Let's get off this cliff...just not in THAT direction!

On Saturday we woke up early to go on a walking and bus tour of the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. I should probably clarify that the "we" I am referring to is Amanda, Jackie, Katie, Casey, and myself, all the people from the group who wanted to make a trip to Galway asap. Jamie was supposed to join us, but she was so sick she could barely speak on the phone. We made a new friend on the bus, so while we couldn't replace Jamie in spirit we did do so in number. Chris is from North Carolina and is attending BU law school next year (weird coincidence, right?). He's backpacking throughout Europe by himself and happened to be staying at our hostel, so we adopted him for the day.

This was my first real look at the countryside of Ireland, so I was beyond excited! Our first stop was the Burren, a strange, rocky landscape. It's difficult to describe and not quite like anything I've ever seen. You pass a sign that says "welcome to the Burren" and suddenly the mountain tops are covered in limestone rock. Some people say it looks like "a trippy lunar landscape," but I think they must be tripping on something, because it didn't remind me of the moon at all. Nonetheless, it was incredibly impressive.

Above is a fairy tree. You tie cloth to it, and when the cloth falls off the fairies grant your wish.

We hopped off the bus to do the walking section of the tour. Once again, a "gentle" or "light" walk meant hiking up a mountain. John, the tour guide, was the most antisocial Irishman I have yet to meet. Despite being well-groomed, he's like the wild man of Ireland. First he showed us his cows, and the smell reminded me of home. Then we hiked up what was essentially his backyard. I asked him if he's ever still in awe of living in such a beautiful place to which he responded, "I don't like it on days like today. I like it when it's sunny." Granted, the winds were blowing at about 70mph and the sky was gray. I think the weather actually added something to its beauty, but maybe that's just me.


By the end of the hike we were all exhausted and frozen. The winds were so strong we couldn't walk a straight line. John became suddenly sociable, offering us tea and apple tart that his mother had made that morning, saying we could sit around the fire and warm up while we ate. He must have mentioned this five times, so we were all excessively hungry and excited to get warm by the time we reached the bottom.

Then John led us into a room, got behind a counter, cut up the pie, and promptly charged us 4 euro for his hospitality. We then spent the next half hour making awkward small talk with him in his living room while we waited for the bus to pick us up for the next part of the tour. I think his odd character added to the whole experience. I can't remember the last time I had as much fun as that hike!

Above is our super friendly tour guide John.

The bus took us across a whole bunch of sites, generally just pulling to the side for pictures. The area is littered with ring forts (or fairy forts as they're sometimes called), famine cottages, and fairy trees. There's also a sprinkling of castles thrown in for good measure. The next big site was the Cliffs of Moher. For all you Princess Bride fans, this was where the "Cliffs of Insanity" portion of the movie was filmed. By this point in the day the winds were reaching hurricane levels. The bus had begun to shake, and the driver informed us that the euro fee to see the cliffs had so kindly been waived, so that we wouldn't be a liability if we got blown off the edge. I'm serious. We pushed through the wind, rain, hail, and a shower of loose rock (which hit me in the head) to get to the top, and it was breathtaking. For a moment I really did think I might die, but the benefit of seeing a place like this in such bad weather was that we would never get to see the waves look as frightening and simultaneously inspiring on an ordinary day. I'm glad I braved the elements and stayed away from the edge.

The wind started howling to such a pitch that people started shrieking and getting thrown into the rock barrier, so we decided to head back to the bus and the sun came out. About 300m from the edge, we realized it was raining again. It wasn't normal rain, though. Upon closer inspection, we realized it was raining seafoam. The sky raining seafoam has got to be the oddest thing I have ever seen in my life (even in comparison to Obama dance man).

Bracing ourselves against the wind.

We got back in to Galway around 5:30pm, soaked to the bone and starving. We made a meal at the hostel and then went to Taaffes, which was the best Irish pub I have yet to go to and by far the most traditional. It was full to bursting, and a bunch of old Irish men played traditional music in the back. An old man did some traditional dancing with Jackie. It was a mix of ages throughout the place, but no one had an accent that wasn't Irish. At one point people even began singing along to an IRA tune. Amanda's friend from Ireland, Fergal, then joined us as well. Fergal is insanely tall, something like 7 feet, so he was quite the character to have around for the evening. It was like having our own Big Friendly Giant, and it was easy to find the group if anyone got lost in a pub or bar. Our second stop of the night was a bar that was unremarkable, then The Living Room, which was a great way to end the night with dancing. I highly recommend it!

Fergal didn't have a place to stay, so Amanda tried to sneak him in to our hostel, which as expected was a complete failure because you can't exactly sneak a giant into anywhere. We said goodbye to Chris who should be in Spain by now. Thus ended one of the most surreal, strange, and awesome days imaginable.