The first day off a transatlantic flight was a little rough. People often debate what's worse, travelling from North America to Europe or the trip back home. I always have great intentions of sleeping on the plane, but it never really happens. I envy those people who manage to fall asleep on the tarmac, before the wheels even lift off.
My hunny's parents picked up up at the airport and put him into the driver's seat right away. They had arrived a couple days earlier and we looking forward to a break from driving too. Tired, traffic, and driving a standard car, sitting on the other side of the car, on the other side of the road. I was quickly corrected when I made the mistake of saying the 'wrong side of the road' - it's all perspective, right lol.
I was in the back seat, trying to grab forty winks, in hopes that the rest of the day wouldn't be too bad. I didn't want to miss one minute of it. My hunny was driving and his mum was his trusty co-pilot. I'm not going to lie. An hour into the drive, I worried a little the first time we hit the rumble strips. I knew he was tired too. I wanted to come to the rescue but I couldn't even will my eyes to open. Thankfully, I trusted that my mother-in-law would take care of things. She did, because we pulled over at the next petrol station to take a break.
This made a great spot to have our first Full Irish (breakfast) - eggs, sausages, beans, white and black pudding, and dry toast. After ten days, I still don’t understand the dry toast. The toast is thin and crisp. If you want butter, you add it, otherwise it’s just dry toast. I guess it’s as easy as that. Breakfast was rounded off with a delicious cup of Irish tea.
I’ve been fortunate enough to travel for many years. One of the things I’ve learned is if you find something you want to buy, buy it. Don't wait until you see it next time. I have one quirky collection - colourful fridge magnets, with names of places I've visited. I saw the perfect magnet at our first stop and while it was suggested that there'd be plenty of time to buy souvenirs, I insisted on buying it there and, just as I figured, I never did see another one.
Our first big stop was the Cliffs of Moher (pronounced Moore). I've seen the pictures... equal amounts of tourists and wind. I love beautiful scenery, but I wasn't looking forward to either the tourists or the wind.
I thought there’d be wall-to-wall people... wind swept, with scarves and rain ponchos swirling around their heads. I’d been warned of the turmoil that a cheap, Dollar store poncho could cause, as it swirled, soaking wet around you, while you’re still wearing it. Thankfully, it was a Friday and most people were still working, I guess. The day was clear and comfortable. We welcomed the chance to stretch our legs a little. You can reach the top with a ten minute walk to the top. They also had a cart, for anyone with mobility issues – both from the parking lot and another one up the hill. They views were beautiful. The cliffs stand just over 500 ft tall and are simply magnificent. They run 14 kms along the south western shore line.
Then we headed down to the Interpretation Center/Gift Shops where we found a nice mix of touristy souvenirs and work from local artists. We fell in love with some of the numbered prints from a local artist, Morrison. The scene depicted The Cliffs, with a farmer working in the fields. We come from an agricultural background and this print really spoke to us. We bought it on a whim, without understanding the challenges that would come with trying to get it home... but I'll save that for another blog post.
By the afternoon, we were travelling north on the Sky Road, which was quite an adventure. A know that Irish people love a good laugh as much as the next person, so I figured that the 80km speed limit signs must have been an Irish road works joke lol. It was really only a car and a half wide (in the good spots) and you had no choice but to pull off to the side of the road whenever you met a car.
Once we reached the top though, we were quick to understand why they call it the Sky Road. This time, our pit stop was equally as impressive. There was so much to see, the field were beautiful and the colour of the sea was spectacular. Below us, we watched as the farmer tended his fields. To the right were small island which showed off her lush, emerald green fields. It looked like there were floating and bobbing in powerful Atlantic Ocean. I’ve always thought of the ocean as a beautiful blue, but in Ireland, the ocean has many shades of glorious green.
After driving through lots of little villages, and what looked like some amazing pubs. We finally stopped at a small pub in Cashelle. It was at Gus O'Connor's Pub that we decided to recreate a post card that we had bought at the Cliffs of Moher - with some of the pub doors in Ireland. The weather was perfect. We chatted about what we had seen so far and of all the amazing stops that were still to come. My mother-in-law had carefully curated a trip that combined the perfect amount of adventure and relaxation.
We drove from Dublin to the Cliffs, than Limerick and Ennis, to our first night in Ireland, where we rested in Galway. We were along the coast, in a beautiful bed and breakfast. In theory, Galway was at the top of my list of places to visit. I expected it to be a magical, musical place. In reality, we were jet lagged and tired from driving all day. Just before the kitchen closed, we found a local pub for a quick bite to eat and headed to bed early. The taste of Guinness on our lips quickly lulled us off to sleep.
We were excited to see what the next leg of our journey had in store for us!