Cliffs of Moher and Galway

We have had a busy past couple of days!  Lots of driving.  We left Dingle and drove to Galway, along the south west part of the country.  This part of the country is very traditional Irish, they have the highest concentration of Gaelic speaking population, all the road sings are in Gaelic, even the radio stations are in Gaelic!

We took a car ferry

And drove up to the Cliffs of Moher... which are A-Mazing!  It's just like you see in the pictures! We had a bright sunny day to take lots of pictures!

The cliffs rise 700ft above the sea, at the tallest point.  Around the visitors center there are rock guards rails.  If you hike south along the cliffs the guard rails disappear.  And people are standing WAAAAY too close to the edge.  It makes you feel light headed to peak over the edge.  Of course Rick was one that got waaaaaay too close,

He found a spot to sit on the edge and eventually talked me into it.... I'll never do it again.  It was terrifying.

Then we hit Galway for the night.  Lots of live music and college kids

The next day we hit the Aran Islands.  They are a set of three islands (one big and two smaller ones) off the coast of Galway, settled thousands of years ago.  Currently, 700 people live on the big island, Inishmoor.  They all speak Gaelic.  There is a 3000 year old fort on Inishmoor called Dun Aengus. The fort is built of stone walls and backs up to a high cliff.  Similar to Cliffs of Moher, but at the highest point the cliffs are 350ft above sea level.  Rick had to look over the edge of this one too:

It was interesting to see how Irish island people live.  The island is cold, windy, lots of rocks, one sand beach.  The main industry is tourism.  They also are known for knitting wool- sweaters, scarves, blankets, mittens. I bought a head band off the sweetest Aran woman.  While she sewed a flower on it for me, she told me she came to the islands from the mainland 40 years ago when she married her husband.  She said she loved it here and she would never leave. 

Today we are moving on to Drougheada to see pre-chrisitan forts and huts.  It's 30 minutes north of Dublin.  Then on Thursday we move to our LAST stop, Dublin. 

Dingle Peninsula

Hello everyone!  Sorry, don't have a lot of time to chat.  But here are pictures from Dingle!

Wild Atlantic Way: West coast drive from Kinsale to Kenmare

We left Kinsale today and drove to Dingle, which is about 155km away.  It's 2.5 hours by motorway, but multiple Kinsale locals told us to take the west coast drive instead.  The roads are smaller country lanes and it takes longer, but the views are spectacular!  It took us about 6 hours to get to Dingle, but the sites along the way were worth it.

We stopped at a stone circle on the way.  The circle dates back to 1100BC.  The stones are aligned with the summer and winter solstice.  When the site was excavated in the 1930's they found tools and bowls and the remains of a child in the center of the stone circle.  Presumed to be a sacrifice?  It's anyone's guess.

On the west coast of Ireland, they have three peninsulas which they call "rings".  The most famous ring is Ring of Kerry.  The second most visited ring is Dingle.  There is a third, less popular ring called Ring of Beara.  Our west coast drive took us through all three rings.  Which was very cool to see!

We now spend a day in Dingle, driving around the Ring of Dingle.  

UPDATE ON THE DRIVING!

Driving on the left hand side of the road is getting easier.  As a passenger, I've gotten used to riding 6 inches from bushes/ stone walls.  It's not considered too close until you are rubbing paint off the car.   Rick is able to go faster now, even passing tour busses!  He says next time he wants to rent a faster car. 

Kinsale, Ireland

Kinsale is THE MOST beautiful place in the world.  Stop what you are doing right now, and seriously consider how you are going to come here and experience this town.  It has a laid back beach vibe, with a hint of Irish hospitality, fantastic food, cold beer, and endless things to do!  Rick and I had a very serious conversation about never leaving.  And by the pictures you can see why...

We visited a site called Charles Fort.  Which is a 15th century star shaped fort built to protect the town of Kinsale.

The fort is 2km from the town, which we walked to on a walking path the snaked along the coast line.    The day was beautiful!  Sun all day, not a single cloud in the sky!  Along the way we passed a pub called the Bulman.  We stopped in for a pint, and drank it on the small boat ramp overlooking the water and Kinsale Town.

This place is fantastic!  I never want to leave!  

To my most amazing dog sitters, Jenna and Colleen, looking after my fur babies.  Kindly pack up my littles and send them to Kinsale.  There is plenty of things for them to do.  Birds to chase and beaches to swim on.

To Mike, we found the Blue Haven!  We plan on having oysters tomorrow before we leave!

I am obsessed with the colorful doors in Ireland!  There are many more of door pictures to come!

Tomorrow we go to Dingle... and it better be as good or better than this little piece of heaven! 

Waterford, Ireland

We left Northern Ireland by train and rented a car in Dublin.  We didn’t see any of Dublin (yet...) instead we jetted south to the city of Waterford.  Waterford is the oldest city in Ireland.  It was originally settled by the vikings in 853.  Waterford is described by many of the guide books as ‘gritty’... And this is a really good word for it.  Waterford is kinda dirty and a little unforgiving but has a lot of character.  

A QUICK SIDE NOTE:

What I forgot to mention earlier is our adventure with driving on the left hand side of the road.  It’s scary.  It’s uncomfortable.  It’s confusing.  We have no idea what the road signs mean.  We have hit many curbs.  And if we didn’t have navigation in the rental car we would have NEVER made it out of Dublin.  

So our first stop of out Dublin was to the Wicklow Mountains, specifically to a place called Powers Court.  This mountain reserve contains the highest waterfall in Ireland.

It’s a very peaceful state park where people picnic/ go for trail walks.

It took a total of 2.5 hours to get to Waterford.  We were not there for very long, but there are numerous viking relics to see.

I want everyone to know I have a new claim to fame!!! ...

Rick and I were walking down the back streets of Waterford and saw some lights on in a pub and decided to walk in.  It was a very small pub, filled with a handful of locals who stopped to stare at us as we walked in and sat on some open bar stools. After we ordered some pints, the patron sitting next to us stuck up a conversation, and told us, that up until recently, women were not allowed to drink in this pub.  The original owner, Thomas Maher, did not like women drinking at his bar, and since he died, the new owner has let the rules stretch a little.  The bartender told me I was only the 5th American Woman to drink at this bar in 128 years!  I want everyone to know I represented it well!  I drank stout and a glass of the house-made Irish whiskey.  What made this experience even better was when we were leaving the bar a local women happened to pass by, grab my hand and said “I didn’t think women were allowed to drink in this bar!?”.  (Picture this in the THICKEST most hard to understand Irish accent).  

So now I feel very important.  You may all call me ‘Lady Jennifer Weitman’ from now on. 

Tomorrow we go to Kinsale!