Mittens and Sunglasses

Ever since I visited Ireland for the first time over 14 years ago, there has been something I’ve wanted to do here. So, after a bit of discussing with myself, I figured that there was really no better time to do this than now. So, on Sunday I booked a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher! I was finally going to see these cliffs I’ve hard so much about. The day trip was signed up with Paddywagon, which was the cheapest I could find online, and early Monday morning I dragged myself out of bed, so that I was ready to board the bus before 8 the very same morning.

Our first stop was a small fishing village called Kinvara. What striked me with this small town, and what would strike me about other small villages and towns along the road, was how colourful they were. They shaps were all in different colours. In Kinvara it was especially a book shop that caught my eye. I badly wanted to go into this shop, it looked so nice, but it was closed while we were there. So we left without being able to browse their shelves.

Our next stop along the road was Corcomroe Abbey, an early 13th-century Cistercian monastery. I have always loved abbey ruins, and this was truely beautiful. A lot smaller than some of the abbeys I’ve visited before (like Whitby Abbey), but also a lot older. We only had 15 minutes to walk around, but I tried to get a few photos taken, and look at things. I would have loved to have some more time there, though.

From Corcomore Abbey we continued down the coast, and had a stop to take photos of what our coach driver and guide called “the baby cliffs”. They’re smaller than the Cliffs of Moher, but still quite beautiful. Besides, it was such a lovely and warm and sunny day, it was wonderful to walk around on the cliffs and just feel the breeze and smell the ocean.

15 minutes later, we all climbed back into the bus, and headed towards the Cliffs of Moher. We had only one more stop before we got there, in the town Doolin (which I think sounded like a name from Lord of the Rings), where we had lunch. But when we all were fed, the bus finally made it to our destination: The Cliffs of Moher. And let me tell you, I was not disappointed!

Wikipedia says about the Cliffs of Moher that “[t]hey rise 120 metres (390 ft) above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag’s Head, and reach their maximum height of 214 metres (702 ft) just north of O’Brien’s Tower, eight kilometres to the north.” It was quite a magnifisent view, and we maybe 1 1/2 hours to walk around. Unfortunately not enough time to walk both up on the cliffs and to the tower, which I would have loved on this amazingly sunny day. We really had perfect weather, with the warm, sunny and clear view.

As for the visitor centre, I didn’t think it was much to look at. You can just as well read up on the Cliffs of Mohere elsewhere. Maybe it’s fun for kids, as they did have some interactive activities there, but if you’re a single grown up, it’s not much to brag about.

We had only one stop on our way back to Dublin: Bunratty Castle. Yet again we were given just a short time (I think we had 20 minutes) to walk around. In my opinion, this was the bigest “fault” with this trip: Never having anough time to walk around. But, knowing the trip took over 12 hours, it’s understandable.

After over 12 hours we arrived safe and sound in Dublin, and we all agreed it had been a fantastic day.