I have no idea how many posts this will be, how much I will share, or how long it will take me to share. I took roughly 1,000 pictures and recorded ~90 videos during my two week trip to Ireland. I haven’t watched most of the videos and managed to narrow the pictures down to more than 400. Still, too much to share. I’ll figure it out along the way. 🙂
It wasn’t long into my trip when I realized that while I wanted to do sight-seeing in Ireland, there was no way in H-E-L-L that I was going to be driving myself around the country. Driving on the wrong side of the road made me very nervous and navigating unmarked roads (even with a GPS) was more stress than I needed. Sometimes it’s worth it to pay someone else to do the hard work and in this case, it was MORE than worth it.
I booked two tours with Barratt Tours for the full weekend that I was overseas. The first day was a trip to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren….
Leamenagh Castle
The Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Ennis
I found it interesting that there were ruins, abbeys, and castles all over the place in Ireland. After a while, I just stopped taking pictures of them….but they were all over the place. I’ve never seen anything like that before.
Our next stop was Caherconnell Fort – an Irish ring fort. I walked the fort and took a few pictures.
I caught the end of the sheepdog demonstration…
Just down the road, we stopped at Poulanbrone. This portal tomb (dating between 4200 BC to 2900 BC) was excavated and 20+ bodies were found underneath. It was thought to be used for ceremonies and rituals.
As we drove through the Burren, you could see the limestone all over the country-side.
Our next stop was Ballyvaughan for lunch at Monks Pub, right along the shores of Galway Bay.
I loved the sign on the pier across from the restaurant:
I had fish and chips – I took a picture because I figured my family would never believe I ate fish. 🙂 It was soooo good.
After we ate lunch, it was like they were having a convertible convention on the pier. I have no idea why there were so many convertibles there but they looked super cool. LOL
The B&B and pub from the pier.
One last shot of Galway Bay before getting on the bus.
Next was a stop in Ballyreen to look at the Aran Islands.
I was excited because the Cliffs were over there!!!
The Aran Islands:
The view behind us. I’m pretty sure those women on the top of that cliff were going to need rescued. They barely got up there to begin with. LOL
Random castle ruins.
Finally! The Cliffs of Moher!!!
The gift shop and restaurant were built into the side of the hill:
http://youtu.be/RpDCUMWX1zQ
http://youtu.be/Km-L6ag0Mcs
The Aran Islands
http://youtu.be/I8Jt-l20bEI
Crazy people climbed over barriers to get closer to the edge.
http://youtu.be/wVAEg2GFRnc
Walking to all the viewing points at the Cliffs was quite the workout.
I think this is Liscannor
The Cliffs of Moher were absolutely stunning.
It was such a gorgeous day on our trip that I actually got sunburnt on my face. LOL Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t quite so nice for my tour on Sunday….