Sorry for the delay in posts; the WiFi at my hostel SUCKS and it wasn't uploading pictures. I finally just decided to go to a Starbucks, despite my general insistence on avoiding American companies while abroad, because I know they have reliable WiFi.
Anyway, on Thursday I just decided to do a tour to the Cliffs of Moher, because it was only a little bit more expensive than BusEireann and FAR less complicated. If I had taken BusEireann to the cliffs I would've had less than an hour at the cliffs and some very tight connections.The tour I took was called Galway Tours, and I went on it with a bunch of other people from my hostel, so that was cool. There was a general group of us that would go out and get meals and take the tours and explore the pubs together.
So here are some pictures from that tour:
Dunguaire Castle
An earthen ring from pre-historic people. For years the Irish believed they were Fairy Rings.
Being a fairy in the Fairy Ring
Some pretty landscape from the fairy ring
The tour included some stops along the way, including The Burren. The Burren is 25 square kilometers of limestone that are mostly barren because of early slash-and-burn techniques used by pre-historic people. It's really interesting for geologic and ecologic reasons, including:
1. It is only one of two such areas in Europe, the other being in Ukraine.
2. The limestone comes from when the configuration of the continents was very different: Ireland used to hang out around the Caribbean, and the limestone is from millenia of animals and plants slowing growing fossilized.
3. There are some flora in Ireland that grow only on the limestone, and as a result, the entire area is protected.
4. The region is arid by Irish standards because limestone is porous and allows all of the water to seep through.
A Neolithic Tomb
The Burren. Only a very small portion.
The Cliffs of Moher are definitely more impressive in person than in pictures. Pictures don't capture just how far they stretch, and the lack of reference points makes it difficult to grasp the actual height of the cliffs. It's pretty vertigo-inducing, largely because of the strong winds. Our bus driver warned us not to get too close to the edge because of the risk of being literally blown away by sudden gusts.
Cliffs of Moher!
Just a tad windy. Don't worry, I'm not nearly as close to the edge as it appears. I'm about 15 feet back.
After getting back from the trip I and a couple of other people from the hostel got some pizza and explored some pubs. I once again got a free drink for doing tap-dancing. I think this is going to have to be my go-to for free drinks in Ireland haha. Galway is certainly the place to go for the night life. I only recommend it if you either are traveling with someone else or if you have met people to go out with. Because really, Galway is pretty thin on sights and you would only want to spend multiple nights there for the night life. But most of the pubs have live music, and at night the entire shopping district becomes a pedestrian-only bar scene. We were there on graduation weekend, so it was crazy. There were probably thousands of people wandering the streets, and they stay out way later than we do. Some of the Europeans I met complained about how bars only stay open until 3 or 4 ("Ours stay open until 6 or 8 in the morning!"). Well that was plenty late for me. In fact, I was the one to call it a night at midnight. This grandma has to get to bed early!
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