After a solid 11 hours of sleep, it was time to have our first full day in Ireland! Fueled by the delicious muesli and yogurt provided by our host, we headed out to the Cliffs of Moher via the narrow, curvy roads with a way too high speed limit.
There was quite a crowd to park, but I was confident the crowds wouldn’t be hiking as far as we were, and it wasn’t crowded at all once we got off the paved path and onto the full trail.
The cliffs are stunning.
Side note: The first 10ish photos I took with my DSLR were blue since I forgot to adjust the white balance from the newborn shoot I did a few weeks ago. A good reminder to always look at your pictures!
There is a lot of wind walking along the trail which at times stopped me in my tracks, more out of fear than it actually blowing me over. Thankfully the wind is never/rarely blowing you toward the edge, but it’s still a little scary to have a semi-unpredictable force working against you.
There are 2 directions you can choose from the visitor’s center, and we chose to hike toward Hag’s Head which was just over 3 miles away. On one side you have the cliffs and the ocean, and on the other side you have wide open fields and occasionally a town in the distance. I also saw the biggest cow ever.
It started raining on our way back to the Visitor’s Center, so we stopped in there to get a snack (plus hot chocolate for me because I was cold – this is a running theme). The forecast showed the rain wasn’t going to stop soon, so we decided to drive to Doolin and check out what was there. The trail along the cliffs extends to Doolin as well, so we knew we could always hike more if the weather cleared up.
The main attraction in Doolin is the cave, so we decided to do that tour. They also have a short nature trail where Josh made friends with this goat.
We took the cave tour with all Canadians, funny enough, 2 women and a family of 6 with 4 young girls. Our tour guide’s name was Fergus, and he was great!
The cave was pretty interesting, and the main talking point is that it has the 3rd largest stalactite in the world. You’re led into the cavern where the stalactite is in all dark, and then they turn on the lights as a big reveal. Pretty cool even if it’s weird looking.
After climbing the 125 steps to exit the cave we went into Doolin to find dinner and ate at Gus O’Connor’s Pub. The area we were in was known for its cattle, so I got a steak sandwich that was delicious, and Josh got the beef stew (the first of many times).
Satisfied with the day’s adventures, we went back to the AirBnb where I had better luck with getting the electric shower to give me a consistent temperature, and then ended the night by watching a movie in the chill out room.
Here are my favorite photos from the Cliffs:
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Sara Morrison 