Day 5 - Cliffs of Moher

Mike slept through the night woohoo!!!!!! He woke up later than we had planned but I didn't want to disturbed his first good night of sleep. Marie cooked Mike a real Irish breakfast. It just looks like a bit to much calories for me :) We finally hit the roads around noon.

We saw a lot of old stuff on the way to the coast. We missed a castle in Limerick and I hope I'll get a good shot of it on the way back.

Mike used to work in Limerick and surf on the west coast of Ireland so the drive to Lahinch was really familiar to him. Lahinch is a very small surf town. It was nice to stop there for lunch and just look at the ocean. We stopped in a small surf shop that Mike used to go to. The owners recognized him (after 8.5 years). They had a good chat about surf in Ireland and in California. I actually enjoyed watching Mike being so happy to be back in Lahinch. He has some many good memories from that place.

After lunch we went to the Cliffs of Moher. WOW!!! 700 foot cliffs. You can go right to the edge. I couldn't really do it but got pretty close. People lay flat on there stomach and look down the cliffs. It is really impressive. The weather was great (we have been really lucky so far it only rained at night or while we were driving). We went for a long walk along the cliffs. It is just stunning. I'll post pictures when I get the time but I'm sure it won't pay the scenery justice. It is breathtaking.

After our walk along the Cliffs of Moher. We made our way toward Doolin. The plan is to go the Inishere tomorrow. This is the smallest or the Aran island. Doolin is a small village that has a ferry that goes to the islands (there are 3 islands total). We found our B&B on the way. Lorraine was very nice. I can't remember the name of the B&B now but it was perfect. I can't believe how every house in Clare (the county we were in) is a B&B. I was really pushing into booking but now I understand Mike when he said that you can just drive around and knock on doors. I'll know for next time :)

After we checked in we when for another Irish dinner and another Guinness. It was still early so we just started driving. We had the GPS so we could just take random roads and 'get lost'. This was so fun. I can't believe how narrows the roads are. And I don't understand why the trees are so close to the roads. Don't get me wrong it is beautiful. This is like driving in a green tunnel. The people are driving so fast for the conditions... you just have to believe that it is wide enough to meet cars and go for it... Actually sometime it it not wide enough. We got on very small roads where grass grows in the middle of the road. We didn't meet anybody on those road but basically if we had met someone then one of the car would've had to reverse to a point where the road gets wide enough so that the cars can pass each other.

During that drive I saw some many castles and old stone walls and cows :-) We made a little top to an historic site. It was ruins of what used to be a small enclosure with 5 houses. It is weird to stand some place where people used to live so long ago (11th century). There is not much left but enough to see where things used to be.

Earlier in the day I stole a rock from the ground at the Cliffs and then I stole another rock (when it was clearly indicated not to do so.. oops!). This one is a limestone. This rock is very particular. Water with time goes through and makes tunnel in the rock. There is actually no river in that part of Ireland... well no river that you can see. All the 'rivers' are underground. Tomorrow we are going to go see the Aillwee Cave which used to be an underground river.

We finally made it back to Doolin. Mike and I went back to the pub where we had dinner and listen to some nice live irish music. The pub was pack of people. It was a great way to end the day (with another Guinness).