As promised, here we are at part two of my and Alex’s trip to Ireland, complete with all the activities and attractions that we were so lucky to experience. This is what we saw and did, in chronological order: Cliffs of MoherOne of the most visited places in Ireland, it didn’t disappoint. The Cliffs stretch for about 5 miles along the coast and are up to 702 feet in height. The scale of the Cliffs is beautifully humbling and we were lucky with a bright sunny day to enjoy a walk along the Cliffs. We also learned about the conservation that they promote at the Cliffs. They are a special protected area for over 20 different species of seabirds, including peregrine falcons and puffins, with over 30,000 breeding pairs annually. In general, it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be. We of course walked past the “danger: no path ahead” sign and Alex made a great instagram photographer. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to fly his drone here to capture the beauty, but it was a gorgeous place, especially for this geology nerd, and I would recommend everyone visit this portion of UNESCO Global Geopark The BurrenThe Burren is a short drive north from the Cliffs Of Moher, and is the second part of the UNESCO Global Geopark. We made it a pit stop on the way to Galway. No drone rules here, so Alex was able to fly it and take some video of the beautiful cliffs below the flat, rocky land on which we were exploring. The Burren was a wondrous place for the geologic nerd. While Alex was meditating (also a great place for that as well!), I wandered around the craggy limestone terrain. Since there are acres and acres of cracked grey stone, it’s eerily lunar in appearance, apart from the green and flowers that peak through. It was nice to just walk silently, interrupted only by the wind, to take photographs of such a picturesque landscape. And we were almost alone in our excursion! The entire time we were there, we saw maybe 10 other people. I would highly recommend it as a side adventure when visiting the Cliffs of Moher. Slea Head RoadSlea Head Drive is a loop drive around the Dingle peninsula that begins and ends in the town of Dingle. Unfortunately, the day we did this drive was the only rainy day that we had in Ireland so we didn’t take as much time as it truly deserves, but it was still well worth doing! We stopped for some scenic coastal photos in a number of places, and also stopped at a few other small attractions. My favorite was the beehive huts. These residential structures were built exclusively of flat stone circles, moving from largest at the bottom to smallest at top, with no mortar to hold them together. After over 1,300 years (or more!), they’re still standing throughout Ireland and Scotland. If you’ve seen Star Wars episodes 7 or 8, you’ll recognize them as the huts where Luke Skywalker is residing in isolation! Ring of KerryWe were only on the Ring of Kerry for a few hours, but I would love to go back someday and do the whole thing. There’s so much to see and do! We stopped at Ross Castle, Torc Waterfall, and Ladies’ View Vista before heading back on our way to Cobh. I loved walking around near Ross Castle, which is on a large lake. It was very serene. We saw more people at Torc Waterfall, which is only a short walk from the carpark, and the view from Ladies’ View was gorgeous! Alex got out the drone again for more beautiful Irish landscape footage. The full Ring of Kerry is on the list for another trip to Ireland! Blarney Castle & Rock of CashelAlex was starting to hate all the castle stops, but I didn’t let that deter me from stopping at both of these places! I mean, come on. I had to kiss the Blarney stone. The story goes that if a person kisses the stone, they will receive “the gift of the gab”, essentially being able to speak eloquently or flatter well. Let’s be honest, I tend to ramble so I need all the help I can get. Alex got in on the legends as well: we both successfully maneuvered the Wishing Steps, which are on the Blarney Castle grounds. The legend says if you walk down and back up the steps with your eyes closed while thinking only of a wish, that wish will come true within a year, granted by the Blarney Witch. I don’t know about Alex’s, but I can say that mine did come true so...thanks, Blarney Witch! The next stop was the Rock of Cashel, which I thought was a pretty picturesque ruin that combined both castle and cathedral. According to the guide pamphlet, the Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion, and then in 1101, the King of Munster, Muirchertach Ua Briain, donated his fortress on the Rock to the Church. Guinness BreweryCouldn’t be a trip to Ireland without learning about its best-selling alcoholic drink! Never in my life have I had a better tasting Guinness than the one I got at the Guinness brewery tour. It’s very well done and organized as an experience. You climb multiple levels within the brewery, learning how Guinness was built literally from the ground up. With your tour you get a taster of Guinness and at the very end, you receive a drink ticket to enjoy at their bar at the top of the distillery with a 360 degree view of Dublin. I will say, I don’t think I can ever have Guinness from a can or bottle again after having it from the tap at the brewery. It won’t be the same. Teeling Whiskey DistilleryWe skipped the Jameson distillery tour for the Teeling one, in their new distillery that had been open for just under three years. Teeling is smaller, and less “touristy” than it’s Jameson counterpart (or so we were told). It did not disappoint. It’s clear that the staff loves where they work and they take great pride in the creation of their whiskey. They even had a room with a countdown to their first batch to have come out of the new distillery, only 90 days out while we were there! Whiskey must be aged for a minimum of three years to reach the requirement for maturation in order to be called an irish whiskey, hence the timer. We paid for the cheapest tour, which comes with a taster shot of their small batch whiskey, and a mixed drink with the same. I’m not usually a whiskey person, but this went down smooth and the mixed drink was amazing. We went to the bar for another drink after we finished what came with the tour! Before we left, we signed our names to the brick wall in their tasting room. Maybe someday we can go back and find our names there again. Trinity College Library & the Book of KellsAny lover of books or library’s needs to visit Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. Since we got tickets the day of, there was a bit of a line but nothing insurmountable and it didn’t take long at all. The library here is gorgeous and the book itself is a humbling piece to be around. It is an illuminated manuscript of the Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together. It is believed to have been created in a Columban monastery in either Britain or Ireland sometime around 800 AD. I will never get over the feeling of being so close to something so old and the intricacy of the calligraphy and illustrations is shocking when you imagine someone doing all of this by hand and candlelight! The place we didn’t have time to get up to was Northern Ireland, but that’s definitely in the future because Giant’s Causeway is still very much on my geologic bucket list!
Thanks for reading, cheers!
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Meet AnyaHi, Hola, Bonjour, Ciao!
I’m Anya Phillips, a data analyst and travel enthusiast who is always on the lookout for the next adventure! Categories
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