  The 2 sunny beautiful days we've had, have both been when we've gone out on a tour.  Kind of a no brainer for what we should do tomorrow.