Ireland - Days 3 and 4

I'm going to skip over a few of the things we did and just talk about the highlights, because I don't have time to tell you everything. If you really care - come visit me and I'll talk about my trip for hours. If you don't care - come visit me and I'll talk about other things for hours. If you are indifferent - come visit me and I'll make you lunch. And probably still talk for hours. Because that's just what I do.

One of the first things we did while in Ireland was visit the beautiful Cliffs of Moher, also known as 'The Cliffs of Insanity!'
Yes, Princess Bride references were made, and Yes, some people grew tired of them...
But not me.
I was still shouting 'Inconceivable' as we boarded the coach to leave.
Because if there was ever a correct way to use this word, it is to describe this natural wonder.

I honestly have over a hundred photos of just this morning - and most of them are pretty much the exact same shot - but even after countless times going through my folders, I just can't seem to delete any of them!

If there's one thing I learned ten fold on this trip, it's that true beauty cannot be captured on film in any way shape or form. If you really want to appreciate the magnificence of these cliffs, just board the next flight to Dublin and see them yourself. And take a friend with you - because this day would not have been nearly as fun without Kay Shaeffer by my side.

What a spectacular girl.


Okay, onto favorite moment number 2 - Inishmore.
I think you could ask every single person who went on this trip what their favorite day was, and most would answer this.

Inishmore is a small island (part of the Aran Islands) just off the coast of Galway in Ireland. We took a very uncomfortable ferry out to the site early morning and landed with somewhat dampened spirits (quite literally - as it had been raining all morning), but still some excited anticipation for what was to come. As a group we all checked out bikes at a local bike shop and then broke into two groups - one to take the high road, and the other the low road.

I decided to join the low road group, as I was very excited to see the ocean. It proved to be the best choice, for it was downhill most of the way, and as much as I love biking, it gets tiring after about 20 minutes. Our destination (Dun Aengus) was about a 45 minute ride away, and that was only if you were constantly pedaling. As almost all of us felt the need to stop every few minutes to take another picture, or to pet a nearby horse, it ended up taking most about an hour to finish - and this was despite the rain that was still falling off and on.

Biking across this beautiful island and up to the base of the Dun Aengus ruins was by far one of the most amazing and unreal experience I have ever had in my life.

After parking our bikes at the bottom of the hill, we ate lunch and then hiked up the rocks until we reached a site eerily familiar to what we had seen just the day before at Moher...
And yet somehow it was a different view entirely.


Not only was the air a little different here (being completely surrounded in a much more intimate way by the ocean), but it was windier too. It was almost impossible to stand straight without fear of being knocked down by the wind.





Naturally I loved every second of it.
Any of you who know me remotely well at all will know that I am obsessed with the wind. Having long hair made it twice as fun.
I love being able to feel it whip around in the air on a particularly windy day. And when that air is fresh and clean it becomes infinitely more fun.


The most exciting thing to do at Dun Aengus is probably also the most dangerous and thrilling thing I've ever done in my life - hanging off the edge.

I was too much of a scaredy cat to hang over as far as some of the others (there was a safe way to do it, and so that's the way I did it) - but even with my head only poking out a little, it was exhilarating!








The view was spectacular and completely indescribable. Kay attempted to capture some photos of the beautiful blue below (as I was too scared to hold the camera out myself) but I'm not going to post them because they do it no justice at all.

Really - the only way to experience this remarkable place is to go there yourself. And make sure you bike it. I totally crashed on the way back to the ferry - had a crazy bruise for the next few weeks and everything - but I still think it was the best day of the trip.




Even the ferry ride back was fun. It was much better than the ride out anyway, as the rain had stopped, and we were up top instead of down below. It was beautiful seeing Ireland from this perspective.

I think one of the main reasons why Moher and Inishmore were two of my favorite days was because they were our first two real days on the trip. The only things we went to before happened after getting off the plane - so we were all very tired and physically drained.

I went to bed on day 4 of our trip seriously wondering how it had been only 4 days, and how they could possibly top what I had just experienced.

And somehow they did.

But more on that later. This is enough update for now - and my mom just called me for ice cream. WOO!