Cliffs of Moher aka The Cliffs of Insanity

The tour to the cliffs is run by the MaCoole family. It starts out west very early from Dublin by bus and gets to the family farm near the village called Oughtmama by noon. First, you can feed a calf who thinks it's a dog, and two lambs (there were a couple of other tours to the cliffs, but these guys had me with a picture of a baby lamb on their brochure... well played MacCoole Tours!). Afterwards, you go for a scenic hike on the Burren Mountains, and come back to a cottage for homemade pie and Irish coffee. The cottage belonged to the grandmother of the family, and there were pictures up in the living room going back generations (there is one of our guide's great aunts with their famous cousin, Gregory Peck.) One of the best moments of the day was when our guide had the group lay on the ground to quietly "take it all in for a minute".
The ride out of Dublin was very scenic. A hundred shades of green. Endless miles of farms and fields with horses, sheep, cows, cottages, the occasional castle. It was showering off and on throughout the day, but nothing that stopped our group from seeing the sights! Actually, that is probably why we kept seeing vibrant rainbows throughout the day. Also interesting, out west is where people speak Irish as well as English, and village signs have both languages on them.
The Cliffs of Moher are spectacular and have been filmed in quite a few movies, most notably (in my childhood memory anyway) in the Princess Bride!
Our trip back was equally as scenic, and we were back in Dublin by 9:45. I was surprised to realize that it was still light out! Back at the hostel, the guys at reception were cracking jokes about the Queen coming to Dublin for the first time in 70 years. I mentioned that I had tried to see Dublin Castle the day before and that it had been closed in preparation of her visit. "Well, at least some goods' come of it, they're going about and painting things! - ha ha". Obama is also coming visit the city and they were pretty animated about that as well, and wondered if he'd come to look up his Irish ancestry.
Turns out, three days after the queen departs, Obama will meet the Irish president and prime minister and visit the tiny town of Moneygall, from which one of his ancestors emigrated in the 1800s. Moneygall barely has 300 inhabitants and they are delighted at the prospect of welcoming their "most famous son."
Here are some pics from the tour.

The baby calf. Remember, don't tell her she's a cow.






omg






Ridiculous! I want a lamb! How do they get along with cats?!






Our guide, John Connolly, has a B.A. in Irish Heritage. As we walked up the limestone mountains, he educated us about the history of the land, the wildlife, the flora, and how fairy tales played a part of everyday life back in the time when the laws of the villages were all handed down orally.




































Traditionally, if you had a trouble or a wish, you would have come to this tree and tied a prayer onto it. John pointed out that many people of different cultures have the same practice, even though they had never been in contact with one another. A woman in the group from South Korea confirmed that it was a tradition there as well.


















Not only did our guide have a B.A. in Irish Heritage, he also makes a mean Irish Coffee.












Here we are!



































































Killing time before our bus takes us back to Dublin. The only way to do it in Ireland.







Soyeon, me, and Sinead. We met up at the hostel and took the tour together. She is very funny and sweet, and I hope she makes it out to S.F someday. She was off to Croatia the next day!







Haha not taking the Royal Visit too seriously.






One last look at Ireland.... Erin if you ever want to go, I'll come back with you!





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