BIG POST TODAY!
Our first full day in Ireland involved a full-day bus tour from Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher, a major Irish landmark that we really wanted to see.
So we got up early to go to the meeting point for the bus company. We got there and checked in, but the bus at the location was already full. The driver told us to catch the next one, and then drove off.
That was a little nerve wracking, if you ask me. My mom was getting kinda stressed that we missed our tour and we were going to be left behind. But some patience won out and eventually another bus came that picked us up. And, as luck would have it, our tour guide’s name was Emma, a ginger Irish girl who was super nice.
We drove a couple hours to the cliffs, but it was well worth it. The countryside is amazingly beautiful!
Our first stop was actually slightly hilarious.
We stopped at Barack Obama Plaza. Yes, that’s a real place. It’s located in Moneygall, Ireland.
Apparently Obama’s roots were traced to Ireland, and so this monument was erected to mark his significance in Ireland.
But make no mistake, this is a gas station. You walk in, and it’s a gas station store, with these signs about Obama. If you wander up some stairs, there’s a whole museum on the second floor.
We only stopped for about 10 minutes for a toilet break, so I wasn’t able to actually look through the museum, only take pictures.
There’s also a whole statue outside, marking the plaza.
(I took this picture from the internet, because I didn’t have time to go take one myself).
It’s like, a weird place. It just doesn’t make sense, but it’s also hilarious.
Our tour guide also showed us a hilarious song that was written when this all happened – it’s called “There’s No One As Irish As Barack Obama” and it’s hilarious if you want to listen to it haha.
And now, the photos we’ve all been waiting for: the Cliffs of Moher.
Even on an overcast day like that day, the cliffs were breathtaking. There were so many people, but it didn’t matter. It also stopped raining as we arrived, which made our time more enjoyable.
We walked along the edge, taking SO MANY PICTURES. All of us were obsessed, and honestly, I feel like I could have spent more time than I did.
The opposite side of the cliffs had this little castle building, which was beautiful on top of the cliff like that. We walked from one end to the other to get views from all sides.
Also, how cute is my mom and grandma?? I know, two roses and a thorn.
We were there for about 90 minutes, which definitely wasn’t enough time. I could have taken pictures all day.
There just isn’t scenes like this where I live. It’s not green and lush, it’s prairie and dry. Plus, the ocean. I LOVE the ocean. The air and the sound and the color – there’s just something about it that just gets you.
So I don’t know if it was clear, but I really loved it. I’m trying to contain all the pictures haha.
From the cliffs we drove the Burren, a rock formation along the coast.
The rocks date back to before the ice age, and if you look through the rocks into the ground, there’s a network of tunnels and caves that formed underneath. Our tour guide warned us to hold onto our belongings tight, because if you drop something in the cracks, you’ll never get it back. There’s a crazy ecosystem here as well, and is marked as a UNESCO world heritage site, which is pretty awesome.
Even though it’s basically just a rock-covered coast, but it was still beautiful. Plus, the ocean again.
We ended our tour in Galway, Ireland. And yes, the Ed Sheeran song “Galway Girl” was the top of my playlist the whole day. We were able to wander around, do some shopping, grab some lunch, the whole shebang.
Our tour guide Emma told us lots of stories about fairies, which is a very common folklore in Ireland. Like how there are fairy trees along the roads that people refuse to cut down, so fences, roads, etc. will all be diverted around the tree, so as to not anger the fairies. Or that fairies live in the cracks in the Burren, or that you can catch them and keep them happy.
Wild, right? Sometimes I wish I had enough belief in something so magical – there’s something so freeing about it.
After returning to Dublin on the bus, we walked around the central area, looked into some tourist shops, and had to get some ice cream!
Can you tell that I was obsessed with how the streets looked? I loved all the flowers and lights! Everything was bright and colorful and I just loved it. That’s the kind of energy and care you wish your city had!
Another full day, and another tired troupe of ladies made our way back to our airbnb to sleep.
Dublin thus far had been good to us, but we still had one more day in Dublin.
But guess what, you’ll have to wait until the next post 🙂
~emma.k
Wandering Miss Emma.K 
Oh my goodness! Made me feel almost a little “homesick” for Ireland! It was so beautiful and we had SO MUCH FUN! PS—I will be the thorn!😊
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