The Cliffs of Moher. What a beautiful place of rich green land. A place of high heights over 600 feet above the bordering Atlantic Ocean. A place of...wind...and rain - as a few of us found out the hard way. The day involved a great trip to the Rock Shop and the Cliffs of Moher followed by the evening to ourselves in Galway. But first was breakfast!
Breakfast consisted of several choices. I chose the scrambled eggs with bacon. This also included toast and bread and the different choices of a drink. The food was once again served at Atlantic Hotel and was just perfect.
After breakfast, we then headed out on our bus ride to the Rock Shop. The Rock shop was positioned right before the cliffs. The shop included a variety of rocks, actual rock figures, and such other materials that have been excavated and stripped from the area. This included rings and jewelry which was a big hit for the ladies. I used this shop as one of my gifts for the host family - the daughter of the family loves knick knacks and such things so an ideal small rock box would be great!
once we were done with the shop, we then went to the Cliffs of Moher. The only negativity during the day was the weather - John Nolan was a bit concerned about the weather coming and wanted to make sure we were able to enjoy the visit. When we got at the cliffs, my roommate and I went to the left area of the location - we had a tough time making the climb due to the wind, rain, and water that was flooded in certain areas. After a thirty minute climb, we had almost made it to the top; however, we soon would find out how bad the weather truly was. After stopping to take a picture, the wind blew straight up into our faces and ripped my SRU hat off my head. It clinger to the wire behind us on the boundary for walking. I went to grab it and hold onto the wire. Sure enough, not paying attention at all, the wire was actually barbed wire. The rest of the climbed involved me having a couple cuts and blood over my one hand. After getting a great view, we then decided to head back down. Before we reached the center, John had trouble making it back in one piece - he had fallen and actually lost his glasses. The wind at this point was going almost 95mph so we decided to head into the center for a bit and then come back to search for his glasses. We went inside, dried off and walked around for a bite of lunch at the cafe. After finishing a great beef stew, John, myself, and one of the guest family fathers went back outside with us to find John's glasses. After a couple minutes, we finally found the glasses a good 30 some feet from where John had fallen. We quickly made a beeline to the bus to hopefully leave in one piece. FINALLY! Back to safety. Sure enough, just after we had left the area the Cliffs of Moher was in a red flag zone and was shut down for any more viewing for the evening. We made perfect time! The rest of the journey included great stops along the Galway Bay area leading into our final rest stop in Galway. Once in Galway, we had the entire evening to ourselves!
our typical grouped decided to head out for the evening to get a good idea of what the shopping was like. We stopped at a jewelry store, several wool markets and clothing shops, and even a music store where John bought a mandolin! We then stopped at Quay Street Kitchen for dinner. I had a steak with pepper sauce and sweet potato fries! It was so good! And so was the beverage I had (the title is a little misleading but it was still good).
After dinner we decided to head back early for the night since we were all tired. We checked back into the Kinlay Hostel. John and I went down into the lobby for an hour to relax, check out the Internet, and play the mandolin. At 23.00, we then made it back to our room where we were getting ready for bed.
Tomorrow is our day trip to Kylemore Abby. This place is full and rich of tradition and has lot of beautiful scenery. Here's to a good and FAIRLY SAFE first day in Gawlway!!!
