on september 10, we embarked on a trip to western ireland, the highlight of this trip was to see the cliffs of moher, the tallest cliffs in all of europe, with the highest point reaching 600 feet. we also got to see an ancient rock tomb in the burren. the first night we stayed in a little town by the name of doolin, it had three pubs and about 30 houses, it was a charming little down with the cliffs visible in the distance, the rest of the group stayed and drank while i left early because i wasn't feeling well.
the next day we took a fairy out of doolin to the nearby aran islands, we landed on the closest one on a rough fairy ride that claimed more stomachs than i care to discuss, once we got to the island we were told that the preferred method of travelling was renting a bicycle, so my roommates and i saddled up on some mountain bikes and took off on the 3 mile long island, there was a shipwreck in the distance that apparently was iconic because it was part of a opening montage of a popular irish television series.
(printed on the dock that we used to board the ferry)
after the shipwreck we headed back into the town and found some ruined castles, along the way we met a very friendly irish sheepdog which i decided to name charlie, it would rip off twigs and drop them at our feet to play fetch, which we indulged in for a few minutes and then decided to get on our way, but this dog was so energetic it ran with us as we rode our bikes, and for the vast majority of the time held the lead, but we passed another group of tourists and he decided to play fetch with them, so we went on our marry way, went up to the ruined castles and got a great view of the surrounding part of the island, my roommates and i began to climb the ruins which stood about two stories tall, both of them made it up no problem, i, having a fear of heights which i am always combating against, tried to make it to the high reaches of the ruins, although about 3/4 of the way up i froze, i cannot completely say why, but my feet were stricken with fear and suddenly the only direction my body wanted to go was down, so down i went, my fear of heights may have won the battle, but the war is still being waged.
near the ruins there was a stone fence that held a huge male horse, he was lethargically grazing on the grass, i decided to name him buck, i climbed up the wall of his enclosure pulled some grass and fed him by hand, he liked that.
after which we found an old church that through time and the windy nature of the island had become surrounded by sand, it was as if i was playing the game diablo but in real life. after exploring the graveyard and church we decided to head towards the lighthouse that was maybe a mile or so from the shipwreck, so we peddled forth, little did we know we were going way off of the beaten path. we ended up taking the shoreline that was covered in rocks about the size of a grapefruit, so they were not very conducive to bike riding, so all three of us, dragging our bikes towards the lighthouse, after about a 20 minute drag we met up with a path that headed towards the lighthouse, once we finally got there there was a sign that said it was private property, so we snapped a few pictures and went back to get some food.
the ferry ride back was a nightmare to say the least, my girlfriend has a fear of rough seas so she decided to go below deck for both of the rides, which i instinctively knew was a bad idea, but she asked me to stay with her, and i did, and then i started to feel sick, granted i kept everything down but i was damn close to pulling an old faithful, the rough ferry ride was worth it because we got to see the cliffs from a lower angle and we were all able to take some amazing photographs.
after we made it back to sweet, sweet land we all reluctantly hopped on the bus because the bus driver was among the worst of the vomiters, but he got on and we all followed suit, and headed back in the general direction of dublin, but before we stopped at clonmacnoise to see more churches and graves, but the real prize of this stop was a ruined tower that truly was amazing
so i guess this could be considered my first real trip in ireland, i got to see a lot and do a lot, most of which i don't think i will ever forget, especially the feeling of how sick i almost got on the ferry ride, and seeing that poor woman who was not given a bag in time, gross.
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