Day 05 – The Cliffs of Insanity!

July 31 2017

We had to get up a decent time today (9:00) in order to make it for our breakfast (included). We daringly all ordered the “Irish Fry” which consisted of toast and jam, 2 large slabs of back bacon, 1 fried egg, 2 sausages, baked beans and something called “blood pudding”. I admit to passing on the blood pudding …

Today was Harrowing Drive Day (not yesterday, as previously thought). We started out easy, heading to the the top side of the Cliffs of Moher where an impressive, and disney-like, visitors’ centre has been built into the hillside to camouflage it for the benefit of tourist who only want their cliff views obstructed by other tourists and not by large buildings. Outside is a sanctioned path that protects you from the 700 foot drop, following the cliffs a few hundred feet in each direction from an observation known as O’Brien’s Tower. The tower was built by Cornelius O’Brien in the 19th century and very recently restored. There is a viewing platform at the top of the tower from which we got to experience high winds and a sudden downpour of sideways rain. Great views, though!

You can just make out the crazy person outside the stone wall on the edge of the cliff. Idiot.

Walking along the south path, there is a long extended pathway that leaves the safety of the visitors centre but is still behind a protective stone wall, so we walked along that for a bit but once the wall ended we turned back. What is astounding is how many people felt it necessary to jump over the wall in order to TAKE A SELFIE ON THE EDGE OF A 700 FOOT CLIFF. WTF is wrong with people??? It’s windy, and rainy, and they are standing on a muddy path a few feet from death. For a PHOTO.

Fortunately, nobody died today, and we hopped back on the road for a long drive down to Kenfare which will be tomorrow’s starting point for the Ring of Kerry. We took the scenic route through  Killarney National Park (“it’s Christmas in Killarney, with all of the folks at home“). This beautiful, mountainous region is featured in the header picture on the blog at the moment.

We are staying tonight in a quaint little B&B just outside Kenfare so we walked into town for some dinner and sight seeing and were treated to a little fanfare for one Georgia O’Brian who seems to be a bit of a local hero for winning gold in some kind of rowing competition. She was escorted to the town square by a police car and a fire truck where she was greeted by 100 or so adoring fans. And us.