Galway, Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands
Seeing that St. Patrick’s Day was this past weekend, I couldn’t think of a better time than now to talk about a few of my travels in Ireland! I started off my time in Galway, which is located on the west coast of Ireland.
My flight landed in Dublin at night, from there I hopped on a bus to Galway and by the time I got there, it was late and I was starving, so I dropped my stuff off at the hostel and went next door to McDonagh’s a critically acclaimed fish & chips restaurant (even Lonely Planet says so, https://www.lonelyplanet.com/ireland/galway-city/restaurants/mcdonaghs/a/poi-eat/429316/359685). After visiting just about every night I was in Galway, I gotta say they sure weren’t lying about how good it was. Not to mention, it’s located right at the end of Quay Street, which is the street famous for plenty of little shops, and even more lively pubs and bars. If you ever visit, I definitely recommend doing some shopping down here, getting a bite to eat at McDonagh’s, then ending the night at one of the many pubs.
Though I spent quite a few nights in Galway drinking and listening to as much live music as possible. The real highlights of my time spent here, were the day trips I got to go on. Obviously you can leave from Dublin or other cities in Ireland as well, but I just happened to leave from Galway. The first one I went on was to the Aran Islands.
The Aran Islands are 3 islands located at the beginning of Galway Bay, right off the western coast of Ireland. When I went, we took a ferry to the largest and most popular of the 3, Inis Mór. This island in particular is home to abandon churches, Dun Aonghasa (a prehistoric stone fortress on the edge of a cliff) and The Serpent’s Lair (which was the site of the Red Bull Cliff Diving Competition back in 2014). But even more so, this island is home to some of the most beautiful sights and scenery that I’ve ever seen.
As I stepped off the ferry, I immediately went to the bike rentals and was on my way down the coast. I spent the next several hours riding around and getting lost all over the island. They have the main attractions like I mentioned earlier, but also so many little stops and points of interest all over that I found myself constantly getting off my bike to explore some new area. Walking along the edge of the cliffs were both immensely beautiful and terrifying all at the same time. And though all the views from the cliffs were amazing, they were only 2nd on my list for my favorite part of the island (a close 2nd though). My first had to be, as simple as it sounds, bike riding all over the island. There was just something so calming and beautiful about being completely alone, riding a bike for hours across this unfamiliar island with the wind in my face and surrounded by shades of green I’ve never seen before (I kid you not, Ireland is literally greener than anywhere I’ve ever been). Even if you don’t want to visit for any of the sights mention, I would still recommend coming for the stillness and peace you’re bound to feel as well.
The Cliffs of Moher were next on my list while in Galway. Not only did this trip come with spectacular views, but it came with an amazing life lesson on just how crazy life turns out at times, and how everything seems to fall into place perfectly, one way or another.
I had originally planned to go on the tour the 2nd to last day while in Galway, however, rain got in the way and I decided that I would save it for the last day, even though I knew it was going to be a hectic day, between that and having to catch a bus to Dublin the second I got back. Yet, I decided to just do it and figured I’d let future Moose worry about that stress. I got on the tour bus and we were off down the western coast. As you could only imagine, the views were once again spectacular. Between what seemed to be endless miles of green, and the ocean on the other side, you had to keep your head on swivel trying to take it all in. We made a few stops along the way, one being the town of Dingle, where we visited a great restaurant. Seeing that this was in November, and it was cold and windy, a hot whiskey and bowl of beef stew was exactly what I needed. The next few stops we had were at the filming locations for a few scenes of Harry Potter and the Princess Bride. And finally, we reached our goal. We got a couple hours to just walk around and explore the Cliffs and it was simply breathtaking, it looked as though they were never-ending. Looking over the edge (or sitting on it if you’re feeling bold), is both incredible and nerve racking. Incredible because you can vividly see and hear those waves crashing. Nerve racking because with one extra strong wind gust, you’re getting an up close view of those waves. However, I mean I couldn’t NOT do it. What’s life without living on the edge a little bit?
Now for my lesson. When we got on the bus, there were already people from Dublin who were doing the same tour as us, but just left from a different city. After merging our bus with theirs, and a few stops down the road, I discovered that a friend that I had made back in Rome, nearly a month ago was on the same exact trip. He just happened to leave from Dublin, and me from Galway. We both had no idea that either of us were going to be on it, or that the other was even in Ireland. Yet here we were, two people that met a month ago, in Rome, happened to be on the same exact tour in Ireland. And it was all because it originally rained on the day that I was suppose to go to the Cliffs of Moher. So we exchanged stories of where we had been and walked around the cliffs together. And after nearly two months of solo traveling, it was nice to have a friend to enjoy this with. And just as I said earlier, everything fell into place. Sláinte.
